Here it is Friday and I’m finally sitting down to write about Maryland. I haven’t a clue where the week has gone and on top of that, I just realized that two posts I did before I left weren’t published…ugh…guess I must’ve been more panicked than I thought!
Because I spend far too much time obsessing about the weather, I’ll sum up the festival weather report in one word — WET! — and now we can move on to more enjoyable topics.
The ACR booth was well stocked with glorious Coopworth fiber and I really had to work at not buying one of everything.
Deb, Kris & Nina at the ACR booth.
What I did come home with was a couple of small bags of dyed roving (Martha M) and a sweet needle felted sheep (Deb M) for my collection. I really wanted to bring home a few of Kris B‘s handmade sheep cards but never got around to choosing which ones…good thing I know how to find her! At other booths I found some lovely yarn for a Lynne Vogel pattern that I really like, a skein of small farm (Suffolk/Dorset) sock yarn from Solitude — love what they’re doing for their local wool growers — and some dyes to play with. At Spinner’s Hill, I found a pair of socks I couldn’t leave behind and at Kiparoo Wool, a pair of fingerless mitts for Jim. I know…I could knit these but the fact is that I probably wouldn’t so…now he has a pair. In my wanderings, I ran into old friends and chatted with total stangers while waiting in various lines. I stuffed myself full of fresh squeezed lemonade, leg of lamb sandwiches and kettle corn and fell into bed on Saturday night after a dinner of a few slices of cheddar cheese, a handful of peanut M&M’s and a half glass of wine…exhausted!
We tried to get some enthusiasm for the World’s Longest Scarf project going at the booth but it was difficult — the weather kept us from being able to set up a comfy spot for people to rest their bones while knitting a row or two.
This young lady is knitting a row on the World's Longest Scarf. This is the first fiber festival she's ever been to. What a great memory for her to take home!
Between showers, we managed to get a few people to knit a bit, tho. What’s this Longest Scarf thing? As part of the celebration of the International Year of Natural Fibres, teams around the world will knit sections of the World’s Longest Scarf that will all be joined together at the New York Sheep & Wool Festival Oct. 17-18, 2009. The goal is to raise $250,000.00 that Heifer Intenational will use to donate fleece-bearing animals of all kinds to needy families all around the world. Heifer not only donates the animals, but provides the necessary training so that the families can nurture and grow their herds and become self-sufficient. www.heifer.org The money will be raised by donation of $1.00 per row knitted/crocheted or $10.00 per inch woven/felted.
Letty showed us what to check for.
At the ACR’s annual meeting on Saturday night, we talked about all the usual stuff but the best part was a Conformation Clinic that Martha arranged with Letty Klein. We went into the sheep barns where we were able to get some hands on experience. Letty was delightful and so knowledgeable. I learned some new points and have been looking at my sheep in a whole new way!
More Festival news coming soon…
