Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival

Saturday, May 3, 2008
Okay so this was a total surprise to me. I have never been. I only knew about it from my friend Maria. What a show! Seriously, it was like Madonna had come to the Howard County Fair. Too bad my camera battery was exhausted...

Cars for days. People everywhere. It was overwhelming, but I had so much fun!

On Saturday I decided to just let myself run wild. I had no plan. I just knew I needed new bobbins, a belt for a drum carder, heddles and a fringe twister. I went from vendor to vendor, looking, absorbing, thinking... What? What do I want? What do I need? Need? I couldn't even remember what I needed. So, I went with what I wanted. My first purchase was very small. Just four fiber samples to spin:

Merino/Silk (80/20)

Dyed Soysilk

Corn Fiber

and Bamboo

Next on the list came some lovely merino/silk (70/30) from Delly's Delights Farm, in Trappe, Maryland. The color is a soft lettuce green, with streaks of brown, orange, blue, red... When I got home later in the afternoon, I started spinning this right away. I'm loving the outcome so far...

Sweet Spun

Next I just walked around a lot in a daze. So many people. So much yarn. I went through the barns where all the sheep were and then I headed over to the main exibition hall. More venders from all over. So many people. Back outside! Use the restroom? Hungry? Forget it. I was not going to wait in line for either of these basic needs.

Walking around more, I wound up purchasing a pound of Shetland roving for $18.00. Not sure if that's a good deal or not, but the wool is very soft. Finally I wound up back where I started. Eyeing some very colorful roving from Persimmon Tree Farm. It was nice because hanging on each of the baskets of roving, they had a skein of yarn so you'd know what it 'could' look like after spinning... I decided on two colors to play with before heading home.

Yum!