I have survived

...my first outing to the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival. Off I went to Baltimore with two bus loads of knitters from Rosie's Yarn Cellar for a beautiful day of yarn gorging. I approached the event with a certain amount of anxiety for such a fun day...what should I buy? how much should I buy? would I oversleep and miss the bus? and most importantly, would I attempt the Koigu mill ends booth?

And why you might ask would a visit to that booth promote anxiety attacks? They sell the mill ends of Koigu for cents on the gram and has consistently resulted in something of mythic proportions...knitters gone wild...when knitters attack...the tales would curdle your blood. As a first-timer I didn't know how I was going to approach the situation. My competitive side wanted to jump right in. My cautious side said to hang back, watch the yarn brawl from the side lines and maybe take photos of my normally mild mannered friends in a Koigu-induced frenzy.

I got to the booth, my cautious side was rudely pushed aside, and my competitive side started grabbing Kiogu with joyous abandon. I even worked up a sweat. Happily though a lot of budgets were busted, there was no pulling of hair or blood shed. I have no photographic evidence of the carnage at the Koigu booth- just a pic of my own haul, not bad for a virgin.

The festival was a wee bit overwhelming. After displaying such a shocking lack of discretion at the Kiogu booth I became a real commitment-phobe. Beautiful yarn all around me, but nothing to make my Lady Eleanor. And lots of adorable livestock...sheep, of course...llamas

and my favorites, alpacas.

Unfortunately that is the one rule of the Rosie's bus, no bringing home livestock. Plus I guess they don't make ideal apartment pets. Wonder if they can be trained to do stairs or use a litterbox? Their faces are so sweet, not the silly supercilious look of camels.

I did manage to commit to one lucious yarn before the day was over. This lux hank of lace weight silk and kid mohair is destined to become a Kimono Shawl from Folk Shawls. I bought it from Ellen's 1/2 Pint Farm. They'll be one of my stops again next year.

Now, what the hell am I going to do with all that Koigu?