drive-by mdsw post
just a quickie sans photos, since it could be ages before i get them uploaded and if i don't do this now it won't happen ever.
despite the fact that i felt like a fiber fraud since i was the only person around me not losing his or her mind over mdsw, i had a really great weekend. i did very little wallet damage, coming away with pretty much only the things i said i was going to buy and no new yarn*. i got to spend quality time with some very good friends who i don't see often, which was really the best part. i actually did take time to pet the sheep and make eyes at the bunnies and llama and goats and alpaca. i watched the super-young 4-h'ers shepherding competition and saw the absolute tiniest black baby lamb ever and just about melted from the cute.
there were some downsides - it was VERY hot and i neglected to sunblock my neck so i'm a touch pink, and i didn't get as much time with some friends as i'd have liked (and some were missing altogether), but i made some new ones so it all worked out. this is the first year i didn't volunteer for anything, which was liberating, and a good thing since i had to go in to work for a while sunday evening.
the haul:
two new bosworth spindles because i have no idea where my stash of spindles got packed in the move but i'm sure they'll turn up eventually. bloodwood mini and red cedar midi. $95 (yowch, but they are lovely and the red cedar smells yummy)
a "Lady Hoare's Tatting Shuttle" which i absolutely bought because of the name. also my great-grandma used to tat and i'd love to learn. except i think she did might have done needle tatting. oh well. $2.50
4 oz bamboo top, undyed. for a challenge. may or may not dye this summer before spinning. $6
8 oz cultivated silk top, undyed. ditto the bamboo. $35 (also yowch but it has such sheen)
2 oz tussah silk, pindrafted top, dyed in shades of blue. this one was an impulse arm-twist purchase that i'd probably have been just as happy without, but it is pretty. $8.50
a bitty bot robot magnet, just a little bigger than my thumbnail. i gave him a name but now i've forgotten it so i'll have to think of a new one. cute! $4
fair food: ice cream, italian sausage (NOT LAMB! sheep are for sweaters not for eating), water, and a bite of funnel cake. overpriced but necessary.
*i did make one yarn purchase, but not for me - suz and i exchange birthday gifts at sheep and wool every year since our birthdays are so close. she brought me a skein of sundara (whee, with that and the bugga and the woolmeise, my dramayarn trifecta is complete) in blues, whites, and browns. pretty. she picked out a skein of three irish girls from cloverhill, so technically i did buy that.
i think that HYP has spoiled me for getting yarn (or even dyed roving) at other festivals. while lots of the vendors at mdsw (and rhinebeck for that matter) have lovely stuff, if i'm going to buy yarn i'd rather get it from one of the many talented artists i talk to regularly and get to see in person at my spinning group and my LYS and every year at the homespun yarn party. if i can support my friends directly, i would rather cut out the middleman, and i am lucky enough that most of the time if i want something specific i can just ask (or make it myself). i know this means i'm spoiled rotten when it comes to having my favorite fiber event at the very start of the season. i guess that's one advantage to running the thing!!
(you may notice i didn't mention the purchase of a lendrum, which was originally on my shopping list for mdsw. that's cause i got my lovely wheel in march, second hand but with excellent provenance. yay!)
despite the fact that i felt like a fiber fraud since i was the only person around me not losing his or her mind over mdsw, i had a really great weekend. i did very little wallet damage, coming away with pretty much only the things i said i was going to buy and no new yarn*. i got to spend quality time with some very good friends who i don't see often, which was really the best part. i actually did take time to pet the sheep and make eyes at the bunnies and llama and goats and alpaca. i watched the super-young 4-h'ers shepherding competition and saw the absolute tiniest black baby lamb ever and just about melted from the cute.
there were some downsides - it was VERY hot and i neglected to sunblock my neck so i'm a touch pink, and i didn't get as much time with some friends as i'd have liked (and some were missing altogether), but i made some new ones so it all worked out. this is the first year i didn't volunteer for anything, which was liberating, and a good thing since i had to go in to work for a while sunday evening.
the haul:
two new bosworth spindles because i have no idea where my stash of spindles got packed in the move but i'm sure they'll turn up eventually. bloodwood mini and red cedar midi. $95 (yowch, but they are lovely and the red cedar smells yummy)
a "Lady Hoare's Tatting Shuttle" which i absolutely bought because of the name. also my great-grandma used to tat and i'd love to learn. except i think she did might have done needle tatting. oh well. $2.50
4 oz bamboo top, undyed. for a challenge. may or may not dye this summer before spinning. $6
8 oz cultivated silk top, undyed. ditto the bamboo. $35 (also yowch but it has such sheen)
2 oz tussah silk, pindrafted top, dyed in shades of blue. this one was an impulse arm-twist purchase that i'd probably have been just as happy without, but it is pretty. $8.50
a bitty bot robot magnet, just a little bigger than my thumbnail. i gave him a name but now i've forgotten it so i'll have to think of a new one. cute! $4
fair food: ice cream, italian sausage (NOT LAMB! sheep are for sweaters not for eating), water, and a bite of funnel cake. overpriced but necessary.
*i did make one yarn purchase, but not for me - suz and i exchange birthday gifts at sheep and wool every year since our birthdays are so close. she brought me a skein of sundara (whee, with that and the bugga and the woolmeise, my dramayarn trifecta is complete) in blues, whites, and browns. pretty. she picked out a skein of three irish girls from cloverhill, so technically i did buy that.
i think that HYP has spoiled me for getting yarn (or even dyed roving) at other festivals. while lots of the vendors at mdsw (and rhinebeck for that matter) have lovely stuff, if i'm going to buy yarn i'd rather get it from one of the many talented artists i talk to regularly and get to see in person at my spinning group and my LYS and every year at the homespun yarn party. if i can support my friends directly, i would rather cut out the middleman, and i am lucky enough that most of the time if i want something specific i can just ask (or make it myself). i know this means i'm spoiled rotten when it comes to having my favorite fiber event at the very start of the season. i guess that's one advantage to running the thing!!
(you may notice i didn't mention the purchase of a lendrum, which was originally on my shopping list for mdsw. that's cause i got my lovely wheel in march, second hand but with excellent provenance. yay!)