Sunday, May 27, 2007

Part I – Sheep and Woolcraft Fairs and yarn and books, oh my!

Yesterday, Mike and I went to the Massachusetts Sheep and Woolcraft Fair in Cummington, Massachusetts, with a side visit to Webs in Northampton, Massachusetts. We had a great time and I picked up lots of goodies. I took a few nice pictures, some of which I’ll post today, saw a lot of sheep, and fondled a LOT of fiber. Now I can’t wait to go to Rhinebeck! It was not quite like I thought it was going to be, but it was fun, nevertheless. We got there around noon; the admission was $6 a carload, so very reasonable. We parked and then walked down to the barns to see what was what.

The first barn was mostly fiber and fiber-arts related goodies. First thing I saw as I rounded the corner was a gorgeous llama peeking around the edge of the barn at me. She was a beautiful honey brown shade and there was lots of fiber for sale for spinning and knitting. I fondled, but decided to look further before spending all my ready cash so quickly. We went up one side and down the other and checked out all of the goodies for sale. I even took a picture of the best sign I have ever seen: “Please Touch Everything.” How perfect, to be encouraged to come in and fondle all the fiber! Now anyone who knows me knows that I can’t fondle without buying something. I did restrain myself yesterday, or I could have spent much more money than I actually ended up spending (which was still too much...).

I decided that it would be much smarter for me to check it all out before I laid out any cash, so I went on to the next barn, and the next, and the next… I went on and found more and more goodies. I also found more and more sheep; there were all kinds of sheep. I didn’t even know what kinds they were. They never seemed to stop bleating as they were being prepared for their competitions. They did not seem at all happy to be washed and sheared and clipped here and there to make them pretty for the show. I even saw a girl cleaning her ewe’s hooves with a toothbrush! Talk about overkill! I do have to say the sheep were beautifully maintained and seemed to be very well cared for by their various 4-H owners. These kids were so serious about this competition. There were even some adults showing their sheep.

We saw everything from 2-week old lambs to full-grown rams and ewes. Now you might not think that sheep are that interesting, but they were all different. Some of them sounded almost human and they all had different voices. Funny, I never knew so much about sheep. The kids, after carefully shearing and cleaning their sheep, put little covers, or coats on them. I asked one of them what they were for and they carefully explained that it was to keep the sheep clean after all the prep. The sheep always want to lie down in the straw and of course, it sticks in their fleece and makes them messy again so the little coats keep them clean for the showing.

Anyway, it’s about time to get to what I actually did purchase. I fell in love with some sock yarn that came with a miniature sock blocker on a key chain. The sock blocker even came with a pattern for a sock sized small enough to cover it! I picked up a double hank of sock yarn from the same place as well (pictures on the right). I also picked up a book called “Golden Gleanings, Fifty Years of Knitting Ideas” by Joyce Englund. It contains all kinds of information on knitting, including reading patterns, stitches, finishing, and other tips and techniques. A pretty good find, I think. I picked three huge hanks of hand spun and hand-dyed wool from the Sliver Moon Farm (www.slivermoonfarm.com) to make a little something for myself besides socks (picture on the right). It’s a beautiful pink and raspberry colorway that I think will make a lovely sweater or cardigan. I can’t wait to find just the right pattern for it. Each 8-ounce hank contains approximately 560 yards of yarn so I have 1680 yards, give or take a yard.



The only really silly thing I picked up was a set of barrettes with little sheep faces on them. I don’t know that I’ll ever wear them myself, but I thought they were awfully cute so I bought them. Mike did persuade me not to buy a lamb marionette though. I get a little nuts at stuff like that and tend to buy “cute” things that I’ll never use, so it’s a good thing he was with me.

After we got some lunch (lamb-burgers, yum!) and sat a little bit to relax, we went and checked out some of the displays of spinning and weaving. I will NOT get into spinning if I can help it. I just don’t need another hobby that I can’t afford now. I can see myself getting all carried away with it, too, so the smart thing is to run, not walk, in the other direction when someone offers to show me how to do something like spinning. (Do you think I've talked myself out of spinning? I'm hoping this little rant will convince me, too.) Then we checked out the fleeces for sale. Even though I didn’t want to buy a fleece, I wanted to check them out just to see what was what. We were both amazed at the quantity of the fleeces that were available. We were also amazed at the feel of the fleeces. They were kind of greasy to the touch; I assumed it was because of the lanolin, and our hands were so soft afterwards from feeling them. No wonder they put lanolin in hand creams.

After the fair, we went into Northampton, Massachusetts to check out Webs. Check them out at http://yarn.com/ and you’ll see why I wanted to go there. I was totally boggled by the sheer quantity of yarn in the store, and then I went into the back where the warehouse (and the discounted yarn) is. I did find some lovely Rowan cotton that I picked up. I think I bought enough for a summer top, but again, I need to find a pattern. I also found two books in a used bookshop in Northampton as well. “Knitting with Hand-Dyed Yarns” and “The Knitting Directory.” Who could pass them up at under $5 each? I mean, seriously, how could I?

So now I have a bunch of new yarn to add to my stash and wind for projects and I can’t wait. Knitting is just so much fun to me and I’m glad I found that out.

By the way, I finished my SECOND pair of socks and have now started on a third. Can you believe it? Me, that hated socks, am now a nutso sock knitter. I’ve posted pictures so you can see how they turned out. I used Cascade Fixation for this pair in a mint green variegated colorway. I have included some “in-progress” pictures as well as the finished socks on my very own feet for your viewing delight.

Part II – me again
On Tuesday, May 29, I will be 51 years old. FIFTY-ONE! I still can’t believe it. I didn’t tell anyone when I turned 50; round numbers make me crazy. This year, I don’t seem to care. Is that a weird thing?

I’m still having some med issues and the doc has changed the dosages to see if that makes a difference. I did lose about 4 pounds and that’s a good thing. I’m off to wind some yarn and marinate something for dinner tonight and then to the store for picnic stuff for tomorrow. All in all, a busy day is planned, but I guarantee that I will get some knitting in.

Remember, until next time, wear natural fibers; hug your cat!
Ellen