Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival 2007

Wow! What a fabulous time I had....but I'm soooo tired! The weather was absolutely perfect - no rain and no excessive heat. I went both days - a first for me! Check out the crowds!












These are just a few of the many pictures I took - mostly of my friends and all the animals. I'll try to get the rest posted to my Flickr account sometime next week. On the left, we have Mia's mom, Mia, and Erica - Mia was my SP8 Secret pal. I first met Mia, her mom and her friend Erica "face-to-face" when we did a "yarn crawl" in Alexandria back in February. I also ran into Jody, my SP9 hostess...but unfortunately, I didn't think to get a picture!

Here, we have Karen (it's her first time here, can you believe it!) and Carol - with her wonderful llama fleece. Check out the shawl Carol is wearing - she hand-spun a ball of wool from the Barefoot Spinner and then wove it into an absolutely stunning shawl. (Karen and I definitely lust after that shawl!) And then there's Lisa with her fabulous cabled Aran. She finished it Wednesday.....just in time to model it at Sheep and Wool. The day started out quite chilly, so it was the PERFECT accessory for the day!

Ohhh.....the Golding Spindles booth. They have the most incredible spinning wheels, looms, and drop spindles. You really must take a look at their website. They definitely love and respect wood and make absolutely exquisite fiber tools! The spinning wheel to die for = it's called "Flock of the Shepherdess" - it's so beautiful and spins like a dream! Check out the matching chair! You can also see part of the loom in the second picture. And their drop spindles....wow! What can I say! (I was bad.....I got three of them! All different weights, of course 'cause you never know what you "need" to spin!)























These shorn alpacas were so cute. I do think that the front one got tired of being peered at and "hid his face" so he could get some peace! Poor thing!



Colleen was a featured artist at the Springwater Fiber Workshop booth. She had her own mohair roving and yarn at the booth. The wool on her drop spindle is mohair from her goats. Another friend, Jayme (sorry, I didn't get her picture....) has drop spindles and orifice hooks that were featured here as well. All is not lost....if you missed them at the festival and want some of Colleen's incredible roving or yarn or some fabulous fiber tools hand-crafted by Jayme, you can still get them at Springwater!


Amy and her friend (sorry...I forgot her name!) were working the Toutha booth - incredible handcrafted articles made by incredibly talented artisans. Amy, a very talented fiber artist, had several felted bags featured there.


The Jacob sheep is probably the oldest known domesticated breed of sheep. It is believed that they descended from Jacob's flock.....from way back in the Old Testament. I think they're so cute! (And Carol couldn't resist picking up a Jacob fleece while we were there!)




I think this is the ultimate - spinning angora directly off the bunny! For some reason, this ALWAYS fascinates me! I'm sure it takes quite a bit of skill to comb the fiber off the bunny and then spin it immediately, but she always makes it look so easy!




Oh...while I was at the festival, I solved the "mystery wool" question. I found a nearly exact match of the roving I was given - it's 85% Merino and 15% silk - no wonder it was so incredibly soft and gorgeous! And now I know what gave the finished yarn the fabulous luster! I still haven't "set the twist"....I'm running a bit behind on everything!