Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival 2008

Last weekend, Justin & I took a trip down to Baltimore to visit Santina & Andy and also to attend the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival.  We only went to the festival on Saturday, and it was great!  I had never been to a festival like this before, so it was a real treat for me.  There were a lot of animals there including sheep (of course), a few different kinds of goats, alpacas (pictured above), and sheep dogs.  There were tons of little lambs too!  I was really surprised to see that you could not only learn how to take care of lambs, but also EAT various forms of LITTLE BABY LAMBS if you were so inclined.  There were many vendor booths offering lamb kebabs and pit lamb sandwiches.

I also learned that male sheep have HUGE BALLS, and they are covered in WOOL!  Do you think that parts of my sweaters and socks are made from SHEEP BALL WOOL?!  I wonder how the texture of the CRAZY LARGE SHEEP BALL WOOL compares to the wool from the other parts of the sheep.  I doubt that they actually shear this part, but I hope they do.

Santina and I shopped around a lot while Justin hung out and watched some of the music, and sheep dog demonstrations.  There were SO MANY VENDORS.  I wanted to buy everything.  I went to the festival with a certain amount of money in my wallet, and I'm glad that I didn't spend any more than that, even though I wanted to.  I did get some things I had wanted for a while.

I finally bought a drop spindle and some roving to work with.  As you can see I've been learning.  Santina and I spent a really long time playing with our spindles and trying to learn the process.  It is very consuming.  I have been practicing with the spindle for the last couple of days and the process is really starting to click.

I got a needle felting kit that makes two small ducks.  I've been wanting to learn needle felting for a while, and this kit was only $10!

I got a large skein of Cherry Tree Hill Merino Lace to do my first lace weight project.  I think I'm going to make the Swallowtail Shawl.

I also got two skeins of sock yarn.

Santina's birthday was this weekend also, so we went out to eat and hung out a lot, and also played Awkward Scrabble.  I think we will be going down there again in July for a concert, so we'll have to have a do-over.  This weekend was really fun, and I hope I can make it to the festival again next year!

Comments

[naomi]

OMG-I'm so jealous! It looks like you ladies had a blast. I've about had it with making socks, they always come out too big.

[santina]

MONOPOLY

[Manda]

I am so jealous!! I wish I could've gone. :D Just letting you know that my mitts arrived today. LOVE them!! :) Thank you!

[Tanya]

Hi, Rosie!! Just going through your blog and saw you are also thinking of doing the Swallowtail Shawl. Mine is currently in hibernation until I get a few other things done. Had a great time today! Glad we met you!