Maryland Sheep and Wool

I attended the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival in West Friendship, MD and it was a very hot day. We left DC around 7:30 in the morning with Sue's group of knitting peeps. Tami drove us all in her van and here is a picture before the shopping and heat of the day began.

Sue, Tami, Inge, and Val

We first went into the big barn and everyone split up to shop before meeting back at the front of the barn after about an hour. I found some cool gifts for my spinning peeps back home as well as a present for my mom for mother's day. I also bought some silk yarn from Tilli Thomas after seeing all the "sale" signs - it is some kind of pavlovian response that I can't resist. I also broke down and purchased a purple heart spindle from Bosworth. There were so many people crammed into the place that I didn't get near the signature needles booth or the yarn barn. Little Barn fibers were also there but there were too many people there as well. Miss Babs booth was also overrun but I was able to chat with one of the ladies from Just Our Yarn to let her know that my beaded shawl I had purchased from them in Riverside was a hit. I found some dyed silk fiber and a silk brick that were priced right.

After meeting up at the front of the barn, Inge and I broke off to get some lunch (lamb sausages and iced cold lemonade) and go to the podcaster's meet and greet at the front gate. Here are the two of us after lunch waiting for their arrival since they were all about 30 minutes behind and it was dang hot.

After the podcaster's arrived, we stood in line in the hot sun as the receiving line moved very slowly. First up was Jasmine and Gigi of the Knitmore Girls.

Then it was Meghan from the Stitch It! podcast.

Then finally Jackie from KIPing it Real.

Jackie provided an awesome goody bag with samples of yarns, buttons, tape measures, and scents. She also organized a drawing for some door prizes and I've kept my losing streak going as I didn't win anything. I met some cool people while waiting in the small shady places where we shared to stay out of the sun.

After meeting up with the group after lunch, we all headed off in opposite directions to meet up again at 3:30 for the ride home. I wandered around in the smaller barns and I felt the yarn and fibers actually repelled me since it was so hot. In some of the barns, there was no air left to breath in the enclosed spaces. I felt bad for all the animals as most just laid around due to the heat.

Other items that jumped into my bag: glass circular knitting needles, a clay supported spindle, a tpi gauge, a skein of creatively dyed lace yarn, 4 oz of undyed polworth, and some magnetic pattern keepers.

I had to break down and buy a hat from a nice man from Australia and wandered into a gardening booth and bought some seeds for Janet for her organic garden.

I was pooped at 3:00 and hit the restroom for the ride home. I think I sweated out my large lemonade and two bottles of water.

When we all met up, everyone was ready to head back. We discussed what everyone acquired and what the highlights were. Inge, Sue, and I had dinner at the Macaroni Grill where I preceded to eat my entire caesar salad, a entire plate of pasta and vanilla gelato with strawberries. All my plates were licked clean.

After a cool shower, I climbed into bed and tried to sleep in the humid weather. It was an awesomely good day!