NHS&W

It was COLD.  It was drenched.  It was like Noah was being called once again.  Alas, I was not one of the anointed called onto the Ark.  I was left to jump and wade the puddles with the rest of the fiber-afflicted.  (Let me just say one word:  sneakers.  That's all we will say about THAT.)

It was blogger/commenter/knitter/spinner dense.  Links and a reasonable bedtime are mutually exclusive this evening.  If I left you out, do the Harlot thing and call out in the comments.

Blogless Sharon was a ship passing in the night, as was LauraJ.  (LauraJ was the only person I saw even close to the alpacas.)  Carole, Julia, Manise, Maryse, Kellee, Stitchy, Wendy, Elisa, Dave, Norma, JoVe, That Laurie, Knitigator, PumpkinMama, Cheryl, WoolyBuns, Lucy Lee, Pat from Wild and Woolly, Mamacate, Sandy, and all the other usual suspects swam to the festival despite the monsoon. 

Streams formed, rivers coalesced.  Ponds became lakes.  Dave's blog has pictures.

I fell fast and easy.  Ward Brook Farm, run by Ingrid Byrd, seduced me quickly.  I succumbed to a Corriedale/Romney X fleece from a sheep named Felicia.  In what would become the theme of the day, bloggers rolled past, offered their 3 cents worth ("oh YES, that is a good one DO it") and rolled through.  The fleece was soft, well-skirted, clean, and a color that hummed at me.  When Ingrid *cluckclucked* over a stray piece of hay that she found as we examined the fleece, I knew I had found a good woman.  Kellee enabled me, and then helped me ease Carole into the fleecy way.  (In my own defense, Carole FORCED me to help her.  I was the best that was available at the time.  Luckily for me, Kellee and Mamacate also strolled by the Coopworth booth within that same ten minute time interval, and rubberstamped an easy decision for Carole.)

I am now sourcing roving and fleeces through people I will see again.  I bought some exquisitely prepped Icelandic roving, and know where to call if I like this, can spin laceweight from it, and aspire to a Hyrna.

Foxfire Farm provided a source of stunning cashmere/silk roving in colorways that had most of us swarming the booth shamelessly.  The picture doesn't do justice to the depth and variety of the green, but I can't leave you with just your imagination.

Skyeview Alpacas finally sated my lust for alpaca fleece.  Grey, some color variations, soft.  Grey does not show itself on grey days.  Pictures will follow when I start to spin it.  I'm going to try it straight from the locks first.  It is very clean.  If the discontinuity involved in spinning locks makes it difficult, I'll send it out for processing.  I'll try that soon.  (How could I not??)

Maryse made the day very special.  She gave me a talisman of bone mojo that she crocheted.  Here, a picture is most definitely worth a thousand words:

Comments

[Kathy]

The bone is fantastic! Great purchases -- all of them. Did the sneakers survive?

[maryse]

sneakers! yeah i told joe to wear boots, but did he listen to me? noooooooo.

i love the bone picture. it's awesome!

[rho1640]

Love the bone mojo picture - it has to help - tell Mr. E. to hold it close day and night so it can work it's magic.

off to check out Dave's blog to see the weather

[Theresa]

That bone is awesome. I can see some more randomized-control studies in the future. Knit vs. crochet. Wool vs. cotton vs. acrylic. Stuffed with fleece v. polyfil. The possibilities . . .

[Sylvia]

Oh, the bone is divine! Do you have combs and how long is the alpaca's staple??? Which Hyrna?

[Stephanie]

That bone is da bomb. Perfect, spectacular.

(Sorry you got rained on.)

[Carole]

Thanks again for your enabling, err, help, with the fleece! So much fun to shop with YOU.

[Rachel H]

That bone is fabulous. So glad you were able to satisfy your alpaca fleece longings.

[Beth S.]

A crocheted bone. Oh, that wild and crazy Maryse! :-)

[Cheryl]

It was so wonderful to meet you the other day, I'm so glad I got to. Although I thought my cold chapped hands would never recover.

Ingrid is wonderful isn't she? I love buying from her, it's such a pleasant experience. And she'll let you stop by her little farm anytime!

I too fell victim to the alpaca fleece, I got a black one, as true a black as I could find.

[margene]

Ahhh, you are fully fleeced. I knew it slope was slippery! All that rain doesn't make for too much fun but the fiber and bloggers would!

[Pumpkinmama]

The fleece sounds wonderful. Hope your toes are toasty and that the bone does the trick (what an awesome gift!). Was great to meet you.

[Manise]

It was so nice to finally meet you rain, fiber and all-I had a ball! Sneakers? Mine were drenched including the"squish" and still haven't dried out yet. I left after some of my toes were numb and they hurt- couldn't find you all after fried dough with Norma so grabbed my Bosworth midi, swift, ball winder and headed out.

That alpaca fiber was so soft....a wheel is definitely going to have to work it's way into my life soon.

Hope you are dry at home.

[Kellee]

It was a good day, wasn't it? So THERE Mother Nature, we are impervious to your distractions - you can NOT keep us from our friends.

That Felicia is a beautiful girl, too. Did you keep a little, just to tide you over, or did you hand the whole thing to Still River?

[elisa]

Getting an opportunity to chat with you certainly was one of the festival highlights for me! :)

[Cordelia]

Sneakers are definitely no-good-very-bad in floods of mud.
Great picture of the bone. I hope Mr. E.'s inner bone is listening up.
Looking forward to the alpaca shots. ;-)

[Risë]

I'm lusting over that roving; it's beautiful.

[lisa Co. Springs]

I'm so glad you had a good time and came home with wonderful offerings. Let me know what you think of the alpaca....I'm in need of some GOOD roving to practice on.

[Cathy]

:-) A good weekend. Love the bone (how not?) looking forward to spun-from-locks alpaca pictures.

[June]

That's such a Flintstones bone! Hope the energy poured into its creation goes straight to Mr. E!

[Dorothy B]

Like the bone! Great work. Sounds and looks like you had a great time enablers and temptations that seem to sneak away with you!

[Chris]

That bone rocks! Hopefully it is inspiring Mr Etherknitter to grow him some legbone...

[Erica]

HI, I'd heard something about Mr. Etherknitter having trouble building bone. Too much caffeine consumption can compromise your bodies ability to build calcium. Sad, but true. Happened to someone I know. He's cut down on his quadruple lattes. hope the Mr. gets better soon.

[claudia]

That is a kick ass bone, right there. Maryse is AWESOME!

[Cindy D]

May the bone do the healing thing for Mr. E. The NHS&W added to your Alpaca stash I see. Luckily a wedding kept me from stash enhancement this year!