Alternate titles: “Mud Mud Mud” or “The Stash Grows Ever Larger”
Hi there folks! Believe it or not, I did make it to MD Sheep and Wool this year. TheEnabler and I headed to MD to visit AwesomeE and her fam, as well as my family. We ended up with quite the crowd going to what was undoubtedly the coldest, wettest and muddiest Sheep and Wool I’ve been to yet. It was me, TheEnabler, my dad, AwesomeE, her kid, and both her parents. We were glad that both our vehicles were SUVs with all wheel drive as we parked, and watched a Subaru struggle uphill to a parking space (we skipped that row…). Then listened to the repeated intercom messages for people to go downhill when exiting. So uh… I think quite a few had trouble.
To back up a bit… torrential rains started on Thursday. Our drive down Friday was rough with heavy rains almost continuously. I did most of the drive as I had the day off, but TheEnabler was working on some deliverables in the car. As we entered Maryland, it only got worse. We passed several nasty crashes, and I had several periods where I was driving with my flashers on. On Saturday the rain had let up, but never fully stopped. However, it meant the ground was soaked already. Furthermore, it was in the 50s which is pretty cold for May in that part of Maryland. Between the temperature and the wet, it was pretty cold.
We spent a couple hours at the Sheep and Wool, which was as much cold and wet as most could manage. I have a high chill resilience, further boosted by the presence of so much fluffiness, but was OK leaving fairly early. Because my stash is great, and my time to use it is still limited. I brought cash with me and ALL fluffy purchases were with said cash to keep me from getting carried away. Because there are several other wool purchases I’d already made this spring (which I’ll need to catch you up on).
First up – Coopworth. I purchased two different colorways, each which is a natural grey mixed with an overdyed blue or green.
Next, two purchases from A Hundred Ravens. This was probably the most dangerous tent I went into… so many lovely lovely colors. I purchased a single DK skein which I’ll use for a little cowl I think. I set out to focus on getting unspun fiber, because most other recent purchases have been yarn. This was my single exception. I also purchased 8oz of BFL in “A Low Flame”.
Lastly, I picked up some flax so I can give spinning linen yarn a go. I have the Ply “Flax” issue which I imagine will be helpful when I give this a try. I purchased 8oz so I’d have a decent bit to play with. One of my goals this year is not to be “precious” with the craft supplies I purchase. I should be using, exploring, creating, and growing. Not carefully hoarding for the perfect day and moment to use things.
So, that was MD Sheep and Wool this year. I’m looking forward to additional wooly fiber festivals over time, but right now life is still pretty busy and if I’m honest – I have loads to play with right now. I think I’d like my next festival to be one where I can go, look, and sit with fellow fiber peeps and just work on stuff while surrounded by inspiration.
P.S. – forgive the less than stellar images in this post. I don’t have my usual machine with software to do collages and stuff. I resized everything in Paint and had to upload smaller formats on the hotel internet.