I was on training (yet again) and it so happened that the 2019 Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival was happening over the weekend that we were there. Luckily for me, it was not too far from my hotel - perhaps thirty (30) mins to an hour (1 hr) away (that's close in mainland terms). So, since my co-worker didn't want to do anything over the weekend, I decided that I would go on Saturday (and it was a good thing I did! - it poured on Sunday!). Since I knew that it was happening, I had a chance to peruse the Vendor listing and lo-and-behold, there were TONS of vendors I wanted to check out, including these:
- Backyard Fiberworks
- Bijou Basin Ranch
- Dragonfly Fibers
- Indian Lake Artisans
- JUL Designs
- Loop Fiber Studio
- Mark Supik Woodturning
- Mason-Dixon ATHA
- Miss Babs Hand-Dyed Yarns & Fibers
- Neighborhood Fiber Co.
- O-Wool
- Primitive Originals Kumihimo
- Shenandoah Fiber
- Signature Needle Arts
- Three Bags Full Studio
- Yankee Dryer Yarns
- Zeke's Coffee
This was just a small bit of all the vendors I looked at. I literally tried to see all of the vendors (short of the food and live stock vendors) at the show. ð
It was inexpensive to get in and the Uber ride out there was just as expensive as getting to Rockville so, it was well worth the time and effort to go. The only thing that was kind of junkie was that it had poured the night before so, the grounds were soggy and wet (good thing I had my rain booties!ð).
So, how was it, you ask? It was really cool and kind of fun to go to. It was really nice that I was on my own so, I could take as long as I wanted (and to go around in circles to check out all the booths - sometimes more than once since it was quite crowded). It was also nice that a lot of the booths, you could touch or even try out their products! I got to knit with Indian Lake Artisan hexagon needles (kinda cool but, as you go down in size (like a US 8), I couldn't really tell the difference between their needles and a regular needle), Signature Needle Arts (infamous amazing) needles (it was sharp but, until they come up with a functional interchangeable set, I don't think I'll be in the market for their needles), Louet Kollage Square knitting needles (they were so comfortable but, the cables for the interchangeable set were not as soft or pliable, nor did they swivel!, as their fixed needles version), and I got a sneak peek of Chiagoo's shorties (although I did not get to try them out).
I also saw T-O-N-S of yarn booths as well as the famed JUL Designs booth (yes, her shawl pins are really cool). There were so many cool yarns (if I hadn't blown so much the trip before on all the yarn I picked up on my last trip, I would've totally gone insane here ðĪŠ); there were tons of amazing sock yarns (some even glowed in the dark!), "regular" yarn and fibers. There were also spinners (and various spinning wheels) everywhere and as such fiber! If I wasn't so committed to my knitting, I would've been so tempted to learn how to spin (or at the very least, buy spinning stuff!!)! There were also a lot of wood turners and hence, a lot of nostepinnes! I was almost tempted to buy one from Mark Supik (fortunately (or unfortunately), it wasn't in the perfect wood so ... ðĨ)! And, there were knitting bags e-v-e-r-y-w-h-e-r-e!ð Oh, the prints and various sizes!!ð If money was no object, I would've come home with S-O-O-O-O-O M-U-C-H stuff!ðĢ
So, you must be asking now: Well?! Where is all the stuff you got?! Sadly, I didn't come home with anything except a kumihimo kit for Hubby and coffee (also for Hubby). Hubby has been obsessed with figuring out a way to make the perfect camera strap so, the kumihimo kit seemed like it would give him the skills needed to (finally) make that perfect strap (I picked it up from Primitive Original Kumihimo):
Coffee??, you ask? When Hubby found out I was going to the Sheep & Wool festival and that Zeke's Coffee would be there, he actually (specifically) asked me to pick up a pound of Bali Blue Moon. The only problem was, when I found their booth, they were actually serving coffee! I was soooooo worried that I wouldn't be able to get a bag of coffee for him (especially since he rarely ever asks me to actually look for something for him!)!ð Luckily for me, they also sold coffee beans. They even offered me a free cup of coffee with my purchase! Unfortunately, I don't drink coffee and there was still another week to go (and I didn't think Hubby would appreciate week old coffee, especially since he's getting fresh beans ...). ð
But, wait?! What about all the cool things you saw and touched?! Nothing for you?!, you ask? Yes, unfortunately (or fortunately - depends on how you see it (I see it as fortunate)), I had already picked up a ton on yarn the trip before and I haven't even touched it (much less stash from my other yarn crawls) so, I couldn't bring myself to pick up even more yarn. The other knitting paraphernalia was cool, even super cute and/or cool but, it was a nice to have, not a need to have, and we have other priorities at the moment. I also figured that it was not a big deal since I could possibly come back next year (as I still have a few more classes to go to on the East Coast so, I could be lucky that one of my classes coincide with next year's Sheep & Wool festival). ð
Well, that was my adventure! ð I hope you enjoyed my synopsis of it! ð☺️
