New Hampshire

It was lovely.  Absolutely lovely.  Mellow, relaxing, full of great stuff and great vendors whose wares you could actually see because you could get into their booths!  I missed the dear longtime friends I got to see in Maryland, but I saw new friends at this fair, and it was all about the fiber, baby.  And fiber there was!

I drove up with new local friend and Sheep Thriller Marcy, which meant great conversation and lots of advice from a very experienced spinner and fiber person (advice: don't let ANYTHING get between me and the Alden Amos/Stephenie Gaustad class.  Okay).  Thanks for a lovely drive, Marcy!

Upon arrival, we dropped by Helen of Bay Colony Farm's booth.  I was promptly mugged relieved of my left-footed Hitchhiker, and ran Helen's credit card over to David Paul in order to pick up my righty.  I'm sure Risa could have told me this, but apparently you don't get between a lefty spinner and a lefty spinning wheel.  I knew it was the right thing (so to speak) to do the switch.  My new one has a cherry stain on it.  Everybody is happy.  Well, except all the other people who tried to mug me for it later in the day, when I wasn't so accommodating.

I picked up more merino-tencel roving at The Sheep Shed, and then installed myself at the fleece judging.    One of the things I liked the best about the NH show is that they really seemed to be invested in educating the public.  The fleece judging was outside in a tent surrounded by chairs, and the judge narrated his evaluation of each fleece, including information about what to look for in a fleece for buyers and advice for growers.  He was really wonderful to watch and I just sat there and soaked it all in.  The romney class went on for at least an hour, so I ducked out for a few minutes there, but the shetlands, icelandics and mixed breeds were fascinating to watch.  I learned a ton, and don't feel so bad anymore that I have no freakin' idea where my In Sheep's Clothing book went in the jumble-sale that is my home.

I wound up purchasing the third-place shetland fleece (and this was one competitive class).  Like the other shetland fleece I have, it's a two-colored hoggett fleece (first shearing), where the sheep was born brown and later became gray (the other being black to white).  It's so clean and has so little grease that I've been spinning it right out of the bag with very little trouble at all.  In fact I'm picking more vm out of a commercial roving than I've been picking out of this fleece.  Wow.  Oh yeah, the sheep is named Coco.  Thanks Coco.

I also got a 6-lb gray montadale fleece.  There were actually some white montadale fleeces that were stronger and nicer in terms of strength, crimp, and lock formation (get me--I learned a LOT from the judge), but I couldn't pass the color up.  Though this producer did enter a few fleeces in the show and actually one at least one ribbon, this one was not in the show so I bought it before the judging was over.  Unfortunately, I have no pictures, since  I ran it right down to Zeilinger's truck and I expect to see it again as roving some time this summer.  No rush.  I have a few things to spin.  The farmer came up to me while I was sampling the fiber with my spindle and told me a little about "Motley," the fleece's last owner, who apparently is a little genetic fluke with a white mom and dad.  Go figger.   But just nice: chatting with the producer of your wool, learning a bit about a new breed (montadale, apparently, is a meat/wool dual purpose breed from a cross of cheviot and columbia).  I knew next to nothing about montadales when I bought the fleece: I liked the color, it felt soft, the staple length was very workable and the amount of grease was surprisingly low for a crimpy, soft wool.  Works for me.

While I was sampling Motley and watching part 72 of the romney class, I overheard someone saying something about Joe's gansey.  It took my brain about 2 minutes to place that phrase.  I turned around to see Stephanie, Norma, and Cassie.   We chatted for a few minutes and then agreed to meet up later--I had my eye on that Shetland fleece and I was not going to leave without it.   I waited until we could buy the show fleeces, at the end of judging, which is good, because there was someone right behind me waiting for the same fleece.  Phew!  Because, clearly, had I not had three more pounds of wool, well, we would have had a problem.

Anyone who went to Maryland will know the difference between the festivals when I say that I promptly ran into Cassie and Norma without even trying, as soon as I started wandering the festival.  We caught up with Linda and Stephanie, who was signing books, tried to call Risa for advice on combs (no answer--she'll have to advise in person at Cummington, but Cassie was quite impressed with Risa's email advice on the subject), spoke with another blogger (if you're reading, post, because the brain cells that knew your name were overwritten with wool-related information shortly thereafter).  She really wanted to talk to Stephanie, but we subjected her to the rest of us too.  She was a good sport about it and pretended to know who the hell I was.

There were alpacas.  Fiber was purchased  (see all those bags above?  Not all mine, I swear.).  Cassie tried out my hitcher, but resisted the impulse to give one a plane ride home.  Strong woman.  Stephanie seriously enabled me in purchasing some naturally-dyed copper moth tussah silk.  Wow, is it lovely.  I also tried spinning cotton on one of Jonathan Bosworth's book charkas.  I did a dreadful job; Stephanie picked it right up, of course.  But wow, that thing is pretty cool.  110:1 ratio.  Damn.

Finally, the whole thing deteriorated into extreme blogger silliness, involving the obligatory mutual picture-taking, and a stash-enhancement glamor shot that was supposed to assign all responsibility for excessive fiber purchasing to absent friends Sandy and Margene.  I just contributed stash.  I think they wanted the wheel to demonstrate fiber licentiousness and lack of self-control.  I guess I'm yer girl for that, huh?

Home again, home again, and another nice ride with Marcy.

So, three weekends, three fiber fests.  Spoiled.  Rotten.  Next week is the Webs tent sale, then Cummington, then the Strolling of the Heifers (no fiber, but I do like cheese, and I'll tell you, this fest is just a perfect example of why Vermont rocks), then a production spinning class with AA & SG just 20 minutes from my house.  Pinch me.

Of course, it's not all wine and fleeces.  That FBS?  In the Fleece Artist?  Ran out of freakin' yarn 6 rows from the end.  I've emailed Gaspereau Valley Fibres to see if they have more (no dye lot or color number so I had to send a photo), and if not, I'll be ripping back and having a 6-repeat FBS.  Could be worse, but dude, could I please knit something that does not self-destruct?  At least spinning is going reasonably well (knock wood).  I'd just better not actually try to do anything with the yarn.

Comments

[Jessica]

Oh I'm so jealous right now. Three festivals in three weekends? A new wheel? Tons of fiber? Rub it in, why dontcha!

[Katy]

Ooohhh...I am feeling bereft. It all sounds so lovely. And I missed it. But I promise to be at Cummington!
Glad you had such a great time.
But you have some serious spinning time ahead of you. ;)

[Cece]

Sweet! What day are you going to Cummington?

[Dharia]

wow! you guys had such a good time! my trip on sunday was much less fun. so cold. and my stunning lack of funds didn't help. hopefully i'll have some spare spending money in two weeks for cummington!

[JoVE]

Hey, sounds nice. Keep on spinning. The knitting will come back.

I'm here in sunny Cape Breton (though it is threatening not to stay sunny much longer) the presentation went well. The first three coaching sessions went well. I'M fully booked for the next 4 days.... My fabulous consulting career has officially started.

Off to the restaurant for some supper. And maybe the bar for a beer....

[Cassie]

I think the fleece judging was one of the most interesting things I've done at a festival. And by the time the day was done, degenerating into total silliness was logical.

The blogger we talked to on the phone was Stacie of

Faery Crafty

Your Montadale was beautiful, but the Shetland even more so. And I got even more comb advice. I think by Rhinebeck time there will be fleeces coming home.

[justine]

oh sounds like a successful festabal. I think it sounds like a great way to spend a weekend! and I am jealous that you hve 3 more... lucky you.

[Kim]

wow......you had a BUSY day at the festival!!! Love the bloggers taking pictures...haha!!!

[julia fc]

I am dearly sorry that I missed you, but I didn't make it to S&W with other NETA types until Sunday. Boohoo.
It looks ike it was a nice day, sunny and pleasant for sharing a new wheel (Norma showed me the picture of Cassie spinning that she had on her camera and I said that she looke like Prudence Maypole, but I digress) It was the better of the two days, seriously, not only for fiber harvesting (I bought a cormo/border leicester) but because it was freakin' cold on Sunday. The hot chocolate/warm pretzel guy made big bucks!

[Heidi]

oooh Thank you for the shawl link to Interweave! You're right, it is a more interesting looking shawl, too. And now, back to wishing my days were as sheepy as yours....

[Christine]

OH OH OH I'm so jealous down here in the midwest! LOOK AT ALL THOSE BAGS!!! I think it is just too neat and fun. I'm already starting a "momma fun fund" to get me to a festival involving fibres and animals before I die or go crazy!

[Risa]

Now that looks like a fabulous festival! I hope Cummington comes close. If not, it will still be time spent with fiber and friends. Right?

You're darn right. Never get between a leftie and anything specifically made for lefties! We get nasty ;) You really have me intrigued with that little wheel. While I really don't NEED another wheel, who really needs one?

Sorry, my phone accidentally on mute in my bag otherwise I would have been happy to answer comb questions. I'll get ready for the in person picking and even see if I can dig up the article in Spin-Off for you.

That fleece judging sounds like it was worth the price of admission. I'd love to see something like that! Glad you had a good time.

[Dana]

Hi! Just wanted to say again how cute your wheel is, and how nice the Shetland, and how lovely to meet you! I was the very pregnant one in pink admiring your wheel near the picnic tables...

[Stacie]

It's me it's me you talked to on the phone! Nice to meet ya! Too bad it wasn't in person!

[The Feminist Mafia]

Hey there. Thanks for the comment/help for newbie and for the obvious distress about not meeting famous ole me. Unfortunately I won't be going to Cummington. My bank account is still reeling from NH, mostly due to food, and less-so because of fiber. But I'll be reading everyone's posts and feeling jealous. Perhaps the next Mass knitting event will allow us to meet in person. KnitOut Boston? Keep in mind though, I'm very fond of my lurking/stalking/voyeuristic (read: shy) tendencies. Someday I'll come out of my snail shell and say hi. Should you see the CUTEST little blond curly haired 2 year old with a knitting mama, that might be me. It could be a game -- Find The Mafia. tee-hee. Have a great workday, and thanks for your blog. I love it.