Estes Park Wool Market

It was one of the warmer Wool Market days for me. Shorts and a t-shirt were definitely the right way to go. Some years there is a bit of a nip in the air. Instead of a nip, the wind picked up in the early afternoon like a thunderstorm was headed in. By the time we were leaving, some clouds had rolled in and few sprinkles were falling.

I went with a friend so we both had some one to chat with on the way up and back. Somehow, I got to be the passenger and pick the lunch spot.

I saw several neat things like the needles with sheep on them but resisted. I have lots of straight needles. If anyone remembers who that was, let me know. They also had some fiber. I will add them to my bookmarks. Who knows I might decide I have to have more needles. They also had some glass needles which looked interesting but at $40.00 I want to spend my money on fiber.

As you can see, I bought some fiber. I really expect to buy more but I think I knew there was unspun fiber form last year. As in more than a pound. Probably closer to 7 pounds. I did get some camel/silk and hand dyed merino. I will have to look up what to do with the camel/silk. Like how to set the twist. Maybe the Kromski spinning group knows?

I am not sure how this happens but I may have to wear something other than t-shirts to the wool market. This year, I wore the Oregon aquarium shirt because the the "will knit for chocolate" caused comments a couple of years ago. I thought I had a nice low profile shirt on. As a result, I met a nice lady who works at the research center by the aquarium. She started talking about how Orca's aren't whales and it is really grey whales that are the most common along the Depot Bay area of the coast. She wishes they would print whales on t-shirts and gift items. My friend and I found out the following information:
- Most of the time, the Grey Whales don't surface/breach, usually you just see the blows.
- Grey Whales have two blow holes. One blows straight up and is easy to see.
- If the wind is calm, the blow from a Grey Whale forms a heart shape in the air.
- Orcas blow up and to the side.
- The orcas run in pods.
- The water at the inlet will look like it is boiling when the Orcas show up.
- The orcas like to eat Grey Whale calfs.
- There about 30 Grey Whales who hang out year around in the Depot Bay area.
- They have a 50% calf survival rate for the Grey Whales.
- The population in the area is at pre-whale numbers.
My parents love the aquarium, unfortunately I have never been there. I would like to go sometime , vacation time permitting.

Also, the guy at the quivet booth decided to talk to us about Musk Oxs. The fiber is still the most expensive there. When I win a big lottery, it is on the list of things to check out.