As we drove to the Howard County Fairgrounds, I had semi-jokingly commented to my companions that a main goal was to avoid leaving with any purchase that breathed. Well, I came closer than I'd anticipated to not meeting that goal.
After we left The Fold, clutching our precious STR loot, my sister L and I stumbled upon the Levin & Raja booth, which was piled high with plastic bags filled with fleeces. The very nice Betty Levin took the time to chat with us about them. She took the time to teach us a little bit about shopping for fleeces, spreading out a pale blue flat sheet and pulling out a very pretty silver-and-tan fleece for inspection.
She explained that she would not return to S&W next year because of training for sheepdog trials, but that if any of her clients wanted to purchase fleeces from her in the future, they had only to call and ask - she keeps meticulous records and notes of every single fleece she's ever sold. Though tempted by the pretty silver-tan fleece, I demurred and returned outside to meet K and T as they rejoined us.
Once I caught a glimpse of K's new acquisition - 6 skeins of deep red Tilli Tomas Demi Plie lace-weight silk for The Shawl - I became determined to visit the Tilli Tomas booth... After getting the girls' advice re: the fleece.
Above: Opal - Border Leicester fleece from Levin & Raja. Opal with fawn tips.
We engaged Betty in another extensive conversation, this time about the ewe from which the fleece had been sheared. She spoke about the sheep as if she were a much-loved pet, so T asked her name. With a confused look, Betty said, "Y33." She concluded with a set of rough instructions for post-purchase fleece handling. Essentially, I would have to wash the fleece, then card it into spin-ready shape, both activities I haven't tried before.
Well, long story short, I am blessed to be friends with sincere enablers, so of course I walked away with the gorgeous 1-1/2 pound opal Border Leicester half-fleece with fawn tips. I figured (and K agreed) that 22 bucks was a small price to pay for a valuable learning experience. (Betty must have known she had me when she saw us approach her booth for a second time. )
Clutching my impulse buy, I approached the Main Building with my friends. As I read the accompanying index card aloud, with its "opal" color designation, my friends suggested naming the fleece "Opal." And so Opal she became.
Our next stop was the Tilli Tomas booth. As I walked, my head swiveled from side to side and my eyes darted around frantically as I drank in the sights and sounds of the festival. The Tilli Tomas booth was, predictably, crowded. I entrusted Opal to K as L and I plunged into the fray.
Above: Tilli Tomas Beaded Lace in Sahara.
I spoke with the proprietress (Tracy, I think her name is) about a non-beaded silk lace to match the blue of the Beaded Lace in exclusive Stitch DC colorway Equality. She didn't have any, but offered to dye up a batch for me - and to give me the special festival price of 10 bucks a skein (a true bargain!).
An agreement having been reached, I returned to my perusal of the booth. L immediately selected a very pretty pink skein of Rock Star (a steal at $25), while I, predictably, oscillated between various colorways and yarns. Ultimately, I selected a pale gold-ish Beaded Lace (colorway Sahara). (I would return the following day to purchase a non-beaded silk lace in a natural color to mix & match with the beaded Sahara.)
Above: Tilli Tomas Beaded Lace in Sahara on the left, Demi Plie in Natural on the right.
Then it was back outside to some of the outdoor vendors. First up was a favorite of mine, Tess' Designer Yarns. I discovered Tess' last year, attracted initially by the crowds swarming like bees to honey, then captivated fully by the riot of soft, subtle colors painted onto soft, touchable yarns. Heaven, indeed.
This year, I was less overwhelmed by the booth (then again, I was less overwhelmed in general), and wasted no time zeroing in on exactly what I wanted - a long, luscious skein of pale celadon green Superwash Merino. I had to fight off a couple of equally determined fiber enthusiasts to get to it, but I managed. Okay, so "fighting off" didn't really involve any aggression or even a hint of violence, just a firm statement of my desire to purchase the last skein of that yarn in that color. It was totally fair; I spotted it first, I got to it first. And I was polite. (L & T pointed out a few tiny spots of bright yellow hidden deep within the skein of pale green, but as that was the last available one, I decided I could live with those imperfections. Small flaws add character, right? Especially the unobtrusive ones.)
Above: Tess' Designer Yarns Superwash Merino.
After Tess', we moved across the way to Misty Mountain Farm - another favorite and the site of my final purchase last year, an impulse buy of super soft natural-colored merino roving. After purchasing my Opal, I didn't really feel a burning desire to purchase more fiber. After purchasing my Tilli and my Tess, I didn't really feel a burning desire to purchase more yarn. So I browsed. And I looked. And I stood in line whilst K shopped. (It was only fair, especially after my buddies had stood in line for me at Tess'. Turn and turn about's fair play, or however the saying goes.)
When K and I blinked our way out from under the tent into the emerging sunlight, we found L had returned from a quick trip to the Ribbon Chips booth, bearing a very welcome gift - food! I highly recommend Ribbon Chips, a plate piled high with thinly sliced ribbons of potatoes, quickly deep-fried into crispy goodness and topped with the works - melted nacho cheese, cool sour cream, snipped chives, bright bacon bits, and pickled jalapenos. Pure deliciousness. The four of us devoured our little mid-day, pre-lunch snack.
We then decided it was time to make a quick pre-lunch return trip to the car to drop off our loot, with a quick detour at J's Court to say hello. We walked through the Rabbit Building, where the Ravelry meet-up was scheduled to take place. It was packed with bodies, everyone eagerly waiting for a Ravelry royalty appearance. Speak of the devil, as we approached the Western Ravelers' home base, we encountered a pleasant surprise - a glimpse of the Ravelry celebs (Ravelebs??) themselves, just as they were departing J's Court. As we readied ourselves for our stroll back to the car, we saw a trio of women carrying Ravelry tote bags filled with Ravelry buttons and descended upon them en masse. (As it turns out, we were lucky to get to them when we did, because all 700 buttons were gone in no time.)
Once we'd deposited our purchases thus far in the trunk of K's car (cracking open Opal's bag so she could breathe) and downed some cold lemonade (thanks to K's forethought), we returned to the festival for lunch. We settled our butts onto a patch of grass by Barn 1, positioning ourselves strategically close but not too close to the performance stage to munch on our lunches. (I thoroughly enjoyed my sliced lamb sandwich, yum! And no, I suffer no qualms or twinges of guilt about cooing over cute lil woolly lambs and then turning around and eating a lamb lunch.)
Above: Cute little Scottish Blackface lambs.
Speaking of, there were many, many adorable sources of fiber-y goodness.
There were cute little lambs...
Above: These particular 6-week-old lambs hopped around - literally!
And there were goats...
And there were alpacas...
Above: A pair of alpacas, whispering sweet nothings to each other... And laughing??
There were also llamas and rabbits, but I didn't take pictures of those. I didn't even see the bunny rabbits this year - where were they?? I was tempted to come home with one last year... Good thing I didn't though, Mom would've flipped out, the dog would've gotten over-excited, and the house would be filled with bits of fluff, at which point it would've been Dad's turn to flip out.
But I digress. After lunch, we wandered through the vendor-filled barns and then returned to the Main Building, where I sought out a couple of spindle-makers: Golding and Journey Wheels. I gave a Bosworth Midi spindle a, well, spin, but opted against adding to my spindle collection this time around.
I also checked out some of the niddy noddies that were available for purchase, including the ubiquitous Ashford, Louet, and Kromski. At The Spinnery booth, I was attracted to a 1-yard niddy noddy hand turned by artisan/craftsman Michael Holcomb. I moved on, however, thinking I wanted a longer skein. (Before long, I would come to regret not snatching up one of these beauties when I had the chance.)
Above: Michael Holcomb hand turned niddy noddy at The Spinnery.
T and L got to step into the role of enablers (again), when K, intending to play enabler, led me to the Cloverleaf Farms booth. There, she pointed out the lovely braids of merino/tussah blend roving. I had a hard time selecting my favorite among the shades of blues, violets, and greens. Finally, I settled on the lemon-gold yellow, after K expressed interest in the same colorway as well. We decided to conduct a "scientific" experiment: she would spin her braid of sunny yellow 70/30 merino/tussah roving on her wheel, while I would spin mine on my drop spindle. And that turned out to be my last purchase of the day.
By the time 2:30pm rolled around, all of us were dragging a bit. Even so, we wove our way around some of the outdoor booths we'd overlooked previously before finally making our way back to the car around 3:30 or thereabouts. Of course, we had to stop by J's Court to pay our respects and share our MdS&W loot before taking our leave.
And thus ended - quite successfully - Day 1 at the 2008 Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival.
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