So this past Saturday I was brave and ventured to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival all by myself. I had heard about this kind of festival before, or more, the knitting part and I really wanted to see what it was all about. Well, it was clearly popular, b/c when I was approaching like 2 hours after it opened I got stuck in traffic on the access road for like 15 mins just trying to park. But it was totally worth it! It was held at the Howard County fairgrounds, and a major part of the event is agricultural and basically farmers that have sheep and produce wood/lamb meat and whatnot showing off their animals and having demonstrations on sheep herding, sheep shearing, and other animaly things. I was there for the yarn! Another huge part of festivals like this is not actually the yarn, but the wool from the sheep that people use to spin their own yarn. Spinning is a major pastime for tons of people, and like knitting or other crafts/arts, those who spin, are seriously serious about it. There were auctions for spinning wheels and lots of spinning accessories for sale.
This woman was just camped out spinning her own yarn. She was also wearing socks she knitted!
I'm not into that aspect yet. I did see a pin that made me laugh though, it said, "I spin...because knitting is not weird enough!" I bought pins that said "Will knit for wine," and "Friends don't let friends knit drunk" b/c I thought they were hilarious. I saw a women w/ a t-shirt that said, "will knit for beer." Knitting really is a community with deep bonds and people who truly enjoy knitting for the sake of knitting and making things for themselves and other people. Just this week I was working on an older project and realized, knitting makes me relax.
So...I saw lots of cool things while walking around the stalls of vendors and outside. It really did have a festival feel. There were musicians, food vendors, and tons and tons of shops selling yarn, fiber [to make yarn] knitting accessories, books, knitted objects. There were classes all weekend long, and I passed a tent full of little kids all sitting in chairs knitting and I basically stopped to stare it was so cute. There were people just set up places spinning or knitting for the fun of it, AND there were cute animals to pet. I pet some Angora goats, which I found out, make "mohair". Angora sheep make "angora."
These little guys are Angora Goats. I pet a few, they were soft!
Finally, i got some awesome yarns for future projects. Part of me wished I had come with projects/patterns in mind b/c buying yarn for the heck of it is dangerous. 1- you don't know what you will use it for, so it might go to waste, 2- what if you find the perfect use, but don't have enough! So I tried to buy w/ a pattern from the vendor, or enough for small project.
The white yarn is the softest yarn I've ever touched. I HAD to buy it. From the point when I touched it, and then went to talk to the husband on the phone about something and went back there were only two skeins left, so I snatched them up! Luckily they are just enough to make this soft, flowy hooded sweater for me! The pinky yarn is for socks, as is the ball of black/blue yarn. I'm finishing up a pair of socks for my mom and I really want to make the next pair for me. The spirally [hank] of yarn is super soft and variegated and I got a free pattern for a neat scarf, and finally the other ball of multicolored yarn was just a spontaneous purchase! I could easily make a gift scarf or something from it, and hey, it was on sale [or at least they said it was.] I easily spent $100 on these yarns, and I had to make myself walk away from so many more that were awesome, but were like $40 for just one skein/hank/ball. Which, at this point in time, I cannot justify. Yarn at stores like JoAnn's and others is ok, but you don't really make long lasting quality things from it, so I know really good yarn is going to be expensive, but...I couldn't justify that. The best part is, at least half of these were actually made in Maryland, from MD sheep and crafts people that spun and dyed the yarn themselves. So I can feel good about buying local! I can't wait to go to this next year and will see if anyone else wants to go. It's free and was so much fun, even all by myself!
Baby blanket for Cobble Cobble's sweet little girl, quilting pattern inspired.
Hooded jacket for a friend's little boy.
And no picture update w/ both socks, but I FINALLY finished my mom's Christmas present pair of socks! Only about 5+ months late. I basically knit the whole sock while on the trip to Alaska. Everyone says socks are good travel projects b/c they are small and portable, and they are right! After doing this first pair of socks I am super inspired to knit a pair or two for myself. I have have at least four skeins of sock yarn in the stash waiting for projects. I got some of the new yarn from a cute new yarn shop in Juneau, hand dyed in Juneau.
