Fiber Junkies

If you know my sisters and my friend Tara you know that we have a little bit of dork in us.  I would say just enough to make us find fun in just about anything we do.  And as true dorks we spent many sleepless nights the past few weeks laying awake thinking about the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival. We couldn't stop thinking about yarn and patterns and Giros oh my.  So Thursday night we got together at my house to finalize our patterns so we knew why type of yarn to purchase at the Festival.  We searched Ravelry and had some pizza and beer to celebrate Tara's Birthday.

My sister Leanne attempted to bake a cake.  She clearly is a terrible baker.  Or not patient enough to let the cake cool before applying the icing.

So Friday we were off to Maryland. We stayed at a lovely hotel and had dinner at a fun restaurant and sat outside overlooking a large pond.  To make the night even better it was Prom Night! We oohed and aahed over the girls as they came down the steps all dressed up to head to a nice photo spot overlooking the water.  It was so fun watching the couples getting their pictures taken.  The weather was beautiful and we had a wonderful time.  After dinner we found some nice chairs and sat down to knit and crochet and have a little wine. My sister Liz is expecting a baby boy in September, so she was sticking to non-alcoholic drinks.

Yup still dorks when we go out.

My 9 month old nephew came on the trip with us too. He was an angel the entire trip. He is such a good little boy.

After a quick breakfast we were off to the Festival.  I was much more interested in finding yarn and roving than taking pictures, so don't mind if some of them are blurry and not cropped well. I wanted to share the Festival for those of you who have not been there.  There are barns and barns filled with yarn, finished products, buttons, spinning wheels, spindles, the list goes on and on.  There are sheep everywhere walking back and forth to get sheared being sheered in front of us, sheep dog demonstrations. Just about anything sheep related is going on. There are also alpacas and goats there too. And a few bunnies.

Leanne & Chase

 This is a cashmere goat with her twins they are two weeks old.

This woman had her pet rabbit on her lap and she would brush her with her hand and use the fiber and spin it right on her wheel.  It was so cool and the rabbit seemed to be enjoying it just as much.

A broom making demonstration.

This guy was making drop spindles.

This is one of the barns were the vendors were selling their items. There were many of these barns, but the main exhibit building which is huge, plus the gazillion outside vendors.  It is like Fiber Heaven.  Oh plus there are many more buildings where the sheep are.

My sister Liz was on the hunt for roving.

Leanne got her yarn for her tri-colored scarf.  The colors are so pretty!  I can't wait to see it done.  Little Chase didn't fuss once. He even took a little nap.

Leaving the festival I was overwhelmed with how many cars there were.  There were cars everywhere, hills and hill and fields and fields filled with cars everywhere you looked.  I never knew there were that many knitters out there!  Oh and sheep lovers.

People kept asking why we were going down to the festival.  My answer was besides a nice girls weekend. I was very excited to support local farmers.  I purchased lots of yarn and roving (which I'll share in a later post) from the actual people that make or dye the yarn themselves.  I gained a lot of knowledge by seeing demonstrations first hand.  I missed out on visiting many of the sheep :(  This is a two day event and in my personal opinion I needed one day for yarn and roving and one day for the sheep.  But we were only there for one day and I loved every second of it!  I can't wait to share my new stash of yarn and roving.