Refreshed, Rewarded and Broke

Wow!  MDSW.  Where do you start??  That's the question on arrival and that's the question here.  So much to mention!  The people, the fibers, the sheep, the fibers, the booths, the fibers, the wheels... a nearly endless list of joy.  :)  My adventure started Friday morning (it's always an adventure getting out of my town with a major interstate highway undergoing major reconstruction - Friday morning they were moving a girder from one side of the street to the other and lucky me, I got there just in time to sit and watch).  I made it to Baltimore by late afternoon and delivered Mazurka to her new home (yippee! spendin' money!)  What a small world - the woman who bought Mazurka grew up in my town within walking distance of where I live!  No, we had never met before the wheel.   My first booth stop was at Delly's Delights (seen in that seriously bad photo - this camera and I are not bonding as easily as Mavica and I did). The owners, also rabbit breeders, Connie and her husband Dave, are talented fiber folk as well as just plain nice. 

I spent Friday night with friends: Susan who lives only half hour from the fairgrounds, graciously and with great good humor, hosted EZasPi mom Elaine and I  for the weekend.  One of Susan's border collies did the same for Elaine's bunny. Susan, much to Elaine's and my great amusement, did not exercise will power this weekend.  As Elaine and I managed to keep our spending to reasonable levels, Susan just plunged in anytime she got our of our sight.  I only bought two small fleeces.  Not Susan.  Her fleece came home on the hoof.  And no, adding one jet black and adorable Finn ewe lamb to her flock was not enough.  She also came home with a champion jet black registered Border leicester ram lamb.  He's the cutie sporting the white splotch.  She only had 18 lambs born this spring, but apparently, that's not enough.   LOL  And there is a major DH scam ripple effect to that purchase.  The whether born in her flock this spring that she intended to sell now has to stay to keep the new ram company.   No wonder she dropped off 60 pounds of wool for processing!

On of the great treats of fiber fairing is, as Risa so delightfully puts it, to "be among the similarly afflicted."   Many of the folks in this photo are members of EZasPI.  We brought our shawls in as many stages as variations.  Mine of course is the tiny little underworked pathetic Pi hiding in the back row.   Susan's is also still on the needles but at least her needles are circular and hold Pi in one piece in all it's delicious softness and foof you'd expect from the camel down and angora blend handspun yarn she's using.   You'd think I'd have learned in February that Pi on dpns does not travel well.   Ah, well, after next week, I can devote time to my Pi. 

Pi up close:
Elsie      
Risa

   

Elaine   

Elaine is an interesting character.  She raises angora rabbits, evaluates alpaca fiber, and teaches no matter where she is or what she is doing.  She parked herself at Norm Hall's booth for a bit, trying out his spindles and then of course his magnificent wheels.  Norm was instructing Elaine on the left handed Norwegian style wheel.  Was she content to learn?  Oh.  No.  As is common when a spinner spins in public, a few people gathered to watch the magic of fiber to yarn.   So here is Elaine in Norm Hall's booth not learning from the master, but teaching strangers about spinning on Norm Hall's wheel!  While he watches!   If you know Elaine, you know this is just as it should be.    Norm Hall, btw, is as much an interesting character as Elaine is!  And yes, I tried out one of those lovely wheels, the Traditional hiding behind Norm in the photo.  Oh.  Yum!  And some major drool, too.  I spent as much time stroking the wheel as spinning on it. 

And speaking of interesting, here is Wild Fibers Magazine.  My copy of the newly shipped issue arrived just before I left for MDSW.  My normal reaction is to drop everything and read from cover to cover.  I haven't been able to do that yet with this timing.  So I don't yet know why there is that brace on editor Linda's leg.  She says the explanation is in her column.  I travel a lot and almost everywhere I go, there is Linda.  A happy circumstance as she is always full of fun chat.  The magazine is always full of fascinating facts and people.  This issue, focusing on alpacas, also introduces a new feature: Women of Wool.  I can't wait to get into that article, especially since I know and spin with the woman in the story.  If you don't already have a subscription, do check out the magazine - you deserve a treat!

Resubscribing to Spin-Off is one of my MDSW traditions now.  Well, as if the magazine isn't enough, this year, Interweave Press had a drawing for those who subscribed or resubscribed and I of course entered my name.  Didn't think another thing about it until Sunday afternoon when Elaine asked "Why is your name up on the Interweave Press booth?"  Oh, my goodness!!  I won!  I got to choose between Deb Menz's book Color In Spinning (which I already own), Dyer's Companion, and a book  on weaving which I don't yet do.  So I am now the happy owner of Dyer's Companion. 

I also sat down at the Golding booth to the oh so delicious experience of spinning on his triple flyer "Flock of the Shepherdess " spinning wheel.  A tough choice: Norm Hall wheel or Golding wheel???  LOL Prices kind of make that choice for me at the moment, but after trying them both within  minutes of each other, I find the Golding a bit more suited to me.   Of course, having one of each is a nice fantasy too!

I limited myself in fiber purchase at MDSW this year.  I only bought two fleeces and one partial fleece, and an ounce and a half of dyed silk top.  Oh, yes, I almost forgot, I picked up some silk waste too.  The fleece in the photo is one pound 6 ounces of light fawn, crimpy and absolutely clean alpaca.   The first sheep fleece I bought was one of those "just can't pass it by" types: a bright white, stunning corriedale from a sheep sired by an Australian ram.  And then I wandered into the Cormo association booth and how can you leave there without some of that luscious "please blend me with angora" fleece???  I did use some restraint: I got a partial fleece and left the full many pounder for some other lucky devil.  Elaine and I did paw through fleeces in the fleece sale but we deliberately waited until Sunday afternoon, when all the best had already been snapped up.   That way, we got our share of fleece fondling without succombing to "no room in the car" overload. 

Unlike Susan, I enjoyed the sheep through the lens of my camera.  So too can you. 

I also bought another really sweet basket.  The basket maker named this style "Too Cute" and it is.  I intended it for displaying angora this weekend at NHSW.   But when I got home late last night, one of my hybrid does kindled a single healthy baby.   This doe is happy to feed her baby, but the singleton can't maintain temperature on it's own.  So I have parked the baby in the basket under a heat lamp in the house.  I will be taking the baby out to mom a couple times a day and hoping for success.

Finally, the new bunny in the rabbitry!  She is a 3 month old pure German (old lines) from Susan's Storybook Dreams Rabbitry, sired by one of my "grandkits."  She needs a name.   Her sire's name is Peter Pan and her dam is Half Pint.  My first thought was something drawing from the boozin' side of Half Pint.  I'm sure Susan would prefer something from her theme of names from storybooks.  The name Half Pint comes, of course, from the Laura Ingalls Wlder "Little House" books.   I could, of course, go with Rose, who was LIW's daughter, but I do need time to think about this.  I could end up with something completely unrelated to either of those thoughts, like perhaps a nice German name.  Or maybe going with her father's name: I could call her Pandora.  Hmmm.....

Comments

[Cathy]

Ohhh, what a wonderful post. Felt like I was right there with you - sorta kinda...

[Nancy]

Wonderful telling and photos! I see "Liesl" as a possibility for your new bunny

[Kim]

Ooohh.......sounds like you had a fabulous time!! I can't wait to hear all about it next weekend!

Norm Hall...........this is the year that my wheel should be ready.........I have been waiting 5 years!

[Jessica]

Wow. Sounds like you had a great time. Thanks for telling us all about it! :)

[Janet]

Hey Chris!

Sounds like you had a wonderful time! Wish I could have been there, but I definitely will make the Great Lakes fiber show in Ohio. Will you be able to make that one?

And what's happening with Vivi's baby?

[corine]

now i can't wait for rhinebeck... we gotta make that happen for sure. loooove the sheep pics.

[Marcia]

Sorry I missed you! I had classes all day Thursday, Saturday morning and all day Sunday, so when I did have wandering or shopping time, I was frenzied. Met one internet friend on Saturday, but that was about it. Still, there are advantages to taking classes....those buildings usually have separate bathrooms! Glad you had such a good time.

[Elaine]

We did have a great time didn't we? But then we always do. :) Spagetti anyone?
oh sorry, translation = Later!
Elaine

[Anne]

Sounds like an awesome time!!! What do I owe you for my T-shirt?

Tinkerbelle would be awfully cute for a name for your new doe - she has such a pixie-like look on her face! :)