This coming weekend is the 2010 Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. This event is something that I’ve come to rrreeeeeaaaaallllyyy look forward to. Last year is the first year I attended, and even after anticipating it for weeks I nearly didn’t go because that Sunday the weather was awful. It was pouring rain and I just knew that the fairgrounds were going to be muddy and yucky and that I was going to have a miserable time. I went, and there was way more mud than I had imagined there would be, the place smelled pretty distinctly of wet wool (go figure), and the rain really didn’t let up all day, but I’d not be telling the truth if I didn’t admit that I had a really wonderful time. I came home with three skeins of gorgeous raspberry-colored worsted weight wool yarn (which, not surprisingly, is still in my stash cabinet waiting to be turned into something…I’m pretty sure I know what it will become, but there it sits), and I got to visit for a while with the people upon whose farm the sheep were raised and who dyed the wool themselves. Perhaps even cooler (and maybe a bit more dangerous) I came home even more super-duper excited about all things woolen. (Well, not all things…have you noticed how horrifically ugly some of the knitting patterns are that are floating around out there? Yes, there is some stunningly beautiful design work as well, but some of those things…well, they just leave a great deal to be desired. I mean, seriously, who makes those things? Do people really like them enough to spend hours and hours making something that looks like that? I know I shouldn’t be judgmental, but I look at some of these things that, to me, are like the knitterly equivalent of being punched in the gut and among the more kosher of the words that come to mind are “really?” and “ugh”.)
Anyway, I’ll be going again this year and I’ve been pretty excited about it this week. I’ve been thinking about what kinds of wool I’ll be wanting to be on the lookout for since I have tons of projects earmarked. (I know there are other kinds of yarn in the world, but wool really has become my favorite.) I’d like to branch away from black and charcoal grey (my idea of not black), although if the wool is for a knitted garment for me (scarves excluded) I know I’d be wasting my time knitting in too many other colors. I’d like to find some nice cashmere and I’d like to bring home some funky sock yarn. I’m sure I’ll find many a treasure that I’ll have to leave there for someone else, but I’m excited about the possibilities. Last year I was completely overwhelmed by my choices, and this year I’ve saved a few extra shekels to spend (although with weeks of physical therapy coming up I should probably save some of those shekels…hmmm, it really is difficult to decide where that money would be best spent…perhaps it’s a good thing that that decision is pretty much made for me since I won’t really be able to knit at all until I’ve at least started the physical therapy…)
What amazes me is the amount I’ve learned about yarn and about wool and about knitting in the past twelve months. I’ve done tons of research, read an enormous number of blog posts, books and magazines, pored over patterns and yarn catalogues, haunted my LYS, swatched like a mad woman, experimented with knitting new and increasingly difficult things, all in the spirit of learning as much as I can about and spending as much time with something I’ve come to enjoy tremendously. I actually hadn’t thought much about how much I might have learned and how much experience I’ve gained until I started thinking about what kinds of things I want to keep an eye open for this weekend. I made the drive to the fairgrounds in another county last year not really having any clue what to expect or what to look for or what I might like, either to wear or to knit with. This year, armed with more knowledge, I think I might be even more overwhelmed, but at least I have more of an idea of what I’ll actually use and what it would be nice to use for. My tastes have also changed in the last year, as is they are wont to do with continued learning, which really broadens the possibilities because I’ve become more open minded about some things which before I totally dismissed. (Like lace, for example. I’ve gone from thinking knitted lace to be something for the geriatric set to finding much of it really quite beautiful. And socks. I’d always dismissed socks as something too difficult for me to attempt, but now knitting socks is firmly set as one of my passions. Although as much as I like socks, this should be no real surprise.)
So, I guess the short of all this is that I’m excited. Probably more excited than a person should be about visiting a place that smells like sheep and where one can spend many a dollar on glorified string that hasn’t yet even been turned into anything. It’s the prospect of what the strands of fiber could become (“ooh, wouldn’t that be really beautiful as a {enter title of lovely project here}”) that is as exciting as anything. (Although some of the wool is dyed and hanked so very beautifully that one doesn’t really even want to use it but could be content just to look at it and admire its beauty, be proud that it is in the stash cabinet, and on occasion give it a good fond petting or hug.) Nerdy, glorious fun. I’ll let you know what I come up with.
Posted by Jessica