Children's Journals

This is my journal, with posts mainly about myself. If you want to see posts specifically about Maia or Liam, check out the links to their journals under the "My Interests" section on the right side of my blog page.

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Sunday, May 6, 2012

Marlyand Sheep and Wool!

I had one heck of a fibre weekend! Friday evening, I went to my local yarn shop's Knit Night and enjoyed two solid hours of knitting with some of my close friends as well as some coworkers. And then Saturday, I drove to Maryland with my best friend, and a coworker, and we attended....


The Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival! Woo hoo! For the first time ever! I knew there would be a lot of fibre, but it's still amazing to be surrounded by so much of it. Everywhere you turn, fleece and batting and roving and yarns...and the colors! I am seriously surprised I came back without having driven my family into poverty. More on that later. First, let me share a good number of pictures from the day.
There was a lot of roving/batting.

Lots of yarn to drool over

(I seemed drawn to the red tones a lot)

I was tickled by this wavy scarf...I know I have seen the pattern before, but something about it being in this ribbon yarn just called to me. It felt light, but also silky/sleek. And it would be a perfect light scarf for throwing around my neck at work for when things might be slightly chilly, or to look good with something coordinating.

The ribbon yarn (can you really call it yarn) came in a variety of variegated colors...for some reason, the purple tones were calling to me on this one. I gave into my impulse and bought the skein.

We didn't really go see any of the animals, but we happened to pass by these alpacas. They were pretty cute, especially have been shorn recently. Such skinny little necks (and what soft yarn they make! Mmmmmmmmm)

This was the only picture taken of me the entire time. I fondled many a skein more than this (heh).

THIS vendor was probably my favorite...at least, I spentmore time in their area than anywhere else. "Creatively Dyed Yarns". The two side walls were LOADED with lovely yarns, and on a table towards the back was the 100% bamboo yarn that had me drooling for a while. I couldn't bear to pass it up, especially since it was 50% off it's normally high price (and I have a thing for bamboo). At first I managed to walk away with only one skein. BUT, as I was getting in the car to leave MDSW at 4:15pm, I suddenly worried that one skein wouldn't be enough to finish the project I had in mind. After a few minutes of waffling, my friend and coworker both told me to go for it...so I jogged back (yes, I jogged) and grabbed another skein. Heh.

Here is a picture of one of their side walls, from the outside. See? Tons of yarn. I actually think I had amazing willpower to only come away with two skeins. Be proud.

This vendor has whimsical/cartoony sheep paintings. If I had more money, and a place to put the pictures, I would have loved to have gotten a frame or two. I know, it's hard to see the pictures, so you might have to try to zoom in...I wasn't sure if the artist would want close-ups, so I kind of "kineared" this. (If you don't know what the means, you need to check out the Yarn Harlot's blog)

At first glance, I thought this was a pretty interesting jacket. The more I looked at it, the more I started to like it. And the woman in the tent was wearing a many-colored striped full-length version which made it even more appealing (not that I want to make the striped version...she just looked good in it). I started liking it so much that I bought the pattern of it. I figured I could find yarn locally to make it, and I can share the pattern with my best friend.
Here is a shot with the woman in the striped coat. Very flattering on her. Made me want to get the pattern.

MUPPET YARN! At least, that is what I called it. I think it was Prism Plume and it felt like umbelievably soft and silky...fluffiness. Or Muppet-ness. It was something I would never knit with...just cuddle with. But for $45, wasn't worth it for just cuddling purposes.

I also considered this Muppet yarn. Or at least something maybe a Muppet (or Fraggle) Fairy Princess would wear as pigtails. Heh. Very interesting. Called Prism Stuff. Again, not something I would knit with, just something neat to show people. But, this one was $115 a skein! Eeeep! I don't think I have EVER seen a skein go for that much. And only 300 yarns. Not for me.

I thought these glass dishes were very cute and whimsical. Enough to take a picture of. Again, I don't really have a place for them, so I didn't get one. But I considered it. If I knew someone who was into sheep images, I would have gotten one as a gift.

I am not a spinner so I don't really have an interest in roving, but I do find it nice to look at and touch. I can imagine the possibilities of it becoming different kinds of yarns. So I found these roving kits to be pretty cute...they reminded me of the hard candies my great grandmother used to have in a clear jar in her home in Arkansas. The kind that are coin-shaped and dime-sized and have an image in the center to show what flavor they are? That's what these look like to me. (Upon taking their card, I also realized they kind of look like sushi as well. But I like the candy more).

There was a vendor that did furniture weaving, which I found rather intersting. I don't have a need for more furniture, but I could really see my dad liking something like this. I could even see my dad doing something like this, though he is DEFINITELY not someone I would imagine as doing weaving or fibre arts.

I just thought this bag looked cute. And since I am considering getting a small table loom in order to try out weaving and maybe turn out quick small projects that will use up some of the yarn that I know I will never use on my normal knitting projects (I bought it when I first started knitting and apparently must have thought yarn was going to be obsolete in a few years...and it's yarn I no longer like for myself)...I figured this might give me some ideas. Since all I know right now is scarves. This looks like it's small pieces of woven fabric that have been felted, and then sewn together to make a bag front, etc. I sew as well, so I could see myself doing more than scarves.

After we were all fibred-out and ready to go, we finished off the day with dinner in a nearby restaurant called Bare Bones Bar & Grill. And let me tell you, the food was awesome! I was particularly in love with THIS:
The Onion LOG. OMG, it was heavenly. Even with three of us sharing in it, there was still plenty left over. I took home a third of what was left, and ate half of that today, and still have a good portion left for tomorrow. Mmmm.


So, what did I end up getting at MDSW? Well, not as much as I thought I had. I just spent a lot (in my mind). But I only ended up getting four skeins of yarn and a pattern. So, part of me is sad that I came away with so little. But I just remind myself of what that "little" cost, and I feel somewhat better. *smile* Somewhat...

So, I got the two skeins of 100% bamboo yarn, in a beautiful orange/red/maroon colorway. I plan to make THIS LACY TOP with it. I think it will look awesome with the varying warm colors. (Creatively Dyed Yarns, in colorway "Push", 100% Bamboo)

IMPULSE BUY! I have no current plans for it, but...it was 100% silk, and it had beads, and the color was yummy and warm and inviting and called "Glazed Ginger" which sounds even more yummy and warm and inviting and...well...I couldn't resist. But I only allowed myself one skein. I am sure I can make something lacy and small with it. (Tilli Tomas: Rock Star in colorway "Glazed Ginger", 100% Silk)

I also bought the ribbon yarn for that wavy scarf, although as you can see in the picture of my purchases, it's got a lot more colors in it than just the blues and purples of the skein I took a picture of at the festival. Besides purples and blues, there are browns, bronzes, browny-greens/yellows, and even a little bit of pink in there. Should be amusing to work with, going through all of the color changes. (Tess' Designer Yarns, in colorway "Enchanted Forest", microfibre ribbon)

I also got the fitted coat pattern, and my plan is to work on that at the end of the summer, when in theory I have finished my summer knitting. I know I am insane, because once fall starts, I will probably want to work on a few other fall projects I have in mind, and then suddenly it will be time for Christmas knitting, and at that point it will be far enough into cold weather that it won't be worth starting the coat, since it will probably take me several months of knitting to finish the coat (I get very little time to knit...alas).