The Festival, as usual, was great! The weather couldn't have been more perfect: no warmer than 73F during the day with a nice breeze and low 40's at night so the sleeping was great. It was a bit chilly getting out of bed in the morning but it was a small price to pay for such a great weekend.
This year was the 40th year of the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. Those of us who were lucky enough to win a ribbon, got a special one that declared the 40th.
My skein won first place in the category: 100% wool prepared by spinner from raw wool - Medium plied yarn. This was the yarn spun from the New Zealand Corriedale.
The day before we left, Sheri noticed there was a category for a group project. I had spun the purple yarn above on my drop spindle a couple of years ago and gave it to Sheri for her birthday. She, in turn, knitted it into a shawlette. Our group project won first place. Woot!
Sheri's knit bunny, destined for a baby soon to be born, won third place:
Most of my shopping time happened Saturday morning (purchases to be disclosed later this week). Saturday afternoon and part of Sunday was spent spinning on my new Bosworth drop spindle. I lucked out two days in a row and had some wandering musicians pull up some chairs in front of me and start playing:
Having some nice music to listen to while I spun was one of the high points of the weekends.
Our campsite on Friday. Friday was our slow day: all we had to do Friday was drop off our stuff for the skein and garment competition. After that, we hung out at camp, Sheri knitting or crocheting and me carding the wool that I spun Saturday and Sunday at the Festival.
Another high point of the weekend was seeing a Pileated Woodpecker! Don't let the picture on the link fool you, that bird was huge! The adults can reach 19 inches in length and their wingspan can reach 30 inches. I have to say, he (or she) was beautiful. We saw him Sunday and again on Monday was we were striking camp. It was a rare treat.
I had a blast as usual. I just adore camping! Our third partner in crime, Rhonda, couldn't join us this year. She was waiting for lambs to be born and had a new granddaughter who's mom needed some help with the other little ones. She was with us in spirit, though, through copious texting. My next big event is the Michigan Fiber Festival in August. I've already signed up for my classes. Between now and then, however, there will be strawberry and blueberry picking, jam making, berry freezing, a crafting weekend and my birthday. This is my favorite time of year!
Hurray for ribbons!
I'm so glad you had such a great time! Perfect weather was icing on the cake.
(Psst - how did the meals turn out?)
Posted by: gayle | May 08, 2013 at 08:24 AM