Last year while my youngest son traveled to Baltimore, Maryland, for a Boychoir festival, I took some time to attend a festival of another sort: the 2011 Carolina Fiber Fest.

This year while my son traveled to yet another music festival, this one at Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, Virginia, I again took some time to check in at the 2012 Carolina Fiber Fest.

Held at the North Carolina State Fairgrounds in conjunction with the “Got to be NC Fest,” once I had gotten my son to his early morning bus, walked the dog, eaten breakfast and done a couple of things around the house came ready to do some shopping in an effort to support the vendors who had come.

After jockeying to get a parking space, I made my way across the fairgrounds to get to the Fiber Fest, I came across this vendor booth that I thought was worthy inspiration for an amigurumi:

But, there was no time to dawdle, so I continued on my way past the carnival rides, games, and fried food vendors until I reached the Jim Graham Building which housed the Fiber Fest. Near the entrance to the event, I was greeted by this sign:

After I made my tour of the vendors, other than the $5 I had spent on parking, I had yet to make a purchase, so I went back to where I had started my tour.

Located in Cullowhee, North Carolina, Hippie Chix Fiber Art, is the brainchild of Gail MacLean Johnston, and her collection of fibers features an astounding array of bright colors .

While there was a large selection of roving and other spinnables, what caught my eye were the skeins of sari silk. Unable to decide which I liked best, I ended up purchasing almost everything that caught my eye.

Here is one pile:

and here is the other:

Once I got home, I had to tackle some work around the house, but by late afternoon, I was able to situate myself in my outdoor office and begin the task of winding the skeins of sari silk into balls for later use. After one hour and one cup of coffee, I had made this much progress:

After another hour I had 18 skeins wound:

and this pile of silk that was yet to be wound:

I haven’t decided what exactly I will do with these repurposed silk saris, but I know that what ever it is, I will have a lot of fun doing it.