crochet

Once Again Into the Wool: Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival 2014

I tend to lose some of my knitting motivation as spring weather forces the mercury up, but the annual Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival usually kicks me back into gear. Since I posted some motivational photos last year, I was going to skip documenting this round, but in the end the adorable faces were too hard to resist. (Regular readers know I have had this problem before.)

Sheep counting sheep

You talkin’ to me?

Who’s the boss? (click to enlarge images)

This year I kept my spending to a minimum by skipping the $164-a-skein arctic qiviut I fell in lust with. Thankfully my hands got too sticky after a confrontation with a red velvet funnel cake (!!) and I had to regroup before feeling up any more yarn. I still managed to come home with supplies for a summer project I’m looking forward to getting started on, however.

Do you stay motivated to work on cold-weather craft projects once the weather heats up? I think a few baby goats running around my back yard might help. Shhhh, don’t tell Brian…

Have you any wool?

Baa, Baa, Black Sheep: The Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival

For as much as I love appreciating the work of people with serious farming experience and thriving businesses, I also grasp that I am not one of them. Realistically, I probably never will be (though I reserve the right to backyard garden and daydream). Regardless, no number of dollars spent at five-star department stores will magically hide that knowledge gap.

However, I take no shame in appreciating the efforts of others. On an average weekend, that’s just a trip to the farmers’ market, but last Sunday the neighbors and I piled in the car to check out the vendors and animals at the annual Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival.

Thankfully, it was a beautiful, light jacket kind of day (when it’s 85°F, it’s really hard for me to get enthusiastic about yarn and knitting projects), and we spent five hours exploring the amazing wares for sale and appreciating the many varieties of sheep and goats (and cooing over the babies).

I was particularly taken by the beautiful wood in the looms, spindles, and even the furniture for sale (so much so that I failed to snap a picture). It was definitely a day of DIY inspiration. I’m going to try and learn some basic spinning skills this year and perhaps make some purchases next time.