Maryland Sheep and Wool 2015

So as we catch up on the blog I decided to  talk about my trip to Maryland Sheep and Wool this year. I say my trip, because this year Jess didn't go. I had a nice time, but I definitely missed having my bestie with me.  I hadn't planned on going either until a friend of mine posted on Instagram that she was wondering who was going.  In the end it was the two of us and another friend who got up early on a beautiful Sunday morning and took the 3 hour drive to MDSW. Of the three of us, I was the only one who had been to the festival before.  I went with a game plan in mind. I needed buttons for my Grandpa Cardigan. I knew I wanted to look at Into the Whirled's booth, and see if we made it in time for Miss Bab's special colorway.  I had a few other places I knew I wanted to check out.  The only thing I needed was buttons.  This is what I came home with that day:

Can you see the buttons? They are next to the pink yarn...

I got a bag of Odds N Ends from Into the Whirled. I am looking forward to spinning these up for Tour de Fleece this year (Fiber Fangirls will have a team again this year too!) I visited the Little Barn booth (not in my original plan), and got three bags of fiber for about $16! I plan to somehow spin that fiber up into either corresponding skeins or some kind of gradient.  I managed to snag a skein of the Miss Bab's MDSW colorway in a fingering weight yarn.

So bright and lovely. In the past, I have knit up socks with my Miss Bab's yarn, but this skein is all merino so I am not sure what I will make with it. I picked up a skein of Marigold Jen yarn. This is a new to me yarn, and I know I will knit it up to make a pair of socks as a gift.

The pink yarn is an unknown yarn that I saw at the Sweitzers Countryside Fiber Mill booth.  It is 4 ounces of many a DK weight yarn and the color drew me right in.

I got a gradient set from Fiber Optics yarn. I bought a braid from them last year and now that I know how to n-ply (thanks Julia!) I can spin that up. In the mean time, I can knit up this lovely gradient set that has cashmere in it....

Chocolate to Aqua

I also got a needle felting kit for sheep from Going Gnome, a lamb cookie cutter, some cute sheep cards and an adorable yarn bowl and necklace from Jennie the Potter. I don't have a great photo of my buttons, but will post them on my sweater when I get them on there.  It was a fun day, and I got way more yarn and fiber than I intended, but it is MDSW and only comes once each year.

Modular Monday 5/26/14

I've been working hard on my sock yarn blanket this week.  I managed to knit 21 squares so far which brings my total to 88!  Now I am at the point in my BROOM mission where I can knit a square a day in order to submit my mission on time for the House Cup.  

Jess's Sock Yarn Blanket

I have received so many mini skeins from various Ravelry friends and Instagram friends.  Thank you all so much for being a part of my blanket <3

I have also been working on my blanket. I just finished the 20th square of the month last night.  I also received a big bag of mini-skeins from a Ravelry friend, and there are even more on the way. It is so fun to have a blanket filled with yarn from so many people.

Jen's blanket

I am up to 143 squares.  I am starting to work on my blanket across each row, instead of randomly picking a spot and each column has at least 5 squares. 
How are your modular projects going? We only have 5 more days to enter our contest in our Ravelry group. Don't forget to vote on our Tour de Fleece poll as well.

MDSW 2014 & Modular Mondays in May

This past weekend was the 41st annual Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival in West Friendship, Maryland.  Jen & I drove down Friday night and came back Sunday afternoon.  We have been going for a few years, but in my opinion, this one was the most successful for us.  We both got everything we wanted on our lists (and more!), we didn't feel rushed and the weather was beautiful.  

Friday night, Cephalopod Yarns was having an open house from 4-8:30.  When we got there, we shopped a bit and then met and knit with noman, largosmom, and NekoMich.  They are lovely ladies and so much fun to talk to!  

We got to take a tour of the studio and got some info on something they will be announcing on their site shortly (!!!)  During the tour, one of our friends, lipsral, arrived.  I am so happy that I got to meet her!  We have been friends for a few years and it was great to get to meet her in person and give her a hug.  She knows we have been working hard on our sock yarn blankets so she brought each of us a special cup filled with mini skeins.  The cup has the tree and moon logo that is on the South Carolina flag.  Every time I drink from my cup I will think of Renee.  

Saturday, we woke up early and headed to the fairgrounds.  We got there around 8 am and the booths didn't open until 9.  We headed to Gourmet Stash because I have been dying to try to spin punis and there was a limited edition Maleficent colorway that I needed to get my hands on.  I also got some punis, which I have never spun before. I was nervous, but am always looking to get better at spinning.  I bought the MDSW exclusive set in the colorway "Spinner's Hill."  Also in the booth was The Vintage Rose.  She has so many amazing themed sets of stitch markers.  I am kicking myself for not getting the Sherlock set or the Harry Potter set. I snagged a set of Game of Thrones stitch markers that are awesome, a dragon, a castle, a sword and more!   I'll have to check out her etsy shop soon to see if they are available.  I did get myself a spinning wheel stitch marker to remind me of the amazing weekend I had.  

Next, we headed to to the Bosworth booth so I could get my own spindle.  I have been borrowing Jen's mini for months.  I got myself a zebrawood midi.  It's 32gm/1.13oz and gorgeous.  I tested it out that night when we went to the spin-in and I am in love with it.  It spins for miles and is so smooth.  

We wanted to check out Miss Babs, but the line was super long so we skipped it on Saturday.  We both scored at Into the Whirled.  I got some beautiful Corriedale in "Blink".  I was trying to decide what  to get when I saw a fiber called "Godswood."  So that was my second Game of Thrones item for the day!  I got it in Polwarth and it is gorgeous!  One of the booths was selling 4oz of targhee for $3 so we each picked up a bag.  I've never spun targhee before so I'm looking forward to trying it out.  I have spun Targhee before and really enjoyed it so I was excited to see the great deal that we got for it! Plus, since we got natural colored fiber I may try to dye it as well.

There was an HPKCHC meetup at 2pm so we headed over to the hill outside the main building.  It took a few minutes, but we eventually found our group in the crowd.  It was so nice to put faces to all of the ravatars I have been seeing for 7 terms.  

Hufflepuff Hoggles in the back!

We each scored a gradient batt from Loop to spin, mine is even Hufflepuff colors! (that is not what they call it but I am heh).  I bought a gradient braid from Fiber Optic Yarns too.  I have looked at their yarn and fibers before, but have never bought any of it.  I went in thinking I would buy the Chocolate Covered Cherry colorway, but left with a gradient that looks more like peacock colors to me.  After more shopping, we decided to head back to the hotel, refresh and go to dinner before the spin-in.  

The spin-in was pretty fun.  When you came in, you got one raffle ticket.  Throughout the evening, they would call out random numbers and if your number was called, you got to go to the table and pick a prize.  They held contests for who could spin the most in a minute on a drop spindle, on a spinning wheel.  Who could spin the most blindfolded.  The had a word search contest that Jen won.  After Jen won, she gave me her ticket and her number was called so I chose a t-shirt. 

At the spin in, Jess with her new Bosworth and Jen with her Lendrum

Sunday we woke up early and went back to the fairgrounds.  We decided since we still had an hour before the booths opened, we would head over to Miss Babs to see if we could get the MDSW exclusive colorway.  We were 8th in line, chatted with some nice people and got our yarn.  

After Miss Babs, we stopped at Jennie the Potter.  They were sold out of the MDSW mugs but we each got our first Jennie mugs.

The rest of the morning we just walked around, looked at animals and then sat and knit/spun for a bit before heading home.  

Jessica's haul from MDSW

Jen's goodies from MDSW

Jessica's sock yarn blanket with 62 squares so far

Jen's blanket with 126 squares

For the month of May we are celebrating Modular Mondays!  When we say modular we mean anything that you put together to make something else. Like blanket squares or hexipuffs. You have seen our sock yarn blankets here before, but we want to know what modular items that you like to work on.  Each Monday we will share our progress on our blankets and at the end of the month we will give a prize away in our thread on Ravelry. We will send you a set of sock weight mini-skeins that you can use on your own modular item.  All you have to do is leave a comment (with or without a picture) of something modular that you have made or want to make.  You must be a member of the group, and only one comment per person. We will select a winner using a Random Number Generator after midnight (Eastern Standard Time) on May 31, 2014.