I must be honest, I kind of dread the post-festival blog post. It is just such a sensory overload and even one day after, it kind of feels like a dream - a sweet fibery dream - of meeting amazing online friends and seeing beautiful animals and the lovely yarns. And after four years of attendance (and subsequently blogging about it), I always feel like I am going to forget something or someone.

As you might expect, I took a few photos - but not nearly as many as I planned. I was pretty busy handling yarns and hugging people. For the full set of MDSW 2008 photos, go here. Here are some highlights:

Amazing people: Isel, Jenna, and Kate. I met so many people that my mind is a little dizzy. Long-time blog friends (so many many many many more!) and some new(er) Ravelry and Flickr friends alike. I was thrilled to meet everyone!

So many beautiful animals! The sheep breeds are probably the most ubiquitous animals at the festival, but it is common to see the goats, llamas, alpacas, and (sometimes) bunnies too. Amazing coincidence: this handsome llama is actually owned by my old friend that I used to work with (in my first year of knitting!) We reconnected at the festival when I was up in her llama’s face taking photos! It was amazing to see Holly again! (remember Holly? she helped me overcome my fear of DPNs so many years ago!)

YARN! oh my gosh. I bought a lot. I really need to work on this attachment to material objects philosophy.  It seems to get me every year around this time.  I enhanced the stash, as they say.  Surprisingly, I did not buy any sock yarn this year.  A big step, considering that that has been the bulk of my purchases in previous years.  Nope, this year it was all about sweater yarns, and some drapey luxury fibers for elegant accessories.  My companions bought a few things too; I am sure they will be talking about them very soon!

[Click here for details about each skein]

It was not clear to me until I saw them all grouped together, that this year’s yarns are not my traditional color palette.  You may have noticed that I tend to group around certain colors, namely blues/violets, pinks/reds, and greens.  I also love brown, and have a lot in my stash, but not as many FOs in that particular color yet.  However, this year seems to be all about neutrals, or subtler shades of my usual choices.  Maybe it is a subconscious nod to the upcoming Project Spectrum AIR element with the grays and whites?  I got some very unique things this year - namely the beautiful handspun yarns from the Navajo Churro Cooperative.  The natural colors and wonderful texture of the yarn was enough to put them in my bag!  I also ran into some fabulous deals that were too good to pass up(Fingerlakes Wool and The Fibre Company).  I splurged for the linen up top, but I figure the stuff will last forever (if they found it in Egyptian tombs…) I was also very happy to see the Botanical Shades booth again this year - I used their indigo dyed alpaca blend for my Aftur pullover, and this lovely grass green will make an amazing garment as well.

Saturday’s weather started out a little gloomy, but the day brightened up and actually got a little warm.  I got a minor sunburn, even when rocking the SPF 45.  Sunday, always my favorite day to attend, was milder weather-wise and crowd-wise.  Mom, Jenna, and I had a lovely relaxed time.  We even got to sample some goat and sheep cheeses, drink some lemonade, and try one of the yummy dip ice cream cones.  At the end of the day, we sat out and reflected on the experience.  We smiled with contentment… one of those tired genuine smiles after a great day. 

The real highlight of this year’s festival was observing the very real success of Ravelry in a relatively short time period. I joined Ravelry in it’s infancy, and it has grown into such an amazing community. Casey, Jess, and Mary-Heather (and all the volunteers!) have poured so much of themselves into it, and we all reap the benefits in the form of the website and the activities surrounding it. For this, I am so grateful. Maybe a little less knitting since I find it so hard to click away from the forums, but no less gratifying or enriching!  There was a festival meetup for Ravelers, as well as a wonderful post-festival Ravelry party at one of the local hotels. 

I had met Jess several times at previous festivals, and it was wonderful to see her again.  This time, I got to meet Casey and Mary-Heather too.  They were the stars of the show! Mary-Heather and I have corresponded for years, and I was so happy to finally meet her!  …and Kris (who came to the party with me!  surprise!) chatted with Casey and met so many of my online friends.  I think he was surprised that he was recognized a few times as well!

Mary-Heather and I were all smiles!

We stayed at the party and witnessed the way that Ravelry has touched the community.  Everyone was so friendly and excited to be a part of it!  I met so many nice people, and reconnected with some old friends as well.  I don’t have the time to link to everyone, and my memory may fail… but know that I was very happy to see you!

…and now, back to real life… the fiber event of the year has come and gone, once again. 

 It was so sweet while it lasted! 

The adorable furry animals!

The wonderful people!

The luscious fibers!

This will be my fourth Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival.  I still marvel at the fact that I live in the town that attracts thousands of fiber enthusiasts from all over the country (world?) on this one weekend!  When we moved here in 2001, I was not a knitter yet - I had no way of knowing.  Pure luck or providence?   Whatever it was, I am grateful.

I don’t have a particular list this year, but I do have some stops I want to make.  This is my first year as a weaver, so I am planning to get some more linen for rugmaking, as well as a new reed so that I can weave finer gauge items.   As for knitting, I am planning to look for beautiful complementary colors from local sources - I want some good wool for colorwork and sweater making.  I am not planning to go crazy this year, but I guess that is all relative.  I have a large stash already, and plenty of projects I am planning that use those yarns.  Then again, the festival (and my vacations) are the only real yarn-buying times for me anyway.  Maybe I shouldn’t feel too guilty…

My dear friend Jenna is flying in from Seattle tonight (late!), and we will be at the festival on both days.  On Sunday, my mom will join me!  We are planning to attend the Ravelry meetup, and also the Ravelry party later in the evening.  I would love to meet you, so if you are there and you see me, please say hi! 

Three years in a row: our springtime excursion to New York is becoming somewhat of a tradition! We only stayed for two days this year - Kris was in conferences, and I was out and about taking in the beautiful spring weather and sights, and meeting up with some old and new friends.Thank goodness for alternate work schedules and post-doc appointments! Without these things, I would have missed meeting with two special people. On Thursday, I had the wonderful opportunity to meet Connie. We have corresponded for months, and I have admired her amazing parade of designs in several of the recent knitting publications… she designed the beautiful Printed Silk Cardigan that I knit for my sister, and her newest design was just previewed for the Interweave Knits Summer 2008 issue. We had a lovely Thai lunch, and headed to a local cafe where we knit, talked about yarn and her design process, and sipped on some coffee. In the mid-afternoon, Erin called us to meet up. We met her at Habu Textiles.

Habu’s selection was quite tempting, but I remembered the kit that I bought during last year’s trip, and resisted the urge to get more.

Erin had plans for a bag, so we headed over to Mood Fabrics, made famous by Project Runway. We didn’t have any celebrity sightings, but we enjoyed going through the store and looking at their HUGE selection. There were three large floors stacked floor to ceiling with fabric bolts of every imaginable fabric.

Connie and I were in awe - since neither of us regularly sew, we were overwhelmed by just how much variety there was! In the end, Erin chose a great corduroy. Stay tuned to her blog for plans and progress! After that stop, we headed over to School Products, one of my favorite NYC yarn shops. We got a little turned around, but luckily Connie’s husband (via cellphone) helped us find our way to the shop! I picked up a lovely cone… more details in the next post.

A few hours later, Kris called to say that his meetings were complete, and he walked down to West Village to meet us at The Point. We sat around the table, ate some delicious snacks from their cafe (Connie got the most beautiful cupcake - I wish I had a photo!), and I flipped through some of the new books on display. Erin played with our wide-angle lens (we have the same camera, so our lens fit on her camera) and the infamous baskets-of-yarn-wall. It was about this time that some strange wind blew through the city, and set me sneezing and sniffling. My allergies got worse throughout the evening, but how could I let them get me down while I was having fun?

Connie headed back home after our time at The Point. I was so happy to meet her and to learn more about her “real life” as well as her knitting and designs. She was such a great help to me while I was knitting the cardigan, and meeting her was a real joy! Thank you, C!

After a fun dinner at Cowgirl in the West Village (yummy margaritas and some good veggie options too!), we headed back to Times Square for some night photography. Of course, there were hundreds of other people there doing the same thing, but we still had a lot of fun.

The next morning, I went to Bryant Park to check out the new location of one of my other favorite NYC stops: Kinokuniya Japanese bookstore. Their needle craft (knitting, crochet, embroidery) book collection is larger than any other book store I have been to, and I decided to take my time and go through the books.

Sitting on the floor, I poured over dozens of patterns and stitch directories. Even without reading the language, it is relatively simple to understand the schematics and charts outlined in the books. I am hoping that when I cast on for one of these projects, it will be intuitive. If not, I can ask my Japanese friend to help me with some translations…

It was the perfect day for photography, so when Erin met me for lunch, we decided to head towards Central Park for a photo afternoon. On the way, we stopped by Gotta Knit! a great yarn shop on 34th Street, and talked to Goldie, the owner. I bought a beautiful skein of yarn… more details to come.

Central Park was filled with people, but Erin and I had plans for some improvisational photography, and we didn’t let the crowds stop us. With her handy camera remote and my wide-angle lens, we got some great action photos!

Down | Middle | Up

We did about 20 cartwheels before finally getting the middle shot with both of our legs in the Y position. The funny thing? there were several groups of people sitting within a few feet of us, but no one even looked twice when we did all the jumping and cartwheeling!

Kris and I were completely beat after the busy two days in the city. Once we got home (after a two-hour Amtrak delay) we broke off some aloe for the sunburn, and went right to bed. It was a short and sweet trip!

A simple weekend with simple pleasures - it was wonderful.

We had a Namaste Knitters meetup in DC on Sunday. The Namaste Knitters is a group that I moderate on Ravelry to bring together knitters and crocheters who love yoga. Sung-Ji offered to host our DC group at the Inspired Yoga studio downtown. We knit, ate some delicious treats and drank yummy teas, and did some light yoga in the beautiful studio space. This was the first meetup of the group, and we will definitely be doing it again - we had such a good time together! If you are interested in joining us, stay tuned to the Ravelry boards for more information about our next get-together. (Left to right: my BFF Bec, Manda, me, Sung-Ji, and Heather)

The other simple pleasure of the long weekend was our weekly walk in the woods. The weather was unseasonably warm - near 70 degrees - and Kris and I hit the trails mid-morning and explored some great places in the nearby Patapsco Valley State Park. The park is located in Baltimore County, Maryland, about 15 minutes from our home. We have been to the park many times before, but the hike today offered us more time and better weather to venture onto some new trails. I am not quite sure how far we hiked, but we steadily climbed a steep hill, made our way to the top and around the other side. The hike in entirety took about 2.5 hours.

We saw a small waterfall, quite active with all of the rain we have had lately, and also saw a large group of deer - maybe 20. Once we pulled the camera out, most of them hitched up the white tails and jumped away. Four remained and watched our every step. The river used to be much bigger, but has been dammed and re-routed. There are signs of the river’s past all over. There was once a large mill located on the banks of the river - late 1800s/early 1900s - and several structures from the mill days remain. They are now in dilapidated states, but interesting nonetheless.

How did you spend your weekend?

I can’t think of a more succinct and true statement. I was in town for the week at the annual Society of American Archivists meeting… and I was not prepared to have such a lovely time. Are work conferences supposed to be that great? Not only did I learn a heck of a lot, I got to see some amazing sights, and meet some wonderful people.

View from my room: Grant Park and Lake Michigan

I got in town last Sunday night, and after checking in, Amy came to meet me at my hotel. She had sought out some restaurants with adequate vegetarian fare, and the minute she mentioned Persian food, I was game. We went to Reza’s, a piano bar/cafe with a delicious menu - so delicious that I decided to order a lot of food. I ate too much. Luckily, we walked (and knit) some of it off.

It was a great night, and we made plans for later in the week. When I was not in conference sessions, I was touring the city with friends, photographing the sights, and knitting in the spare moments. Nova and I had made plans many weeks ago to rendezvous at the SAA conference - and when we finally did meet on Wednesday afternoon, everything was so natural: we already knew each other! We capitalized on our fun and hit a new Chicago yarn shop: Knitwerks.

Both of us walked out with some goodies - and both of mine were things I had only seen there, so that took the guilt edge off. You can see one of my purchases on the swift above: a gorgeous green worsted weight - Dream in Color -which is made in Illinois. I often bend the rules for souvenir yarns, and that is probably what gets me in trouble with stashbusting… later in the week, we stopped by another yarn shop, Loopy Yarns, and I only picked up some magazines. Both were great shops, and I am glad that we found the time to visit and see the local yarn culture!

Chicago is a beautiful and photogenic city - we had splendid weather the whole time I was there, and it was perfect for walking near and far. There were so many things to do and see in the city, and I felt that I did not even scratch the surface. Another trip is definitely in order. Some photo highlights:

Crown Fountains, Millennium Park

Sailboats on Lake Michigan

The Field Museum

The Art Institute Lion

[Chicago set in entirety on Flickr!]

See? Chicago is an amazing place - with amazing art! I was so thrilled to catch one of the exhibitions I missed in New York this past spring at MoMA, the Jeff Wall photography show. It blew me away. The presentation of the images is key to the exhibit: they are large color transparencies mounted on huge light boards, so viewing them in a 2-D computer screen or book is simply not the same… but you can try! The other great art in Chicago is the public art installations along Lake Shore Drive in the downtown area: The Cool Globes Project. There are 124 globes, each of them offering a tip on green living, or drawing attention to a social and environmental topic. It was a fascinating display. As you can see from the photo above, this particular globe is covered with a knit fabric. The globe is entitled “Adjust the Thermostat”, encouraging people to layer up (with a nice handknit?) instead of turning up the heat at home. This globe is the creation of artist and craft blogger, Lindsay Obermeyer. When we saw her globe, we knew it would be the perfect photograph opportunity for Amy, Nova, and myself!  The globe is located on the walkway in front of the Field Museum.

I fear this post has just gotten too long for its own good, so I will talk a little more about the knitting archivists (like Rebecca!) and my own project in the next post… stay tuned