The Snake River Fiber Fair, put on by the Spinners and Weavers Guild of Idaho Falls, is an annual event and we were fortunate to go this year. Held in scenic Idaho Falls, Idaho, the thirteenth annual fair was held May 19th and 20th at the Eastern Idaho Technical College. The location was relatively easy to find, just a few miles from downtown Idaho Falls, and was near both shopping and a wide selection of franchise restaurants.

For the past two years the fair has been held in the rear of the building complex. Although this makes it a bit more challenging to find, the Spinners

and Weavers Guild did its usual excellent job of placing signs to help those who were new to the fair. While the interior of the buildings are a bit dark, one got the feeling that vendors knew this in advance and brought lights if they were stationed in these areas (the tradeoff for the decrease in light was the increase in foot traffic). This year all of the vendors were located in one building and all of the classes were in another, a layout which worked well because it consolidated the shopping and kept hallways outside of the classrooms quiet.

As we walked into the vendor building we were met with the stuff of fiber

lovers' dreams: fleeces, roving, yarn, patterns, books, spinning wheels, drop spindles and all sorts of accessories for knitting, spinning, weaving, and felting. There was generally a good mix of commercially-milled fiber and those from local sources. While most of this was already processed into roving (which was what we were primarily interested in), at least one vendor had raw fleece for sale. Fiber ranged from coarse wools suitable for rugs (in fact one vendor was finishing up a Navajo rug from her wool), to fine wools, luxury fibers, and blends.

There were also several vendors who had other delectable goods, such as hand-made soaps and beads (the bead selection is truly awe-inspiring, particularly for those of us who don't have bead shops where we live). Kat is a new spinner and was overwhelmed with all the choices of spinning fibers. Not only were there rovings of all kinds in all the colors of the rainbow, there was raw fleece, dying kits, and temptation everywhere. Spinning wheels lined the hallways and there were little groups of people gathered, exchanging tips and sharing their treasures from shopping.

One of the best things about the Snake River Fiber Fair is that since it's one of the first fairs of the season, people are very excited to be there. Of course the members of the Guild are so nice and helpful (which several of the vendors and shoppers commented on) that simply spending time with them would be a pleasure, no matter what time of year.

The fiber fair also has a good selection of courses available on a variety of subjects from beginning spinning and weaving, rug punch and hooking, to knitting and making accessories. Classes are generally small, which means that students get a lot of attention from the teachers.

Things to do if you have the chance: 1) take a class- they're small, well-taught, and an excellent chance to expand skills in something you already know how to do or to pick up something new! 2) Go to the Banquet and Spin-In on Saturday night. Not only is the food good, but the company of fellow fiber enthusiasts just can't be beat.

We're already planning our trip for next year's fiber fair.