Tomorrow I get up at the crack of dawn and head into the city to board one of the Rosie's buses that will take me, and over a hundred other rabid fiberistas, to West Friendship, Maryland. I can't believe Maryland Sheep & Wool is already here. It's one of the benchmarks in the fiber world, a sure sign it's spring.
The Rosie's bus trip is an awesome thing. You don't have to drive -- so you get to knit the whole way down and back -- and you get to interact with a bunch of fun and cool knitters. (Of course, the misanthrope in me is praying to the Trailways gods to ensure that I don't get stuck sitting next to someone with verbal diarrhea.) You get a cute little box breakfast, and a Rosie's tote bag or backpack to put your purchases in. If you think about it, it's a pretty nice thing for a yarn shop owner to arrange a trip that involves bussing over a hundred of her best customers to buy other people's stuff.
My Maryland checklist is pretty short. God knows, there's nothing I really need. Here's what's on it:
1. Check out heavy-duty skeinwinders and compare prices for future purchase.
2. Pick up a skein or two of Wick (soy + polypropylene), for spring socks.
3. Pick up a few sample skeins of farm-produced wool and top for test dyeing for Black Bunny.
4. Look for a few pattern books -- Jo Sharp and Elsebeth Lavold come to mind.
5. Meet Mindy at Kid Hollow booth, and hopefully some other readers other places.
When I return, I'll tell you how I did with my checklist. I also pledge to show you every bloody thing that I buy (well, except the deep-fried Twinkies, which will be long gone). Maybe the potential embarassment of overpurchasing in front of my readers will keep me on-budget.
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9 comments:
Deep-fried Twinkies? Have fun for the weekend.
I just bought some Wick last night (no pictures yet) in a lovely olive color - it's soooo soft and squishy! Beautiful spin, too.
I'm so very jealous, but at least I have NH Sheep & Wool and Rhinebeck (if I can escape the booth to go explore) to look forward to.
If you think about it, an LYS sponsoring a trip like that isn't a bad idea, at all. It generates good will, which makes customers want to continue supporting that business. Besides, you're addicts. They know the festival fix will only last for so long before you're jonesing for more.
I'll be there as well and on the hunt for two things in particular: fiber and to test drive (and maybe buy, maybe) a Golding ring spindle. If you want to seriously drool over some of the most beautiful spinning wheels and drop spindles I've ever seen, check out this link: http://www.dropspindle.info.
They're kind of pricey which is why I've waited until I could see them before buying one. It would be really nice to be able to see one of their $4,000-$5,000 wheels, too, because the chance of my ever owning one is nil. If they are anything like the photos, I'll be standing at their booth for a very long time. ;)
Oh, and this is my first Sheep and Wool Festival so I'll probably be ga-ga the whole time.
Fried Twinkies?
Say hello to Maie and Taiu for me, would yis?
And tell them if they have any yarn unsold at the end of the weekend, I'll be happy to put it to use.
coming out of lurkdom to say that there is a knit bloggers meetup at 1:30 at the stage near the main exhibition hall. maybe we'll see you there?
Thanks, Coleen! I hadn't heard of it. I'll do my best...
So, dish...
Whatchya buy then?
Any Koigu scraps?
You made my day Sat.- thanks for stopping by- now I can picture who I'm typing to! And I see no reason why you shouldn't read your own podcast!
Can't wait to see all you got- there really is no true "overpurchasing" at MD. The Twinkies were ok, but did you try the deep-fried Oreos??????? I may have to learn how to make those...
The Rosie's bus trip sounds brilliant.
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