A Few Random Festival Photos and the Ride Home

As I said before, the weather was gorgeous, so here are some shots taken through Whisker’s windshield on the way home.

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Handmade brooms for sale, a good day to wear a kilt and an impromptu jam session.

Goats and More Sheep

I was upset with the Wensleydales because they stole my hairstyle. Some nerve!

Auction of the Shawls

These shawls were produced during the Sheep-to-Shawl competition in which each of eight teams must shear its sheep, hand card and comb the fleece, spin and then weave it into a shawl of predetermined dimensions within three hours. It’s great fun to watch. Although it is a timed event, the team members never seem nervous or anxious. There is $1000 in prize money at stake. Next year I’ll take photos of the teams working on the shawls. No just anybody (meaning me) can participate. This contest is serious business.


In previous years the shawls have been auctioned off for a lot of money, but this year they went for a paltry $100-200. Jane, the woman who used to run the auction, was a lively old auctioneer who could really get people to keep bidding higher (and was entertaining, to boot), but she died last year. People blamed her lackluster replacement for the low bidding and thought is was a real shame that such high quality shawls were sold for so little. I overheard one woman say, “She won’t be running the auction next year, I can assure you of that!”


Of course, those who were in the market for a hand-woven shawl (for Mother's Day next week) were thrilled at the rock-bottom prices.

I liked the pattern of the dark green shawl, but the rainbow-colored one was gorgeous. The earth-toned one can go with almost anything in one’s closet (dressy or casual) and the light green one was very appropriate for the spring season. There was a natural-colored one which I didn’t get to photograph which was quite pretty, but one had to see it up close to appreciate its beauty.

Eek! Naked Sheep!

A festival volunteer does a a sheep shearing demonstration with electric clippers.

Another volunteer shears his Border Leicester with blade shears. This method is more time consuming, but less traumatic for the sheep. He also explained that in past the wool of black sheep* was practically worthless because everyone wanted white wool which could be dyed. Today, however, it is very sought-after by spinners and weavers of natural hues precisely because of its blackness.

*The English idiom ‘black sheep’ originated from the occasional black sheep which are born into a herd of white sheep due to a genetic process of recessive traits. Black sheep were considered commercially undesirable because their wool cannot be dyed as white wool can.

A Girl and her Lamb

This little girl’s family has a farm in Calvert County. Her father explained that, although he did not come to the MDSW Festival with the intention of purchasing any livestock, she had nagged him all day. Her two older siblings each have one, why can’t she have one too? That very logical argument, coupled with the fact that they came across this lamb, which was priced within their budget, made it possible for baby sister to get her wish. She wanted to hold the rope by herself, but the eight-week-old lamb weighs more than she does, so Daddy had to help.

Llamas and Alpacas

They often seem to be smiling.

I couldn't get a good shot of them because they kept moving around. Maybe they were nervous from all the noise and people.

Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival!

When Whiskers called to find out if I wanted to go to this year’s MDSW Festival, she seemed understandably hesitant. But there was no need because the day had been reserved for just the two of us like it used to be. The weather was perfect---- blue skies and sunny with a light breeze.
There were 250 vendors of all fiber-related things, food, live music, storytelling, sheepdogs demonstrations, workshops, classes, sheep breed displays, lamb cooking contest, tools and gadgets for knitting, spinning and weaving and raising sheep.

Jess and Casey, founders of Ravelry, were at the Rabbit House to meet and greet all their fans. I’m not a shy person, and, under normal circumstances, wouldn’t have had any problem going up, introducing myself and chatting for a minute or two. However, they were practically being mobbed (I heard yesterday was even worse because it was a much larger crowd), so I kept my distance and chatted with a few of the other crocheters and knitters instead. Mouse was there acting like a desperate groupie, but I didn’t say anything to her for fear that some snarky comment escape my mouth.

Cici & CJ took great photos. Check them out.

Yarn and books galore!

Society of Creative Anachronism

Members of the Society of Creative Anachronism (SCA) demonstrated fiber arts from 400 years ago, dressed in attire of the time. Most of these crafts (nalbinging, fingerloop braiding, bobbin lace, sprang and tablet weaving, to name a few) are quite labor intensive, so there is no such thing as instant gratification involved, but the results are almost always beautiful and useful. The people from SCA were very friendly, eager to explain the history behind their arts and, in some cases, allowed us (the public) to try our hand at them.

MDSW Festival: The Prequel

Over the last several years my girlfriend Whiskers and I have made an unofficial tradition of going to the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival (MDSW) together. Last year I’d forgotten all about the festival until the last minute. Not only that, Novio, whom I was just getting to know had come to town expecting to spend that Sunday with me. I was really conflicted because I wanted to spend time with both of them and I couldn’t miss the festival. The only solution I could come up with was to take him to the festival. Convincing him to change his plans was easy, the difficult part was telling Whiskers we’d be a threesome (with a non-knitter/crocheter, no less). When I called Whiskers and explained my dilemma, she told me not to worry, that she’d go on her own. Phew! I thought.

Then as the months went by she made half-joking comments at a couple knitting gatherings about how I’d kicked her to the curb and had taken this new guy to MDSW instead. At first I felt bad because that was exactly what I had tried to avoid. It really upsets me when girlfriends ditch me whenever a new man is in their lives*, and hated that I was being accused of doing that very thing. Finally I decided that I couldn’t change how I’d handled that situation, but could certainly do my best to prevent it from happening next May.

Fast forward to Spring 2008. Novio mentions that he’s making plans to come visit on the first weekend of May. But that’s when MDSW takes place, I explain. Exactly, he says. He had such a good time last year that he wanted to do it again this year. Groan… So I had to gently let him know what sort of position he put me in last year, that I wasn’t trying to repeat it and that Whiskers would resume her role as my MDSW companion. Besides, there are other festivals I have never been to, which he and I could explore together. He was rather put out because he truly was looking forward to going again, but eventually he came around to seeing things from my point of view and apologized. So this summer or autumn we’re going to check out a couple smaller festivals on the East Coast and in the Midwest.

*a subject for an all-together separate post