By Judith Reese
Love’s labor is not lost on fiber artists. The ancient lure of wool craft and quiet handiwork seems to feed their very souls. It’s summer, and as September’s Salida Fiber Festival approaches, some of the most passionate weavers, ranchers, knitters, dyers, shearers, quilters and spinners from across Central Colorado have invited me and my sidekick, photographer Jerry Wright, into their world. Some of them care for sheep, llamas, alpacas and rare paco-vicuñas. Others work in studios crowded with looms and spinning wheels, their shelves overflowing with yarns and carded wool. They display the fruits of their talents and talk of why they must do what they do. And there is one palpable commonality permeating each barn and workroom: joy.