Maryland Sheep and Wool 2012

What a weekend!  This was my first time to visit MDSW.  My sister, who is also a spinner, came down from upstate NY to Md. along with her husband, to meet me for a very tiring but fun weekend.  We went loaded down with everything on the Ravelry list that was deemed to be necessary to survive the sun, crowds and to sustain life while we spent the daylight hours there.  I hate to say it but we sort of looked like bag ladies under our load of fannypacks, shoulder bags and extra totes.  Well, we learned a lot about those "lists."

 Crowd looks light?  Look again at the throngs of people behind this little group!!  Up by the buildings it was PACKED shoulder to shoulder by noontime on Saturday.  Sunday was much lighter.

First of all you don't need half of what was listed.  I would recommend the following:cash money,  a bottle of water, sunscreen, handy wipes and maybe a tiny bottle of hand sanitizer, credit card, an extra tote, checkbook, good comfortable footwear, (did I mention money?), a pen (for making notes on where to visit on day 2 when you couldn't get into the booth on day 1 and to write checks), a small snack (we took baby carrots and nut crunch) and money!

The lines for bathrooms (tons of porta potties) and food were not long at all.  Food was great!  We had great lamb kabobs (lamb sausage and veggies doused with mint jelly...yum!) and lamb pita (more mint jelly!).  The lamb dinner Saturday evening was great with lamb prepared 2 ways (no mint jelly ... sad).  

It was HOT and you had to keep hydrated.  At one point in the VERY hot Main Exhibition Hall my sister started quickly fading on me.  I took her outside to lay on the grass and went to get a very large iced tea which she downed in short order. 

The Sheep herding demonstration was over an hour long and absolutely fantastic!  The Border Collies are amazing to watch.  Most of their skill is instinct.  Their personalities really shine through as they try to sneak by the trainer at times to do the chase on their own.  Smart dogs!!

  New Stash

We found everyone to be so nice and I enjoyed chatting with some of the shepherdesses in the barns.  One of my big purchases was a nice 2 1/2 lb bag of BFL roving in this blue/green/white mix from a shepherdess in one of the barns.   I am thinking about blending it with this top and some silk to make a sweater.  Since I have so many raw fleeces right now I decided to splurge on some already prepared fiber and chose some very pretty colors.  It will be fun to see how they spin up.

Spanish Peacock Spindle with BFL, top and Vegan Wool blend

We took Maggie Casey's class on Plying Tips and Tricks.  I was able to perfect my Navaho and Cable plying techniques.  Maggie is great, very laid back and informative!

  Maggie Casey teaching Plying Tricks and Tips

That's me in the black shirt working on Navaho plying!

We were exhausted after day 2.  Back at the motel we met my sister's hubby downstairs in the lobby.  He had been in DC for the day and was equally tired.  We got onto the elevator to ascend to our 3rd floor haven.  After standing there chatting for a good couple minutes, carrying our load of wheels and new fibers, my sister's hubby chuckled and said, "I cannot believe none of us pushed our floor  button!"  We laughed so hard that we were in tears, pushed 3 and yes, indeed, we DID manage to get back to our room!!  

We perused patterns and enjoyed each others projects (yes, we each brought bags of finished projects since we had seen each other last October!).   My sister loved the Hitchhiker I had just finished so it did find the perfect home!!  She plans to wear it to an outing this week!  It's so nice to know that she will enjoy it!

And what's next?  Lot's of dying silk, blending, knitting new projects and...Carolina Fiberfest in less than 2 weeks! 

Using the Kaydessa Picker

I finally decided that I would have to get a picker if I am to continue processing all of these raw fleeces.  As a starter I decided on the Kaydessa Box Picker and purchased it off the etsy site for $136.  Granted it is a lot smaller than most pickers and can only handle small amounts at a time, but I found that it is quite efficient in helping to pick through the locks. 

The picker has a series of 10 penny nails situated in alternating directions.  The lid also has these staggered nails.  As you slide the lid back and forth over a small amount of locks at a time it fluffs them up and lets the VM fall to the base of the picker.

Within a few minutes you have a nice fluffy pile of fiber.  If it is still too compact it goes back through a second and maybe a third time.  You have to take care not to be rough on the fiber as you can break it and really ruin your fleece.  

So the rule of thumb is to put in very small amounts (small handful) at a time and be patient.  There is nothing worse than discovering that you have chopped up your fiber into unusable pieces!  

Also, take care if you are picked a very fine fiber.  Go slowly until you can see how it handles the fiber and be sure you are happy with your end product.  

I love this as an adjunct to hand picking.  

Off to Maryland Sheep and Wool in the morning!  Let's hope I stay on budget!  No promises...