Recap

I finally broke down and brought my camera cord over to Mom's so I could post some pictures. I didn't want to take up the space on her hard drive, but you need pictures if you're going to have a good blog post. First up, I was in my friend Shining's wedding last weekend. From left to right, that's Acacia (maid of honor), Shining (bride), Cait (other bridesmaid) and me. We had such a good time and couldn't have asked for better weather.

Now, the Maryland stuff:
Beth and I started off the day in the main exhibition barn. We could not have been more overwhelmed. I knew it was going be crowded, but wow! Some booths I had to skip over completely because I couldn't get in. (Knitters can be pretty violent if you try to get between them and their Koigu.) The first yarn purchase of the day was this lovely stuff I got at Davidson Corporation, all the way from Michigan.
I don't have any plans for it yet. It's only about 140 yds, so maybe a one skein wonder? I love the colors though. I wear a lot of browns and it will be a perfect compliment to most of my wardrobe. We wandered a little further down the barn and lusted after a bunch of different yarns, but we were both sticking to budgets and trying to be conservative since there was so much to see. I came really close to getting some pretty sparkly stuff from Blue Heron Yarns, a company in Maryland that I'm pretty obsessed with. But the price was the same as the stores around here and I was looking for something original and maybe a deal. The next purchase I made was definitely a deal. Look at all this sock yarn I got for $12!

I originally only picked up the blue and black yarn for Doug and the yellow and blue for me but then thought I'd like to make myself some blue/black socks too! This booth (can't remember which one it was) also had 50g balls of 100% alpaca for $2.50 each and sadly I didn't get any. They had the loveliest eggplant color that I could have made a beautiful Rogue out of, but I was still holding out. I dreamed about that yarn Saturday night and went back for it Sunday, but it was gone. Doh! I'll remember for next year to grab stuff when I want it! After that Beth and I decided to get some lunch. Unfortunately the lines were way too long for the "real" food so we settled on the healthy alternative of funnel cake and kettle corn. Yum!

We settled in the shade of an SUV and ate and knit until it was time for the knit blogger meetup. I'll refrain from posting the huge group pic that you've seen everywhere else, but suffice it to say that ohmigod I had no idea what a force we have. I knew that there were hundreds of knit blogs out there, but wow. To see it in person is undesribable. I recognized quite a few people and chatted with a few too, but mostly I was chilling and knitting and trying (unsuccesfully) to not get sunburned. I did get a few pics though:

That's me and Diane , who recognized me based on the little piggy around my neck. That's something I whipped up on Friday so I'd have a convenient place to put my camera for easy access. It was such a hit too, I got lots of compliments on it. I'm thinking of creating other little critters (like a monkey, elephant, etc) and maybe selling them in my Esty shop .
That's Cara, showing off her beaded fantasy shawl, which was GORGEOUS! I've now been inspired to knit lace and beads. I met a lot of other fantastic people, but I don't want to overload anyone with the pictures. Thanks for such a great time knitbloggers! After the meetup, we wandered a little longer and left the fairgrounds a little early due to my horrendous sunburn on my back and both of us feeling a little yarned out.
On Sunday we were back at the fair bright and early and the mood of the whole festival had definitely changed. Instead of a seeing a bunch of frenzied knitters, clutching their precious Socks That Rock and Koigu with fierce looks in their eyes, we saw a lot more families and knitters actually knitting. I made my score of the whole festival.

That's three skeins of sunlight by Kiparoo Farm, near Frederick, MD. My only regret is that I wish I could have bought more. I don't know what to do with it...I've got 375 yards of it, but the needle recommendation is a US 10, so I can stretch it to go a long way. Any suggestions? I'd like to make a top of some sort, maybe a 3/4 sleeve cropped cardi. Is it enough?? Need a close up? (Sorry for the blurry picture.)I love the little strand of nylon running along with the wool, it gives it just a little shimmer without being overly flashy. This colorway doesn't have a name, so I've taken to calling it "Campfire". I never would have picked up this color if it hadn't been for Project Spectrum. I discovered in April that I really like yellows and oranges a lot. Thanks Lolly! I also got some acid dyes (for Dyeorama) and 5" US 1 Brittany Birch DPNs. I have always used DPN's as opposed to two circs for small tubes and socks, etc. I've found that I prefer wooded DPN's to metal because of their ability to "grab" the yarn since I toss my half-finished sock in my purse without a second thought. After using the birch needles, I'm never going back to bamboo. I *heart* birch! On our way home we passed a few birch trees and I was tempted to go saw off a few branches to bring home! Tee-hee!

That pretty much sums up the weekend. I'll leave you with this picture of the two cutest animals at the fair. The one on the right kept chewing on the other one's ears and a little struggle ensued, so cute. Doug is lucky my car can't hold two full-size alpacas or I might have brought them home.