Yarn, Fiber, and Mud

I am back from a whirlwind of a weekend away at MDSW. As usual, it was a lot of fun but not particularly restful. It was really nice to have a weekend away from home with friends, particularly friends who don't care how many hours in a row I spend knitting.

We'd been lucky with the weather for many years going to this festival, but this year it seems some of our luck ran out. It had been raining pretty much all week leading up to the festival, and it poured on Friday as we were driving in, so naturally when we got to the fairgrounds on Saturday morning there was some mud to contend with. I think I did a fairly good job of not stepping in anything too messy (though there was also a walk through some of the sheep barns, which meant more than just mud on my shoes), but plenty of people were wearing boots or wellies (and I would have taken mine were it not for the fact that they're pretty darn uncomfortable to walk in). It was a damp, chilly day, but that made it perfect for wearing knitwear, so there were lots of shawls and sweaters to ogle! Fortunately the sun came out on Sunday and we had a very pleasant drive home, including a picnic lunch at a rest stop.

After going to this festival for several years, I did not feel such an urge to buy all the things, so much of this trip was about browsing and seeing people. Our first stop was the Jill Draper Makes Stuff booth, and I was able to show Jill my Ravessa Shawl sample knit in her Esopus base. Then I ran into Clara Parkes on Saturday morning by the Spirit Trail Fiberworks booth (incidentally, they still have a sample of my Three Wishes mittens on display!) and she signed my copy of Knitlandia.

I also made it to the podcaster meet-up on Saturday afternoon, where I got to meet Laura and Leslie of TheKnitGirllls as well as Melanie and Deborah, aka the Savvy Girls. I was wearing my Leventry sample on Saturday, and Melanie tried to steal it!

But enough name dropping -- I know you want to see the haul! I must say that I was fairly restrained this year. I really did not have plans to buy much of anything for myself, but a few things did come home with me:

There's another skein of Jill Draper Esopus in Tastes Like Purple, which I might use for another design, and a skein of marigoldjen merino/nylon in Sherlock that's destined to become a Spindrift Shawl. The colorful little batts are from Boho Chic Fiber Co. -- I just couldn't resist them. Finally, the big fluffy ball of naturally colored fiber is 4 oz. of Finnsheep roving; Finnsheep was the featured breed at the festival this year. The only acquisition not shown in this photo is a jar of honey from the Bee Folks; I bought a jar of Scorpionweed honey for myself and one for my mother.

There were some other purchases, too, but they were gifts for a friend who might be reading this blog and I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise by posting a photo here. Friend, if you're reading this, get ready to receive your goodies this weekend!