It’s one of my favorite weekends of the year– the Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival–but this year it felt a little bit like a letdown. There seemed to be fewer vendors and less stock, meaning that even though I went early on the first day a lot of the specialty colorways I was looking for were already sold out.

First of all, I attend the event every year with friends and I wasn’t the only one who thought that while the crowd size seemed the same, there were fewer vendors and more space in the “country store” barns where most of the yarn, notions and other crafts are sold.

One of my favorite vendors is Oink Pigments, and every year I look forward to their specialty colorway for the event. Even though we arrived pretty early she was down to three skeins and none of them were sock yarn. Fortunately she was happy to dye a skein to order for me.

The larger vendors were still there, but it seemed like some of the smaller ones were not. I did manage to find a few new vendors, though.

Knitz and Pearls had a bunch of yarn that glows under a blacklight that appealed to my 80’s and 90’s child neon loving heart.

I also find Fiber MacGyver (can we just take a minute to appreciate the name) and their adorable mushroom sock yet. They even gave out the little camper stitch stoppers with each purchase.

There were also yarn trucks there, which, rather than selling products from a single vendor, sold several different brands of yarns and notions similar to a little yarn shop on wheels.

And of course people still had their beautiful projects to show off, like this colorwork sweater.

So what do I think is happening?

I suspect the smaller stock and fewer vendors has to do with uncertainty regarding tariffs. Not a lot of wool is actually produced in the US, meaning a lot of dyers purchase their stock from overseas.

I don’t dye yarn but I do buy finished, dyed yarn from a few vendors in Europe and this year there has been a ton of delays and uncertainty regarding shipping and cost. A lot of shipments have taken much longer than usual, and some producers aren’t shipping to the US at all.

If you’re interested in further reading, Slate has an article on tariffs and knitting.

I’ll be going to the New York Sheep and Wool Festival next month (aka Rhinebeck) and I’ll be very interested to see how it compares to other years.

I still managed to find some cute yarn this year and I’ve already started a project so obviously it wasn’t a bust.

Have you been to any fiber festivals lately? Have you noticed a difference year over year?