« Worst Blogger Ever | Main | Not such a good day over here. »
June 23, 2005
Better late than never!
Oh, how I have meant to blog about the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival for weeks and weeks now! Would you believe me if I made up some lengthy story about how I didn't want my post to get lost in the flood of posts about the festival?
Sigh. I didn't think so. Well, that's okay! I've already made my excuses, and now here I am making good on my promise to post cute sheep pictures.
The festival was wonderful, as always. There was wool aplenty; I saw fleeces, roving, yarn, and, of course, a lot of lovely fiber still on the hoof. These little guys are too small to be shorn, but they're big enough to come to the fair!
The teensy lamb being held in arms is a Soay, a rare-breed sheep that is especially unusual because it sheds its fleece instead of needing to be shorn. The wool is soft, even though it isn't very fine, and it's not very greasy. I'd be interested in spinning some, if I get a chance; I didn't see any for sale at the festival. This little guy was less than two weeks old, and his human mom said he was "all tuckered out from the long day" he'd had.
I went to see the display of handmade items with low expectations this year. While I've seen some technically good work, I haven't seen a lot that is particularly creative at this kind of fiber show. There's something about the earnestness of being at a county fair/4-H kind of event that I think inpires craftspeople to submit their most straightforward efforts. Also, while cabled sweaters and lace shawls are usually well executed, other things, like felted items, are sometimes clumsily done. I find myself thinking, "Well, I'm happy for you that you made that, but what made you want to submit it to be judged?" Very little of the work in the room tends to be daring at all.
Imagine my delight when I saw the following piece: attractive, well made, depicting a nude, and best of all, honored by a first-place ribbon! Terrific.
When my little gang showed up at Mary's house at stupid o'clock to get going on our drive to Maryland, she surprised us by presenting us with bags and t-shirts! She'd sewn the bags, then silk-screened the bags and t-shirts with a logo she'd designed, which featured the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, and the Chrysler Building, interspersed with a sheep and a llama. Below them was the legend "NYC to Maryland, May 7-8, 2005" We were beside ourselves. The second day of the festival we all wore our t-shirts, and we were like a girl gang from the city, there to bring home all the wool. This last picture was taken just before we left for home.
It was a fantastic weekend. One highlight that I don't have my own pictures of was meeting up with some other bloggers! But those are all over the web. There's a bunch about the blogger meetup in a nifty article over at the summer issue of Spun. Now that I've actually posted to the blog, next up is updating the blogroll! I'm doing that right away, though!
Posted by Rose at June 23, 2005 07:11 PM
Comments
cutest lamb EVER. And those shirts rock.
Posted by: Rachael at July 1, 2005 08:18 AM
I am just catching up with your blog now! I finally put you on my roll... I hope that everything is going better with your mom these days. Did you get the evite for the 6th? I hope you'll come!
Posted by: kaitlyn at July 20, 2005 11:54 AM