SpiderWomanKnits

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May 30, 2006

Cummington

This weekend was the Massachusetts Sheep and Wool Festival in Cummington. Lucky for us that is just in our backyard (almost literally). Last summer we bought a cabin in a state forest just one town over from Cummington which has quickly turned into my favorite place to be. I have some sort of connection to this land/area of MA that is deeply rooted in a feeling of peace and serenity. Needless to say I was really looking forward to this fiber fest. I knew it was going to be a beautiful day.

The night before Mr. & Mrs. SpiderWomanKnits and little SpiderWomanKnits feasted on lamb burgers which seems a little barbaric in retrospect but boy were they good.

The next morning it was off to the fair! JessaLu and family met us at our house and we raced over to the fairgrounds. (Jess won) :-) For the record her car has two more cylinders than mine!

 

Right off the bat I fell in love with this sheep. JessaLu has the tabloid shot over at her blog.

He was promptly sheared. Aww...look at him! The sheep belongs to this guy who was doing the shearing, quite a young fellow, who raises and shears sheep (up to 100 a day!) for a living. He does this in Cummington so perhaps my path will cross with the sheeps again sometime in the future. I enjoyed cuddling him while I could. 

I didn't buy much at this festival but I LOVE what I got. It is 1120 yards (yes, you read that right ladies and gentlemen, 1-1-2-0 four figures!) of hand dyed superwash 100% Merino wool in colorway Denim. It is beautiful and I have no idea what I am going to make with it yet but I carry it around with me sometimes during the day and am enjoying it's company just the way it is until some project calls its name. It was dyed by a lovely woman (can't remember her name) in Stephentown, NY who is the owner of Silver Moon Farm Fiber Arts. Unfortunately they don't have a web site yet otherwise I would send you her way. She had other lovely colorways and the yarn was such a deal at $30 for the hank. 

Jess and I got to the festival quite early so after we shopped we walked around for a while until the Bloggers and Brownies picnic at 1pm. There were quite a few bloggers there, some familiar faces and some new ones. A BIG thanks to Katy for organizing the meet-up and getting us all to sign the offical "Blogger Sign In Plate" without which I would surely leave someone of the list of people I met.You can find that complete list on her blog. It was great to see every one and I am always invigorated by the instant community that springs up when ever you get knitters together. It's a beautiful thing.

 

Oh, we almost came home with one of thses guys too. What a sweet little Angora Bunny and a cute little (human) guy too if I do say so myself. 

If we weren't in a very transitional phase of trying to sell our house and figure out the next step for our family we would have added another furry creature to our little menagerie. Maybe next year.

 

All in all it was a magical weekend filled with amazing weather, great friends, and luscious fiber. What more could a girl ask for? 

Comments

Wow. Good food, cute animals, gorgous yarn (really really pretty color!) and an adorable kid. Looks prefect to me.

Posted by: Nancy Littlefield | May 30, 2006

That's 64% of a mile of yarn! Brilliant.

Posted by: Abi | May 31, 2006

I'm not bitter about missing another great Sheep and Wool to work at Webs. Not at all (GRIMACE).

All I can say is that it's the final countdown. Soon I will be in graduate school and I'll be free to do things like go to Rhinebeck!

That bunny/boy picture totally belongs on Cuteoverload.com!

Posted by: Cirilia | May 31, 2006

That's a whole lot of yarn!!

Posted by: Melissa | May 31, 2006

Great photos - you dinner looks delicious!

Posted by: Carole | May 31, 2006

I'm resurfacing from my post move "downtime" to say WOW! Looks like you've had a lot of fun recently. This post on Mass S&W is great. Good knitblogger who took lots of pics for us.

One note, from a previous post, can you tell us more about the social development or issues around a keffiyeh? It was clearly important to you but what makes it special or distinctive from other types of wraps/scarves (for those of us who like to know that kind of thing)?

Posted by: Bev | May 31, 2006

Oh, I forgot, you thought eating lamb burgers might be construed barbaric? The people at Md S&W had recipes pinned right to the sides of the pens so when one ram tried to headbutt Nelson he threatened to read it outloud to him. That's my husband. He has *feelings*.

Posted by: Bev | May 31, 2006

oh, way too cute. Looks like much fun was had!

Posted by: holly | May 31, 2006

Looks like you had tons of fun!
Love the pictures : )

Posted by: Amanda Cathleen | May 31, 2006

It's not the cylinders but the pressure on the gas pedal that counts *cough*oldladydriver*cough* ;o)

Had a great time - can't wait for Rhinebeck! (although...there are a couple fiber shows coming up in NY State...)

Posted by: JessaLu | May 31, 2006

How fun!

I love that denim yarn. Luscious!

Posted by: Jennifer | May 31, 2006

Thank you for dragging Jess away from the cashmere! (But did you know they had more in back, in a big ol' box? I had them bring it out so I could dig and see what other quantities and colors they had). Maybe someday my denim whatever-it-becomes can meet your denim whatever-it-becomes. I'm thinking maybe a shawl (given the yardage, it seems appropriate to make it into one thing that'll take all of it) -- probably one with some lace patterning, but also some more solid parts to really show over the color gradations. If you come up with anything, let me know and I'll do the same, 'kay?

Posted by: Liz | June 01, 2006

Ooh I love the color of that 'denim' you got! It is so gorgeous and what a deal!
Love that cute sheep.

Posted by: LisaB | June 01, 2006