Oh yes. I did go.
Looking neither to the left nor to the right, I headed for the Main Building. There I found my nostepinne, right where Sheila said it would be. With all the beautiful woods, my decision was a difficult one. I settled on Big Leaf Maple, for it’s beautiful whorls and light weight. At $15.99 it beat the ebay price by far and – no shipping. I’ve already begun to wind yarn on it and it sure beats using my fingers. He had lots of other fine UWOs (Unidentified Wooden Objects) that were related to spinning and weaving. I tossed a little bobbin thing in my basket just because the Tulip Wood was pretty - although I have a few uses in mind.
My main goal accomplished, I began to push my way through the aisles. And I do mean push. Last year Bobby and I went late on Sunday. Today it was was packed and getting into the tiny stalls packed with yarn, roving and doo-dads was dangerous for me. I did venture into one shop that was more open for some cute Knit Clips, Bamboo cable needles, assorted tapestry needles and some yarn bras. Can’t beat Sheep and wool for doo-dads! I started a parade though and nearly took a tumble. Later at the Wall o’Sock Yarn, I stayed outside the stall with my purchase while another shopper held my place in line so I could sit on my scooter for a while. After a bit, the shop owner came smiling out to me and we conducted business right there. It was a bit embarrassing to go ahead of about eight other yarn starved women, but I paid for the German self striping sock yarn (mit Aloe Vera und Jojoba Ol) for Bobby and my sister Debbie and slunk away.
Some very cool wool/cotton blend caught my eye. I had been looking into the stalls for my sister’s favorite color for her birthday in August. Actual yellow yarn is very hard to find for some reason – everything is rather golden or orange. It's Green Mountain Spinnery 20% organic cotton 80% fine wool. The yarn feels rough now, but the shop owner assures me it softens right up with washing. I rethought my plan for socks though. There’s a bit more wool in them that I remembered for her diabetic feet – besides, her son does the laundry and neither of them has the patience for lots of hand washing. No, those skeins want to be arm warmers. Because of the solid color, it will lend itself to cables nicely. Perhaps Cabled Fingerless or Spooky Cabled Mitts . I’ll have to play with needle sizes a bit but I’ve got three skeins and can knit up a good sized swatch and launder it for both shrinkage and feel.
I gave up on finding the perfect yarn for two selfish projects. It was impossible to get into the places where I could fondle the good stuff for one of my dreams or spend time lining up nine compatible colors for another. Entrances were tiny and floors were cluttered. There was one place with wide aisles and lots of choices, but you had to buy 10 skeins of each color. Not to fret. I have plenty of other fiber to keep me busy for several years. Dreams.
There were plenty of non-fiber distractions at MSWF. I watched the Working Sheepdogs at work. They had Border Collies, and even though I’ve seen this many times, I’m still fascinated. New to m
e this year was the auction. While the focus was on spinning and weaving equipment, there was enough entertainment value to keep me there for close to an hour near the end of the day. I needed a break to eat a delicious lambburger anyway. Dilapidated looms and spinning wheels with pieces missing went very high I thought (bought for parts maybe?) and whole boxes of magazines and grandma’s patterns sold for $1. A used ball winder caused a frenzy for about $35. I believe the metal arm was missing. Now folks aren’t stupid, but it looked very used. A new one costs that and with a coupon . . . rural areas don’t have access to stores like Joann’s and the internet I guess. Sheesh!
I ran into several old friends. Maggie Sansone is still playing her hammered dulcimer of course. I worked with her my whole career at MDRF, playing a little percussion now and then at Musical Merrymaking in the mornings. One year her set followed ours on Gatehouse Stage. She had several musicians setting up on stage and I would talk and tease with her to help her keep audience between shows. I used to joke about her needing a better bodice to increase business. Yeah, right.
Brooke Parkhurst was tending her partner’s booth and gave me her newly released CD An American Wake. She had a personnel change in Tinsmith recently and the sound is much brighter without the (ahem) discord. I’ve been humming Evening Song ever since. But it was Sliabh Gallion Braes that made my eyes go wide. A personal dig at John, Brooke? It was good to see her and Bobby and I hope to get to a show soon.
At the RE Piland booth I stopped to see if Rob was in and got a warm greeting. Seems he had heard I was dead (a horrible misunderstanding/rumor I was already aware of) and we had a nice visit. Liz, he says, get me Bonnie Swans. Now Rob and I go waaay back (Ren Fair again) and he already gifted me with an expensive malachite ring from his shop back when Bobby was courting me. He let me pay the $12 for resizing it and Liz says he still has the envelope with my trademark kiss behind the counter. Geez. Anyway, out pops Liz from behind the counter, then she frowns and goes down again. A second later she is threading a long silver chain through my newest bauble. Rob’s celtic knot work is always beautiful, but my love of birds makes this one special to me. The chain is delicate yet won’t catch in my hair or sweaters and feels sturdy enough to stand up to a good pull by a small child’s hand. Bonny Swans hasn’t been off my neck since. That’s quite a feat since I’ve worn the same gold necklace most of my life.
Music Festivals and many other artsy gatherings bring out the renn fair crowd. A few fans of The Bawdy Balladeers spotted me too. Some I recognized, some I didn’t. Still, it is nice to be NOT dead and be remembered.
The last thing I remember was zipping into a building in the rear at closing. They had Koigu KPPPM earlier but were swamped beyond reason. I couldn’t get near the stuff which was tucked behind the register. I guess they keep it under a watchful eye for a reason. The place was nearly deserted at 5:45 and I boldly parked my scooter and went in to the inner sanctum. There! A color that reminded me of a peacock I saw in Disney World. But my elation was short lived, there was only one skein. I pouted. She had bags and bags of Koigu and only one dream skein. She must have heard me moaning and began to haul out boxes of the stuff from under the table. What a gold mine! We hunted for a while, but it was after the witching hour so I decided on another lovely color for my own arm warmers. No wonder knitters rave about this stuff. The colors are like the wings of dragonflies, or water. Ever changing. Photographing this yarn was tough. The one in the shade on the left is truer to color but dark. Out in the sun, it reflects too much light like the yellow cotton above. But you see why I had to have them? Do you? And some sock blockers which were too cool to pass on?
She had to open the barn door to let me out.
Maryland Sheep & Wool
