vanillabean knits: Maryland Sheep and Wool

The Maryland Sheep and Wool Fest was a riot. For those of you who aren't familiar with MS&W, it's basically a livestock fair for fleece bearing animals. About 34 years ago, spinners and crafty-type people started attending to pick up cheap fleeces to spin and weave.

Now it's a huge event, with knitters, spinners, crocheters, etc. mingling with livestock, farmers, dyers and vendors. Lisa, Regina and I even got to chat with a charming retired farmer while waiting in line for pulled pork sandwiches.

For the most part, there was a sense of camaraderie, easy conversations and curiosity from both 'sides'. Some of the booths were quite small though, and not for the claustrophobic.

I attended with my renegade knitting crew -- The Degenerate Knitters. Pictured from left to right: Lisa, Regina, Jennifer, Rhonda, Sherry and myself.

We saw teeny tiny goats.

Alpacas!

Millions of sheep. (As well as some rather large sheep parts that were quite shocking for a few of us city-girls!) That's a picture for another day!

This sheep in particular seemed to like me, and had little dredlocks. When I called to him he came over and took a picture with me. Then he bleated at me and I almost dropped my camera, I was so startled. Isn't he cute, with his tongue sticking out?

We ate our share of funnel cake. I was initially opposed to sharing, but Mom taught me good manners after all. It was quite windy, and in this picture, I actually have confectioner's sugar all over my clothes and face.

These alapacas were shorn. Can you guess which one we nicknamed 'Ringo Star'? Isn't he a little rockstar?

It was a long day, but I had a great time. One of the favorite vendors was not able to make it, but that was probably better for my budget anyway. I actually only bought 4 skeins of yarn, a decent amount of food, and some lovely handmade soaps. It's great to support local businesses, meet the owners, hear them talk about their products, and pet lots of yarn and animals. (With frequent handwashing of course!)

Here are my prize-winners, two gorgeous skeins of 100 percent cashmere. They're hand-dyed and from Just Our Yarn. A better picture of the variegations and true color can be found on their site. Each skein has 500 yards, so I can make a huge shawl with these 2 tiny skeins. I'll have to pick something really special. Suggestions welcome!

I was done shopping, but saw this machine washable and dryable laceweight yarn from Tess' Designer Yarns. For $10 a skein, in one of my favorite colors, I could swing it. Some of you may scoff at seafoam green, but I'm glad it's back in vogue. I love this color combined with cherry red ballet flats. And if you're still not loving the seafoam, you can call it 'cobalt teal light', like the paint color instead.