AMAZING day!
From start to finish, a wonderful day!
I got a bee in my bonnet about going down to the Maryland Sheep and Fiber Fest a few days ago. I got screwed up in my timing and thought it was later in the year. When the dust had settled and after I’d rearranged my schedule for today Gerry and the kids said they wanted to come along, too, to the festival.
We left this morning at 8:00, had a great drive down (picking up Charlotte’s Web on CD at a Cracker Barrel and dropping it off on the way home!) and arrived at the fairgrounds around noon. The kids went with Gerry to see the dog trials, watch sheep being sheared, etc., whilst I visited booths, knitted with Lucy Neatby and found some amazing yarns for sale.
It seemed that everywhere I turned there was someone I’d met before, or someone wanted to meet me to find out about my hat (I was wearing the Rosebud – it got a lot of comments!) Several yarn shops that had booths are interested in carrying the kits (yahoo!) and I found a tremendous source for Nepalese Sari Trimming yarn – The Cooperage in Townsend, MA I want to try it in some winter hats that I’m working up to show a buyer. It seems to be similar to Sanskrit that is currently offered at Artfibers in San Francisco.
I also bought some bee-you-tee-ful hand dyed rayon from Janet Stollnitz of Silver Spring Looms. It’s woodgy and has a mind of it’s own, but I can tame it by mixing it with some firmer yarn that will take it in hand.
The most amazing coincidence of the day, though, was the tremendous friendship my kids struck up with a couple of boys who were roughly their ages. While I wandered the yarn booths my kids rolled down the hill over and over again under the watchful eye of Gerry and Joel (the dad of Hannah and Max’s new friends, Joey & Andy) We were gearing up to leave and Gerry mentioned that he’d promised the kids we’d stop by the Mangham Manor booth where our new friends’ mom was selling fleece, yarn and other knitting and spinning sundries.
Imagine my surprise to find that Michele Mangham, the mom in question, is one of the organizers of the Virginia Fiber Frenzy and was able to give me the brochure for the event listing the 4 classes I’ll be teaching – what a coincidence! It’s the most wonderful and amazing thing when 4 kids get together and hit it off – I’m taking this as a sign that the Virginia Event will be a success in many different ways. What a great day!