Back from Maryland

It's very rare to find a friend who shares your passion for fiber and who will also put up with all of your quirks for a long weekend.  Theresa and I travel well together and I had a great time this past weekend -- first overnight in Chicago and then on to Maryland for the big festival!

It was so lucky that KIP happened to fall on the Thursday before we were leaving and I got to stop in and see a bunch of the Chicago knitters I hadn't seen in a while and to meet quite a few new people too!  I really want to try to get up the KIP in the future.  It was a really fun group!

Friday morning it was off to O'Hare and on to Maryland!  Once again I got to meet up with a great group of people, there were Claudia, Silvia & Norma (whom I had first met at last year's festival) and Jen, Laurie, Cassie, Cassandra (of the purpleheart Canadian reproduction spinning wheel -- do you have a blog?), and Rachel (the wood worker -- definitely blogless) -- whew!  I know there were others that I met throughout the day too, including one blogger who gave me a super cool "Knit" button.  (I love it!)

So. . . how does one approach a festival such as this?  Well, here's the low-down.  The vendors seem to stay in the same place each year, so you can plan your attack in advance -- very important if there is something you really want!  The good stuff sells out kind of early (STR was gone in about an hour) and you want to make sure you have the best selection, right?  Theresa & I hit the Cromo booth first, Brooks Farm next.  Here's my "loot" from day 1:

I'll talk a bit more about each find in the coming days, but I will say that it was the year of the fiber tool for me.  I got a lucet, weavette and a pot holder loom for Maddie -- fun stuff!  I also tried a bunch of spinning wheels and will be doing a podcast on spinning wheels in the next week!

I will leave you for now with this cute cuddling sheep picture -- I had to snap this photo.  How could I resist?

Comments

[delia]

Nice Haul! Can't wait for the details, and your mention of a potholder loom for your daughter brings back such fond memories from my childhood. I am sure Maddie will enjoy it so very much. And those darling sheep..with your permission, may I copy them for my wallpaper on my computer here at work? I would not do it with out your okay but that is by far the sweetest picture of fiber babies. Do you remember what breed? I do think they are smiling!

[joy]

Love the pic! and can't wait to hear more about your haul!

[Jane]

Aww, such cute sheepies. I have fond memories of potholder looms too. Here's a tip if you or your daughter wear colored tights. Cut into little "ring's, they make great potholders.

[Denise]

oooh oooh ooh.. I see the Revolutionary alphabet guys!! somewhere I have a cross stitch started up with the whole alphabet of those guys!! super cool!! I need to start listening to your pod cast too.. any chance of getting it in a WMA file???

[anne]

Okay, I wasn't actually there, but I'm pretty sure the purpleheart Canadian reproduction wheel belongs to Juno, of enchantingjuno.typepad.com (I might have the URL wrong). There aren't that many out there ...

[Kelly]

Oh wow it looks like you had a lot of fun. Can't wait to hear more about what you bought. Love the cuddling sheep too cute!

[Dani]

SO sorry I missed you (and I was looking too!!!) Glad you had as much fun as we did though =)

[Sil]

Aw, what a sweet shot! Good to see you and Theresa too. Nice to know that I'm not the only one who thinks that cormo is the crack of knitters.

[Suz]

Wow! After seeing that haul i'm trying to figure out how you carried it all?? I made Deb carry a backpack for me. When we got there it only contained two bottles of water! Heehee!!

~Suz~