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?
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