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A Fiber Festival Strategy For Connection & Comfort
- Sönna Schuttner
- Aug 2
- 7 min read
How I'm planning to make the most of my time at Flock Fiber Festival.
8.1.2025
My dear Tangled Makers,
Flock Fiber Festival 2025 is almost in one week! From August 8–10, the Pacific Northwest will be pulsing with wool, color, creativity, and community — and I’ll be right there in the mix, working the Bad Sheep Yarn booth and wandering the floors in full fiber explorer mode. But a big fiber festival can be overwhelming: so many booths to visit, so many people to hug, so much wool to smell, so many colors to combine. That’s why this week’s Wool & Weather is dedicated to journaling the fiber festival strategy I’ve stitched together for staying grounded, connected, and creatively lit up all weekend long.
🧶 This project-based journal from my real life as a fiber artist, knitter, and spiritual maker. I write these posts myself — no AI ghostwriting, no ads — just spinning, stitching, and stories from the Wool & Wyrd side of my life. If this post gets your planning gears turning or makes you excited to visit your favorite fiber folks, leave a comment or pass it along. Your support means more than you know.
Jump to:
✦ Come Say Hi at Booth 18 ✦
I’ll be working, hugging, and handing out cards with perks!
I’ll be working the Bad Sheep Yarn booth (#18) all weekend alongside my design bestie Brittany of Knot Bad Britt, plus our marvelous moderators, Sam and Alisha from the BSY Facebook group! We’ll have gorgeous yarns, joyful vibes, and a sweet little bonus for you:
💌 Find me and grab a BSY card — turn it in at the BSY booth for a free sticker and I’ll receive a small commission on your purchase (at no extra cost to you). Brittany, Sam, and Alisha have cards too! This is such an appreciated way to support our work and add something fun to your haul.
✦Why would I need a strategy for a fiber festival?!✦
140 booths, two feet, one very enthusiastic heart.
Wellllll... Fiber arts are often practiced in solitude and while through the magic of the internet we are able to maintain connection and nurture relationships, we can forget how vast our craft truly is. When a community that spends most of the year spread out comes together the joy is free flowing and even though only a itty tiny portion of the community has converged, we are given a glimpse into the reality of how very many of us there are. The fiber community is wonderful, supportive, and HUGE!
There are nearly 140 vendor booths at Flock this year. Which means: we will absolutely not get to them all with the kind of care and connection many of us crave. Without a strategy, we might not even get to the ones that matter most to us! But it's okay! With just a little prep work, we can prioritize and leave room for discovering new maker buddies and dyer besties.
The key (according to every wise maker I asked) is to make a literal plan with a literal map.
Start with the floor map from the Flock website (I printed mine and drew hearts and arrows!). Sketch out your must-visits. Give yourself realistic time at the booths where you know you’ll want to pet every skein. Prioritize those places where you have heart ties, design dreams, or pattern plans in mind.
Leave yourself room to spin off course — if you're anything like me (powered by ADHD and an innate need to follow that distraction), you’ll absolutely get joyfully sidetracked by unexpected beauty or or a good chat with a new fiber friend. Future You will thank you for building in wiggle room. 😘
✦ Sensory Survival Tips for a Full Festival ✦
Large gatherings are vibrant, beautiful, and… a lot.
Here’s how I’m prepping for the sensory side of things:
Wear layers and comfy shoes.
Caffeinate wisely (too much = frazzled, too little = fried).
Pack a security project in your bag. Make it something small, soothing, and low-stakes (think: simple socks, stockinette cowls, or yarns that do the fancy talking for you). We can use it to create a soft bubble to retreat into when needed.
Remember to take space. Pull out that security project. Find a corner. Take a breath. Make some stitches. Drink some water.
Think through what goes in the bag. Remember, we gotta carry it everywhere for hours so we only want the essentials. But we want the essentials! Water bottle, snacks, that security project, a pen small pad for notes, and more bags for the fiber treasures we’ll absolutely be bringing home.
Got a favorite festival-friendly project? Share it in the comments — I’d love to know what you reach for when the world gets a little extra and if there are any essentials I'm missing!
✦ When You Go Matters ✦
Timing is everything — especially when it comes to yarn and introvert energy.
Many of us come to fiber arts because we like a little solitude, and honestly? "Many of us" includes the folks running the booths at a fiber festival! 😂 While it can feel super special to chat with the humans behind your favorite yarn, keep in mind that festivals are a major part of how many small businesses stay afloat. These booths aren’t just cozy creative nests, they’re full-on workplaces for the weekend.
So if your favorite dyer looks a little busy (or frazzled or flushed), don’t take it personally! You might catch them better on Sunday when things quiet down, or be ready to pivot if a deep convo just isn’t in the cards that moment.
That said, if you’ve got your eye on a one-of-a-kind skein or sweater quantity, Friday and Saturday are your best bet on getting dibs before the special stuff disappears. If you can swing a multi-day pass, it’s a great way to balance out your energy and get the best of both bustle and calm.
✦ My Must-Visit Booths at Flock ✦
Okay okay… here's my grand plan — my Top 7 (plus BSY, of course). These are the places I’m prioritizing, not just for yarn, but for connection:
Calypso Farm and Fiber (Booth 112) – From my Fairbanks, AK roots. Way back in the day, I traded weeding for veggies back when my boys were babies so my family could eat well even though we were young and broke. Just out of high school, Susan and Tom helped shape my understanding of what ecology is and the role we as humans have in shaping it. Their yarn is just as nourishing as their Land and community ethic.
Wool & Palette (Booth 109) – Emily’s plant-dyed yarns and honest practice of community over competition inspire me deeply.
Yarn Matter (Booth 95) – Naturally dyed, non-superwash yarns in soft, soulful colors. When I found out Erin would be at Flock Fiber Festival I flapped my arms about and wiggled!
Thought to Thread (Booth 96) – Tyler’s small-batch yarn is rooted in emotion and grounded in his worldview. Our first connection was instant, goes way back, and I can’t wait to hug him.
Skagit Woolen Works (Booth 86) – I’m on a mission for spinning fiber here. Expect heavy petting.
Ms Babs (Booth 6) – Their 100% Targhee in worsted is calling to me in bright, bold colors.
Camellia Fiber Co. (Booth 53) – Non-superwash, naturally dyed, and swoon-worthy sweater potential.
Each of these booths holds something more than yarn — they carry stories, relationships, and a chance to reconnect with something real. I’ll drop links to all their sites in the post once it’s up.
✦ My “If There’s Time” List ✦
A dash for whimsy and a whole lotta me-wanties.
Because of course I want to visit:
Ritual Dyes & The Farmer’s Daughter Fibers (fiber royalty!)
JaMPDX for the ultimate dose of me-wanties
HapBee Creative Studios for spinning fiber — do you have any idea how many of their braids of hand dyed roving I have added to my Etsy cart so many times but never clicked buy (stash-diving discipline, you know? I'm trying hard to be a good girl). I need to see it in real life.
Windy Indigo Farm and Fiber — mostly because the name makes me happy
Will I make it to all these? We shall see. I’ll report back post-Flock with a full debrief!
✦ The Final Thread ✦
There’s no right way to do a fiber festival — only the one that honors your energy, lights you up, and leaves you with stories to tell (and yarn to smell). I’m heading into Flock with a heart wide open, a plan in hand, and a pocket full of cards to share.
✨ Do you have a grand plan? Who’s on your must-see list? Have a favorite fiber fest snack or grounding tip? Share in the comments so we can all learn from each other.
With a thoughtful plan and just a few too many project bags,
~ Sönna🌀
✨ Do you have a grand plan? Who’s on your must-see list? Have a favorite fiber fest snack or grounding tip? Share in the comments so we can all learn from each other.
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Sonna, I have a question about water bottles at Flock. Are there any NO, you can't bring that in? I don't have any that have closing tops, "Yet". I usually just use ones with a straw. These aren't really practical to stick in a bag. Are there any water station's where we can refill or do we have to buy water?
I learn from last year it was overwhelming, so this year I have my must see list, Map printed and mark, bag ready, need to start something while I wait for my friend. :)
My must see: BYS been dying to touch yarn and see colors!!!!!, Wild Rose Farm (biggest regret last year that I did not buy anything), Camelia, Sewrella, Costal Cashmere, Les Garcons and Red Stag.
Also looking for some notions, maybe a new wood needle set, and labels that say this is the back, lol!!!
I wish I was going to flock! Have fun and say hi to Lindsay with SuperGlō Fibers! 🌈
This is such a good post! I'm coming to Flock from Saskatchewan - the festivals I have been to have had... maybe 20 vendors? So it will certainly be a great time! But also nerve wracking. I've already printed the map and labeled my must-visit shops. BSY (of course!), Explorer Knits, Terrapin Fibers and Witchfire Fibers are on there for me. My biggest thing will be not going crazy! My usual strategy is to do a loop and then circle back. However not as possible this time! So grabbing my must haves and then the circling will begin 😉 So excited to see you in person this weekend Sonna!