2010 maryland sheep and wool

i jumped at the chance to attend the maryland sheep and wool festival when presented with the offer. sandy (longmeadow farms sandy) asked if i would consider going with her this year. her motive was to get fleeces from her supplier, not have them shipped... what did i think? i did not even hesitate to agree. before you could say 'ewe' the trip was planned and there were four of us going. cc and joan, sandy and i headed out on friday for the trek to west friendship. we didn't get very far before hand dyed, hand spun yarn found it's way onto the dash. the perfect teaser for things to come.









we arrived early saturday, just beating the rush of humanity that attends these shows. it was hot. really hot. beyond really hot. 94, beating sun , no breeze. we were prepared with water, sunscreen and a desire for wool!










the barns were amazing with so many different breeds, you were hard pressed to keep them straight. many of them were just as happy to see the humans as we were to see them!

joan and i had a blast at the fleece sale. we went armed with all our freshly learned skills on selecting wool. and surprisingly (to us) we did quite well. we touched cormo, bfl, icelandic, romney, cotswold, leister longwool, merino, and i fell hard for this coopworth.

so hard in fact, that it came home with me. 4.5 lb of well skirted, lustrous, clean wool. i've washed some and plan to give it a spin as soon as it's dry.

i scored several cool things.... signature sock blocker, more woolee bobbins, cool roving and hand painted yarns. best part? the awesome travel companions!

hope i get invited again!