Fall Fiber Festival 2006

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(Warning: picture-heavy post)

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Dear Old Camera (aka "G2"),

You have served me well, old Canon PowerShot G2. We've been through a lot together, in the 4½ years since I purchased you. We've traveled all over North America, and shared many experiences, and for that I am truly grateful. But, it's time to move on. Your zoom functions have been impotent for almost a year, and so I remain frustratingly unsatisfied throughout many of our times together. I just can't take another year of zooming in-and-out all alone, with just my elbows. And so, you've been replaced.

Meet your replacement:

Since you treated me so well, ol' G2, I hope you won't mind that I've hooked up with someone from your own family. This is Canon PowerShot S3IS. He's younger, hipper and faster, and his zoom is fully functional, and is quite a bit, (ahem), longer, shall we say. 12x, to be exact. I'm sorry, but it's true -- size does matter.

On Sunday, I took you both on one last outing together, the Fall Fiber Festival at Montpelier Station in Orange County, VA, (so close to the home and gravesite of our fourth president, James Madison, who also happens to be the namesake of my alma mater).

Ol' G2 - you won't recognize these pictures because you remained in your case while S3 got his first official work-out. And so, my old friend, here's a little of what you missed:

The festival grounds were ridiculously muddy thanks to 48-straight-hours of torrential rains:

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But pretty things could be found inside the tents:

Hooked rugs are so pretty!
Rug-hooker extraordinaire Robin H. might have enjoyed these,
but her bum ankle could not have withstood that quicksand-like mud.
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Check out those mitered-square socks! I believe these were knit by Melissa, daughter of the owners of Carodan Farm, who taught the class on making these back in June during Soxperience.

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And look - see that skein of white laceweight? I believe that was spun by Robin F.,
and I believe she won a ribbon for her efforts. Nice job, Robin! :-)

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Here's Issy from my knitting group, who was kind enough to drive us to and from the festivities.
We had lots of fun solving the world's problems during the lovely drive,
and at one point got so engrossed in our conversation, we missed our exit on the way home!


And look - a KnitPicks KIPer bag in the wild!
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A couple of goats, not so wild
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And we spied a couple of lovely handknits on fellow festival-goers:

A way-cool shrug - owner said it was just two rectangles
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And a gorgeous entrelac sweater -- love this!
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G2 -- here is someone very special. This is Queen Bess, acting as Booth Babe for the Spirit Trail Fiberworks booth. More importantly, G2, she's your new adoptive mother. She will take you to wonderful places, and tell fantastic stories. Just look at how expressive she is, telling a story about her car breaking down:

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Back outside, even though the sun came out and sky cleared:


the mud just stayed muddy, much to the delight of these kids:

I don't feel like it's a fiber festival until I've seen an alpaca:

And here's a real Suri, (whose parentage is undoubtably less loony than another Suri in the media)
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And the gorgeously soft byproducts of alpacas:

Inside another tent:

one of the festival workshops: felting on a grand scale
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Here's another gorgeous view of that Sunday sky, looking towards where they held the sheepdog trials:

And the following photo, ol' G2, is why I'm so happy with my new love, my S3IS with its 12x zoom. Standing in the same spot where I took the previous photo, I was able to zoom all the way out and get this shot of the sheep pen:

I love my new camera!
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Finally, it was time to leave, and this is what we faced, to get back to our cars:

What a wonderful day it was, despite the mud! Issy and I met up with Jane and Donna there, (although, shame on me for not taking their picture -- Jane was wearing a gorgeous aran cardigan she knit, and Donna showed us her current grape arbor shawl in progress), and after we left we stopped for a treat at the Tastee Freez in Gordonsville. Yum!

And I was fairly conservative with my spending, for no other reason than I feel like I already have a ton of yarn waiting in the wings to be knit, and so, unless there's an incredible deal or I can picture knitting a particular project with the yarn, I'm usually able to resist it.

That being said, here's my modest haul:

Muddy shoes,
a festival hat,
a Fiber Trends "Braid & Bobble Hat" pattern,
and two hanks of Euroflax -- 40% off!
Score!

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Issy was kind enough to bring me some "wellies" to wear instead of my tennis shoes, but alas, they didn't fit. But I just like to hear her say "wellies" or "galoshes" in her British accent! ;-) Thanks for a fun day, Issy! And here's hoping the (muddy) fiber festival made it a happy birthday for you!

And little 'ol Canon G2 -- thanks for the memories! Be good for your new mama!

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