MDS&W

Yesterday I went to my first Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival. My knitting friends had been talking about this festival for months and I decided to hitch a ride down w/ them and check it out for myself. The day started out cool and foggy, but w/ no real rain predicted in the forecast. I was picked up around 7AM and we were on the road by about 7:20 or so. After a brief stop at Chesapeake House on I-95, we made it to the festival around 9:30. I didn't even wait for Marissa to park the car and hopped out to get in line at the potty.

Sherry had warned me that if I wanted Socks that Rock, that I had to get over there first thing b/c the line was long and they usually sell out by noon on the first day. I had heard the socks were great, so I hurried over there first. Snagged up a few skeins and then got in line. I must have been in line for a good 45 minutes to an hour! This picture was taken as I was in the barn almost ready to pay. The line was out the barn and around the bend! Look how many skeins the people in front of me were buying. Sherry wasn't lying when she said folks rush over there. The line/wait really wasn't so bad considering folks were chatty. One woman next to me was from outside Breezewood, PA and another guy was from Altoona. We got to talking and he totally remembered Glosser Brothers and Gee Bee (how cool is it that Gee Bee/Glosser Bros. is in Wikipedia).

Afterwards, I went up to the tent where they were selling Brooks Farm yarn. I ended up spending a lot of time up there, waiting in line, seeing something I liked after paying for something and then getting back in line to do it all over. Sheesh! Here are some pics of the yarn in the Brooks Farm tent and the back half of the line I was in the 2nd time around.

Eventually, I wandered thru the rest of the barns, but couldn't really enjoy them b/c there were so many people and I felt a bit trapped. Think of trying to get around mall walkers, but in a much smaller walkway. It made me batty. I was mostly on my own during the day since everyone had their own plans of attack. I met up w/ folks here and there as the day went on.

Around lunch time, I met up w/ Bari from camp, her 2 daughters, and her sister, Robin. It was great to see Bari again. I got a kick out of all the people walking by and staring at her little girl, not b/c she was the cutest little thing (she was, especially when she laughed at my crazy faces), but b/c of the sweater she was wearing that Robin had made her. I forgot I was at a knitting thing and folks actually focus on that stuff. I forgot to get a picture of Bari and me, but here's one of her and her daughter Jamie.

The fog lifted around noonish and it became a beautiful sunny day. Forget the fact that I was exhausted when I got there, but by the end of the day, I was really wiped. I ended up buying far more than I had ever expected. Some yarn was regular price, but some was significantly discounted that I couldn't not buy the yarn. Here's what I came home with (in the bag and out of the bag):

All in all, it was a fun day and I'm glad I went. Now I have more yarn that I could have ever imagined, which means I need to find lots of projects to do. I hope my knitting obsession doesn't die off before I use up this yarn!

And finally, here are some pictures of the folks I came down with.

Ok, most are of folks that came down w/ us. The llama alpaca was there already. :-)