2012 Maryland Sheep and Wool Fest Day 2

 

On Sunday, Sister #2 brought Dad to meet us at the fairgrounds. Expert carder that he is, he wanted to see the Sheep to Shawl Competition. The problem was, because of the rain, they had plastic over the tent so you could barely see in. He has to use a walker so we couldn't get him inside the smallish tent.

We left him in his little corner while my sister's and I took a stroll through the barns. We told him to stay put.

 The sheep were putting on quite a show this morning. Unlike yesterday, everyone wanted some attention. There was lots of nose petting and face scratching. Sheep can be the sweetest things when they are in the mood. They are a bit like cats in that way.

I dropped my sisters off in the main hall for some shopping and then went back to keep an eye on Daddio and.....he was gone. Even the blanket (hand woven) I had left for him was missing. I found him later in the food area looking for coffee and I found the blanket at the information desk. Some nice person had turned it into the Lost and Found.

It was a wonderful morning. Cool and overcast. There were no crowds at all. This is me in the bathroom. The REAL bathrooms-NOT the port-o-potties. There was no line. No people. Only us. It was nice and a bit surreal.

Since the weather was cooler than expected, Sister #1 borrowed my Color Play Shawl. I should have brought each of  them one of my fancy shawls to parade around in. Beautiful shawls were everywhere today unlike yesterday. 

While Sisters shopped, Daddio rested and I spun and people watched. It was a day for inspiring knitware.

This sweater won my Best in Show award. I was so happy she came near enough for me to sneak a photo. It is a masterpiece and I want one. I need to find this pattern. It is gorgeous.
Edited: It's Kaffe Fassett's Tumbling Blocks and I own the book!

I also ran into a very happy Miss Prodigy who was toting around a giant 8 lb bag of Border Leicester Fleece. I think. She told me twice what it was but 2 days of intense S&W excitement has left me brain dead. I haven't seen her in ages so it was nice to chat with her about wooly things again.

She promised to post her processing of this on Ravelry so I can see her progress. I know she reads this blog so she better not forget. I really want to see what she does with this. You know it's going to be incredible.

My sister's haul of the day doesn't look anything like mine, but to each his own. I do know that their soap smelled a whole lot better on the long car ride home than my stinky fleece.

Sister #2 is lucky-she lives right around the corner. She visited the plant vendors over and over before deciding on her Red Honeysuckle. You can get plants there that you can't get anywhere else. Now that she knows that, we will probably need a cart if she comes back next year.

By the end of the day I was tired but I didn't want to leave. I couldn't bring myself to say it was over for another year. Yesterday I had The Mister, #2 Son, Daughter and Son in Law with me and today I had both sisters and Daddio to share in the fun. This year's festival was a real family affair and I think it was the best year ever!

PS: I know you are not reading this because you really want to know what I did. I know you want to know what I bought. Here it is. The weekend haul. All of it. It too me 4 "photo shoots" before I remembered to include everything I bought. Tomorrow I will tell you all about it.

2012 Maryland Sheep and Wool Fest Day 1

We were up and out the door by 7 to begin our hour and a half drive to the fairgrounds. I knit on socks in the back seat while The Mister and Daddio chatted up front. We dropped Daddio off at Sister's house. I am going to meet them back at the fairgrounds on Sunday morning to bring him home.

My first stop was in the main building in order to pick up a fleece. It was crowded and rather hot for being only 9:00 in the morning.

 I survived the experience and managed to get my hands on 4.5 lbs each of Romney X and Jacob.

 By 10:00 the wooly stuff had to come off. It was hot and we had a long trek to take the fleece back to the car. I loved my Sonata Crest of the Wave tank top. It was cool and comfortable. I got lots of compliments on it.

Thank goodness the tractor man rescued us from the long walk back with a ride in his wagon.

My first stop was at the exhibition hall where I saw this amazing needle felted sheep who was quite rightly covered in ribbons.

I also fell in love with this shawl. Just look at those perfect nupps. I need to find this pattern.

This should be someone's Ravatar. Princesses wear wool. Perfect.

I tried in vain to get some cute sheep pictures but it must have been lunch time because all I got were lamb butts.

It wasn't as hot as a few years ago but it was warm. I ate two snow cones and drank a ton of water to cool down.

Thank goodness for the rows and rows of port a potties. It is one of my favorite things about this festival. Everywhere you go there is a place to go. No lines. No waiting.

It was as crowded as usual in the morning but it seemed to thin out considerably in the afternoon. Everyone is trying to beat the crowds but coming early is not working anymore. It was horrible at 9:00. Elbow to elbow in the vendor booths.

We took a break under the trees to watch the dogs herd the sheep.

I played with the morning's addition to my stash. I'll do an entire post of all the goodies when I can think straight.

After the sheep dog exhibition I did more shopping. I made myself buy something from someone I have never bought from before. I tend to go to the same vendors every year and buy the same stuff. I really went out my my comfort zone here and I'll show you why later.

Having said all that I had to go to the one place I always go-Pucker Brush Farms. I just had to get my Party in a Bag. This year I got a really big bag.

I always start spinning the yarn for next year's shawl in the car on the way home so I tore into some of my new Polwarth for the long ride. Next year's theme will be Summer Breeze. Now to find the right shawl pattern for it. Summer Flies, you say? Maybe.

We took the long way around and doubled back past the fairgrounds on Rt 70 to go home so I had one more chance to wave goodbye. Not until next year-just until tomorrow. I will be back-and I need to remember to buy some sock yarn!

While I'm Away

 

I am off having my yearly nervous breakdown at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival this weekend so in my absence here is a little tribute to the two lovely sheepies (Corriedale and Jacob for those who care) who gave me an entire year of fun. In spite of the fact that I have not made a dent in using up all their beautiful fleece, I certainly hope there is another bag (or two) of something wonderful waiting for me to drag it home today. Fingers crossed!

2012 Maryland Sheep and Wool Eve

I packed my bags on Tuesday. I needed to do something before I exploded from excitement. I have been living in the Ravelry MD Sheep and Wool group for weeks now and everyone is in a state of frenzy, including me.

I had to go looking for my badges. Every year they end up in a different place. I even made a new one that has my Ravatar on it. You won't be able to miss me. The shell shocked look on my face will be another give away. My mouth will be hanging open and I just might be drooling.

I've tried on my outfit-several times now. The shawl and the bag are a must. I am not so sure about the top. I have become more apple than pear shape since I knit it but we shall see.

It's a good thing I dug out my Ravelry tees. They are covered in whatever greasy fair food I was scarfing down last year. They are going straight into the wash machine so I can wear one or the other on Sunday.

It's going to be a long sleepless night. I am pretty sure I will over on the "Who's excited?" Ravelry thread until tomorrow morning so stop in and say hi if you get a chance!

Goodbye Corrie

 

 It is almost MD Sheep and Wool Festival Eve and I needed to use up all last year's fleece so I convinced Daddio to help me card up the almost last of the Corrie. It goes so much faster when someone is teasing and someone is cranking.

 

I wanted to work my way through the pretty Easter egg dyed locks and we made quite a dent in the supply.

 Of course I started with some rainbow batts but they were not so clown barfy as I expected.

They came out very soft and pretty. I can't wait to get a free wheel so I can spin them. I ended up with 118 grams which I hope is enough for some socks if I spin it thin.

I also convinced him to try a little hand carding as I have a ton of tangled fiber to turn into rolags. He wasn't crazy about the hand carders-too fiddly for him.

 As a reward for all his hard work I let him choose his own locks and card away on the drum carder all by himself. He picked some blues, browns and oranges and came up with this. He ran it through four times before he was happy with the results. I wish he had made more because it is really pretty but I am sure I can find something to do with 40 grams. I'm thinking drop spindle for some pretty lace weight. I think I have a Bosworth free at the moment.

 

While he was cranking, I was washing. I am happy to report that last year's fleece is all washed up. I have so much fun with this one that it is going to be hard not to bring home another-even though I really DON'T need anymore wool because I am still going to be spending time with this particular sheep for a very, very long time.

Tumblers

Daddio finally caught on to how paper piece a tumbler shape and now you can't stop him. We've already got a shoe box full of these to sew together.

 

 In case you are wondering what I am talking about, Daddio is covering cardboard shapes with fabric so they can be sewn into long strips in order to make a quilt top. He loves cutting, ironing and covering the card stock pieces. Putting together the long rows-not so much. Guess who will be doing all that in the near future?

We get our paper pieces here.

A Mighty Good Thwacking

The almost last of the Corrie is being washed, dyed, spun and plied. The bag is almost empty.

It's hard to believe that all this came off the same sheep. I am finally beginning to understand how much control you have over a final product. I have learned so much about wool in this year's long quest to use up 12 pounds of the stuff.

 

The thinner of the two skeins is becoming a pair of socks for Daddio. He was the one who cranked out the batt so he will be the one to wear them come winter.

 The thicker yarn is just a sample of my wonky hand carded wool that I am hoping to turn into a spin-as-you-go sweater. I see a crazy multicolored raglan pullover in my future. I have always wanted to spin enough for a sweater and this last of the Corrie may well be it.