Saturday, May 5, 2007

Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival


Where do I start? First of all, I met Eunny. She was shocked when I asked for her to autograph my copy of Interweave Knits but I explained to her that she needed to get used to being a celebrity. I hope to see her and many other "famous" bloggers (isn't it great that w/ blogs anyone can be famous?) at a blogger lunch meet-and-greet tomorrow. How exciting! Tomorrow I hope to do some relaxing and socializing but today was busy-busy-busy. The number of vendors (and sheep) was overwhelming. My mom and I bought a bunch of roving, a little bit of yarn (we tried hard to resist) and a raw fleece from a Jacob sheep. Mom is going to wash it and comb it into roving which I am then going to hand dye. Can't wait to see how that turns out. My favorite yarn buy was a skein of Cherry Tree Hill Super Sock in a bright red/orange/yellow color (Sugar Maple is the name, I think). I also got some amazingly cheap ($1 for 150grams) yarn from The Little Barn. It is blue/gray/white and made from organic cotton and "Ecospun"-- recycled soda bottles. I bought enough to make a summer beach-style bag or something fun like that. Its not particularly soft but the color is bright and it feels durable. We got a ton of roving for the shop (so please buy it all so that I don't have to feel guilty for over shopping!!). We also learned a LOT about the different breeds of sheep and are trying to collect handouts, photos and samples of the fiber of as many as possible. Oh, and I fell in love with Tess's Designer Yarns. Wow, she has some nice stuff. Lots of silk and silk/merino blends. The yarn was just a little too expensive for me to afford right now (though worth every penny, I'm sure) so I settled with just buying a pattern for a amazing lace sweater (Lotus Rag). I also picked up a sweater pattern (Sahara) from Stitch Diva at the Tilli Thomas booth--another place with amazing but pricey silk yarns. I love silk, by the way. Finally, I bought several (ok more than several) types of natural dyes to experiment with. Natural dyes can be difficult to dye with and very inconsistent, but fun to experiment with. Plus I know that Ann Marie wants some natural dyed yarn! Thats all for now, I'll post another update after tomorrow!

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Laura and Eunny! How cool is that? Looks like you're having a great time to me. Can't wait to hear all about it.

Kristen said...

Eunny is my hero - I'm so jealous! Is the Cherry Tree Hill the Sugar Maple colorway? I happen to be working with that right now and every time the colors shift I'm filled with delight. Truly, this is a favorite yarn of mine! I'll be pouring over that roving on whatever night I can get off work early enough to visit the shop.

Have a safe trip back!

Anonymous said...

It sounds like you are having so much fun! Can't wait to hear about the trip and can't believe you met Eunny:)

Laura said...

Kristen-- yes, I think it is Sugar Maple. Beautiful isn't it? Now I just have to decide on a pattern....what are you using?

Kristen said...

Jaywalkers, totally. The short color runs really emphasize the zig-zag pattern. I'll have them with me on Wednesday (probably complete). I can't wait to see what you make with yours!

Karen said...

I'm so jealous! It looks like you had so much fun! I've been debating over whether or not to do the sahara pattern..I've been looking at it for a while, but can't decide. I'm excited to see how yours turns out!

Mia said...

It was great to meet you yesterday. I can't wait to see what you knit up with the yarn you bought. And Tess is dangerous. I should know.