It's Been A Long Time

It's hard to believe that last week at this time, I had already made most of my major purchases at Maryland Sheep and Wool. I was a lady on a mission, and this year, I had a plan! I remember standing in one of the check-out lines at Maryland with a lady, and she said that being surrounded by all the yarn and fiber just made her so happy! I have to say, that I echo that sentiment! It was fabulous to be around people who understood why that one particular skein of yarn could bring such a goofy smile to ones face!
If you've never been to a fiber event of this scale, it's a bit daunting at first. Where to go? What to see? What to purchase? Last year, I felt pretty overwhelmed and amazed. It's almost as if I'd been hit with a stun gun, really. The brain becomes a little fuzzy, you try to focus, and then you are distracted by another site.
This year, I had a plan. I made up a map with a list of all the vendors to see, places where I thought I might make my purchases. It turns out, that all of my purchases, with the exception of maybe one, were purchased at those planned stops! YEAH for lists and planning!
To start off the weekend, I was just SO excited, I had trouble sleeping Friday night. Considering that my alarm was set for 3:30am on Saturday, this was a terrible thing! I think I managed to get 2 and 1/2 hours of sleep total! I sometimes take longer naps than that during the weekend! I picked up my Mom at 5:00 am. We hit the nearest Starbucks for some reinforcements (I must tell you that the nearest Starbucks is at least an hour away). We arrived at the festival at 8:00 am, and that was just perfect. Mom made a bathroom stop, and I high-tailed it to the Fold's booth (STR). I know. I can order it on-line, but I must say, it's so impressive to see it all hanging there together. And so, we bought some STR, and stood in line to pay, less than 15 minutes - awesome! :) Later, the line for payment at The Fold was over an hour long, and wrapped a good way up the main street of the fair (STR pictures to follow in the next post). It paid to get there early, and I got some great colors, ones that I might not have purchased by viewing the pictures on-line.

So, I can't reveal all pictures/purchases in one post, so, I'll show you some purchases here.
This fabulous yarn above is from Dancing Leaf Farms. She has beautiful yarn there, and her sense of color is fabulous. Her farm is located pretty close to the Fairgrounds.
This yarn (the main skeins) are called Waltz, and it's 50% wool, and 50% Alpaca. The bottom skein is Peace Fleece to add some highlights. It's destined to become the Ballet Wrap Cardigan from IK.

The next picture up is from Tess Designer Yarns - my typical colors! The big blue skein on the left is destined to become a cute little Easy Breezy Top from one of their original designs. I thought I might start small first. I've never knit an adult sweater before, and thought that a vest-like pattern might be a good start. The skein on the right is a skein of their sock yarn, and destined to become a sweater for my niece who is yet to be born! I've got to start knitting it pretty quickly!


Lastly, we visited a lot the sheep barns on Sunday morning. Here's a picture of two beautiful Blue-faced Leisters......poor man's cashmere from their fleece! Aren't they sweet?
Stay-tuned for more pictures, and a contest! Happy Weekend - at last!