Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival

These photos depict a small part of the fun day at Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival on Saturday. Briefly, I will describe what these photos show. I was intrigued by the shirts on the line -- one each of all the shirts and sweatshirts that were being sold with the MDSW logo (this year's was not a fav of mine so I didn't buy one), the long line waiting to make a purchase (obviously others had a different opinion than mine about the logo), the baby goats, Billie and Barb and a little stuffed hedgehog gift from Barb's cousin, and just a few shots in general.

I went with a great group of ladies on a comfy bus -- let the driving and parking to someone else! -- sponsored by my LYS, the Knitters Underground. We began the day with Molly distributing tote bags that held a fresh bagel, cream cheese, jam and a bottle of OJ. Yummy way to begin the day!

Sadly, I only took a couple of photos because as the day developed it just didn't seem to work. Next year more photos will be a priority and also seeing some sights I missed this year -- such as the music and clogging -- are already on my agenda.

I was wondering how the extremely high gas prices would effect attendance. I don't think the sales barns were as jammed as ususal but I heard vendors say they were having good sales days...which is great news because then they will want to return next year. I and others did comment on the increased numbers of buses at the show. I think double of any of the 5 years I have been attending. A bus trip is fun, someone else drives AND buses are parked more closely to the entrance which makes walking easier. This is a very large show and the fairgrounds are a lot of space to cover.

What did I buy? Humm...let's see.. patterns -- one for a cute sock, a sampler lace vest, a felted purse and a baby kimono. I also purchased some yarn but much, much less than in previous years (my stash does not need enhanced right now!). I bought a cool skein of sock yarn from Autumn House Farms in colors of red, brown, blue and off-white but it is speckled with other colors and the fiber speckles are loose on the yarn; a skein of self-striping Sockotta in shades of raspberry and 3 skeins of Tess's fingering weight yarn in shades of lavender and and teal to use for an oblong shawl. I picked up the first skein of the latter yarn for a pair of socks but loved the colorway so much I want to wear it in a more obvious manner -- and I will have enough leftover to make those socks. Last but not least I found my favorite stitch markets at Ellen's 1/2-pint Farm yarn stand. I bought a package last year and really wanted more so I bought them in 2 sizes.

Two merchandising notes: I noticed a lot more hand-dyed rovings for sale this year than the other 4 years I have attended. Spinning seems to be increasingly popular. Also, saw an electric spinning machine...one needs to manage the roving as it spins but it goes more quickly than with a traditional wheel...to each his own.

Additionally, instead of 2 or 3 button vendors there must have been at least a dozen vendors selling gorgeous handmade buttons. Really unique ones that would be nice for felted bags.

I love the atmosphere at Fiber Festivals and already am planning two more events for myself this year -- the Finger Lakes Fiber Festival in Hemlock, NY in early September and Stitches East in Baltimore, MD in early November. The NY event will require missing a Penn State football game but they are only playing Temple so other than the general fun of the game I won't miss much!