Maryland Sheep and Wool Guest Post

My mom asked me to do a guest blog post and I’ll admit I was a little intimidated. Hardly anything knitting related intimidates me (except maybe intarsia) but writing about it makes me a little nervous. Actually this was kind of fun and I could perhaps be talked into it again.

On Saturday I went to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival with my friend Jen and my daughter Abigail. I’ve never been to something like this before so it was pretty neat to see so many knitters in one place. I saw many knitted sweaters, shawls and socks etc. and people knitting while sitting in the shade or standing in line. It took an hour and a half to get there and half an hour to get into the parking lot.

First we looked at a lot of sheep. Abigail wasn’t too fond of the sheep barns and she started fussing. She did stare down a sheep and won the staring contest. Later we found some alpaca. They were for sale, but I’d have to sell both our cars to pay for them. Jen asked if Eric could ride an alpaca to work.

There were lots and lots of fun booths. I was tempted by the buffalo yarn with cashmere and quivet. It was very soft and I could make a lace scarf. I was also tempted by some beautiful glass knitting needles. Both of these items would probably end up sitting looking pretty on a shelf, so instead I bought some sock yarn. Jen laughed at me as I waited in a very long line to buy Socks That Rock. I figured it must be good stuff if so many people wanted it. They were picked pretty bare when I checked back in the afternoon. I got some sock yarn from another booth too, but the yarn isn’t labeled, I paid cash and I didn’t get a business card so I can’t tell you who sold it to me. It turns out I must like orange because all four sock yarns have orange in them.

I also bought a small print of a sheep painting “High Strung” by Conni Togel and a children’s book for Abigail called Sheep Take a Hike by Nancy E. Shaw. I waited in another very long line to buy a gyro until Jen came back with a gyro from another booth. People behind me were wondering where she got it so fast.

There was a group of people sitting with antique sock knitting machines knitting socks. They had one there with a long tube that you could knit on. It would be great to own a sock knitting machine like my Mom does, but sometimes the fun part of knitting socks is the time spent with the lovely yarn.

In all, Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival was a lot of fun and I hope Mom can come with me next year.