Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival 2006 - Part 2

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Welcome back to the second installment of the MS&WF report. I'm still only up to midday Saturday of that weekend. So much to share!

Before I dive into pictures from the blogger meetup, I must share some from my favorite eye-tantalizing booth, Tess' Designer Yarns. Look at these colors:

Minty-green (a bit washed out in bright sunlight)

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aquas and teals

turquoises, navy and purples

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pinks!

*** reds!

I didn't capture them all, but all the colors were stunning -- even the silvery-grays, browns and blacks. And the fibers were incredible as well -- silk, cashmere, angora, alpaca, merino, nylon ribbon, etc. I went through their booth at least three times that weekend to ogle and fondle, but managed to get out with just one small ball of raw silk and their fish belt pattern. I figured when I finally had the nerve to buy from them in larger quantities, I could hit their website.

Okay, moving on.

What are these people taking pictures of?

Say cheese!

Why, it's a bevy of bloggers!

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Can you find yourself in the following pictures?

My apologies for cutting off anyone's head or capturing an unflattering shot of anyone's behind!

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Okay, now a few shots of bloggers I know or recognize:

Hi fellow Richmond knit-bloggers! That's (L-R) Melanie, Suzanne, Mira, Beth and Maggie.

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The lovely Cara, our illustrious meet-up organizer, showing her shawl

And last but not least, the Richmond knit-bloggers get to rub elbows with greatness -- hi Wendy!

We're not worthy! We're not worthy!... ;-)

(Edit: you can also see other pictures of us here and here.)***

What fun that was! Next year I will know to bring sunscreen -- got an attractive burn on my forehead, nose and arms.

Stay tuned tomorrow for the (I hope) final installment -- pictures from Sunday's wanderings and the loot!

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Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival 2006 - Part 1

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Baaaaaaaaaa

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I have to report on last weekend's MS&WF in small bites, as I have lots of pictures to share, and picture-heavy posts tend to take me a long time to organize. So this will be the first installment of three, possibly four episodes.

After driving North on Friday in the desperately-needed pouring rain, Melanie, Suzanne and myself stopped for dinner at Macaroni Grill in Columbia, (I love their "Carmela's Chicken Rigatoni"), before checking into our hotel to rest up for a big day.

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Turns out, it's good to get to the fairgrounds as early as possible. I believe we arrived there right around 9 am when the place officially opened, and the first section of the field was already full-up with cars. Looks like a bunch of folks come reeeeeeeally early and just sit in their cars and knit until the gates open. Not a bad idea, actually....

Once inside, Suzanne had a mission to hit the Koigu booth in the Main Building and hit it hard, which she did with success. Can you find her in this melee? Neither can I.

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I sweat just looking at the press of bodies in this tiny booth

Melanie found a booth selling several-thousand-yard hanks of cotton for dirt cheap, so as both ladies were shopping or waiting to pay for their purchases, I started to wander.

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And look who I ran into?

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L to R: Spirit Trail booth babes: Correct me, but I think (?) that's Amie , Queen Bess, Jennifer and Erica.

As I wandered in the main building, I took a few pictures of things that caught my eye, like:

Team knitting -- a family knits a poncho

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Rover Dance marionette show

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Some sheepy string lights -- not just for Easter!

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Sheep masks - no need to buy one -- I can just borrow Jane's .. ;-)

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Lovely hooked rugs

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Later, we went back into daylight and found the booth I was most hoping to hit hard -- The Fold -- vendor for the highly coveted BMFA "Socks That Rock". When we got to their booth, this is what we found:

See all that sunlight coming through a rack where yarn should be? Here's Vanna, I mean, Suzanne, indicating the dearth of STR -- sold out by 10:30 am!

But I got my paws on a couple hanks! Score!

Sadly - neither of those hanks are for me, but I'm happy to get them to their designated recipients.

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In other wanderings, I saw:

Mecca within mecca - but I resisted

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An under-rated portion of the event -- the animals!


Hey - they even sell plants here!

Artist at work

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Okay, that's enough for one post. Tomorrow -- the blogger meet-up!

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So much to blog...

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...so little time.

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Stay tuned for a multi-episode report on the nirvana that was this past weekend.

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Couture Knitwear

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I'm so out, I'm out. Out of style, out of fashion, that is. You get to a certain place in your life and it's just not a priority, if it ever really was.

Since I've been working from home these past few months, for the first time in my life I've had the opportunity to watch Oprah with some regularity. It's a guilty pleasure, though, and I inwardly (and sometimes outwardly) cringe to admit it. My knee-jerk reaction to Oprah-watchers has always been, in years past, one of condescension and scorn. And now I'm one of them. Shudder. But now I understand a little more about why she's as influential, successful and powerful as she is.

All that is a preface to explain my next sentence.

Yesterday, Oprah had members of the Missoni family on her show. Apparently, these folks are the end-all, be-all of couture knitwear. Who knew? Certainly not I! As a new knitter, it was very interesting for me to watch as they gave viewers an inside peek at their designs, their design process, and their factory full of ginormous knitting machines, (how fun are those to watch?!) I had no idea that there was such a thing as couture knitwear. I'm not sure that their stuff is my taste, (if I even have any taste), but it's definitely colorful and fun, and apparently the celebrities love it.

Who knew?

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All Aboard!

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Hey, look what arrived today:

I'll be wearing one or more of these this weekend. Look for me!

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And on a totally different topic, here's a few pictures from my recent train travels:

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view from southbound platform at BWI train station - here comes my ride!

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Business class seating

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a short stopover at Union Station in D.C.

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view of top of George Washington National Masonic Memorial

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view from Fredericksburg station

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Does Fredericksburg have a Purina plant?
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Sock Saga and other Knitting Knews

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In the ho-hum category of knitting progress:

There hasn't been an actual knitting WIP update here for quite some time, and that's really by design. I'm still working on the same old sock and the same old shawl, and progress on them is crawling, so rather than another boring report on "one more inch completed", I've just blogged about other things.

As far as the world's slowest sock progress, I'm done with the cuff and leg (easy part) and am at the heel flap. Turns out, it's a good idea to count your stitches before you start your heel flap. At some point during the leg knitting, I'd added an extra stitch on needle one, thereby negating the need for a Make-One (M1) at the beginning of the heel flap. Since I ignored good common sense and did a M1 anyway, according to the pattern, without counting my stitches first, I found I had a slip stitch at the end of my third row, which I knew wasn't right. So I pulled the needles out and frogged a few rows, but then as I was reinserting the needles I dropped not one, but three (THREE!) stitches. Since I didn't have a crochet hook small enough to fix them, I had to hold them with safety pins, and there they've sat, waiting, for most of last and this week. I only recently acquired the appropriately-sized crochet hook, and so now must find some quiet time to grit my teeth, gird my loins and fix the problems. Did I mention that progress has been crawling? Mostly due to my oh-so-mature, Scarlet O'Hara method for handling setbacks -- set them aside to deal with another day. I'll get to it....

The shawl, a garter stitch rectangle, is just a much longer rectangle than the last time I showed any progress, but with still quite a ways to go. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

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In the more exciting category of fiber events:

• Unless you've recently crawled out from under a rock, you are more than aware of this weekend's annual fiber-lovers' pilgrimage to mecca, otherwise known as the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival. If you plan to attend and would like to wave hello if you spot me, it might help for you to know what to look for. I recently set up a CafePress store and have purchased a t-shirt, hat and button with my logo, to wear at fiber events, (but probably not all at the same time). So look for the logo!

• Thanks to Jane, I recently learned about the Shenandoah Valley Fiber Festival in Berryville, VA, (near Winchester), the weekend of May 20th. Jane will be working in her sister Lawre's booth, and there may also be a few folks from our knitting group attending that -- here's hoping they'll let me tag along!
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• Finally, thanks to Liz, I recently learned of SoXperience 2006 at Caroden Farm Wool Shop in Stanardsville, VA, on June 3rd & 4th, and have decided to attend!

I've signed up for the following classes:

• Beginning Socks on DPNs (I need all the help I can get!)
• Turkish Cast On (for toe-up socks on Magic Loop)
• Too Kool (Kool-Aid yarn dyeing)

all of which will set me back a whopping $10, (not including lodging). Liz and I may be driving up together and perhaps staying at the same place, once we decide where to stay. Any lodging recommendations are welcomed!

Here's hoping I run into some of you this weekend!

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Thursdays are for playin' hooky

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I think it might have been Suzanne who said yesterday that "Thursdays are the new Friday".... I'll buy that!

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A few Thursdays ago, you could find me here:

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Richmond Braves vs. Durham Bulls -- good times, (although we lost)

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My brother Pat with ⅔ of his tax deductions

*** My nieces, SIL Jenny, and her dad

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My little buddy quickly makes friends

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Annual Easter Candy rush on The Diamond
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The haul

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On another Thursday -- the Metro Richmond Zoo:

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Postcard of one of their best exhibits. The zoo hopes these two will mate and produce white cubs

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Gibbons

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Giant Galapagos Land Tortoise

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Hello, Mr. Giraffe!

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Bactrian Camel

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Hello Mr. Sheep!

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My parents on the skyride

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My niece hamming it up on the giraffe-go-round

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My parents, my sister Terry, and her daughters

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And finally, because we hadn't seen enough wildlife in one day, a wild bunny in my parents' yard:

No doubt re-energizing after his Easter toils

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And this Thursday -- another plant sale!