I recently went on a road trip through the Midwest with some good friends. Our itinerary included national parks, museums, and gardens and included a lot of unexpected stops when something caught our eye from the road. When asked what I wanted to see on and do on the trip, I didn’t have much in the way of ideas. I expected there would be lots of great scenery and that I would get to do some birdwatching and maybe even some sketching.

What I didn’t expect was to trip over cool spinning and knitting stuff along the way.

I’m not talking about supply stores. The only shopping we did was at gift stores and to buy groceries. I’m talking about finding fiber-related things in the places we happened to go.

The National Museum of Toys and Miniatures in Kansas City, MO turned out to have world-class miniatures on display, more than we could see in the hour and a half we had before the museum closed. We are not talking doll house furniture played with by children (although they have some of that as well), but miniatures made by artisans and admired by avid collectors.

I was in awe of the size (tiny!) and detail (exquisite!) of the furniture, glassware, ceramics, and woven rugs on display. Then I came to the hand knit clothing and it blew my mind. Cable-knit sweaters? Color-work sweaters?! and only two inches high?!? Look at the pictures, and you’ll understand my amazement.

 

I also found a tiny spinning wheel. I wonder if it works?

I should have expected to see fiber art at the T/M museum; I just wasn’t thinking. But I also came across a yarn bomb project in the last place you would imagine: The Mammoth Site museum in Hot Springs, SD. While it’s not as elaborate as a traditional yarn-bombing project can be, I loved the idea of a yarn project that anyone could be part of.

It never occurred to me to include fiber art as part of my vacation plans, and I’m kind of glad I didn’t. I enjoyed these finds all the more because I wasn’t expecting them.

Have you come across fiber projects where you least expected them? What were they and where did you find them?