hullabaloo

there are few events of the year that will get me out of bed before 7am with a big silly grin on my face… but every year around this time is the giddy-making phenomenon i call Sheep & Wool weekend, affectionately known as “Rhinebeck” by fiber people across the country. this annual festival might just be my favorite event of the year, and now that i live about 45 minutes away, i can go BOTH DAYS. which is good, because there’s so much to do!

we must pet and nuzzle all the animals, especially the angora goats…

and the angora bunnies…

and the llamas and alpacas…

we must try to pose ourselves WITH the animals which isn’t easy. and we must parade around in our handmade finery! my dear friend Alisa came to visit from Toronto so we could go to the festival together, and we had a glorious time.

of course we went to the Ravelry party on Saturday night. it was fun and the raffle prizes looked awesome but we were too tuckered to stay for the drawing…

because i had to be back bright and early Sunday morning to compete on my guild’s team in the Fleece to Shawl competition! we came in fourth (of four teams) because we had some setbacks and our shawl was too short. still, we had fun and considering we had only 3 hours to card, spin and weave, we thought our table mat looked pretty good!

for once, i didn’t bring much home with me (that’s a GOOD thing!). i ordered a sweater’s worth of yarn from the Rainbow Lady, something i’ve wanted to do every year since my first visit. i foolishly forgot to take a photo of the colorway i got (greens and browns) and it’s not on her website but trust me, it’s gorgeous. it won’t arrive until january since we are in the midst of every fiber person’s busiest time of year and i wouldn’t be able to work on it until then anyway. i also brought my handmade shearling slippers that i got last year from Shepherd’s Flock back to be re-soled, since i’ve worn them every day (including straight through the summer)! and i got two braids of spinning fiber, one from Cloverleaf Farms and one from Into the Whirled. but more on those later…

oh, and be sure to check out my friend Chris’ technicolor photo essay too!