Flowers

This week is Flower Week! (Thus sayeth Chelsea, and who am I to argue?)

Unfortunately, I haven't arrived home early enough to take flower pictures from my actual yard this week, so instead I went into the crafty snargle photo archives, and came up with these two beauties from times past.

Orchids from the Orchid society show my Mom & I attended

and a red flower from the US National Arboretum (same trip, actually) - click for larger version.

This afternoon I'm off to Richmond to meet up with the family, and probably swing by The Yarn Lounge, yippeee! (Maggi recommends it, so it's gotta be cool!)

And, if you haven't already, run, don't walk, to the nearest theater to see Star Wars III. It's freaking awesome.

Maryland Sheep & Wool, Post the Third

I've certainly been dragging this out, haven't I? I'm just trying to make the fun last longer... I can't believe it's already been a week. On the plus side, that means it's only 51 weeks until next year! Yiipppeeeee!

OK, where was I... oh yes, finishing up Saturday at the festival.

Last year I did most of my monetary damage at the Woolstock booth. Not on exquisite hand dyed one of a kind wonders, no sir, but on the bargain bin. A giant playpen contraption which had bags of yarn for 50% off. Not crap yarn, either, but good stuff - Rowan, Jo Sharp, Noro, etc. This year, I was trying to stay away, to convince myself that I should stick with the things I can't find in a LYS or on the web. Did it work?

Not entirely. Turns out I'm a sucker for a bargain. Or thrifty. Or cheap. But the fact was, there was some pretty cool stuff in there that I couldn't pass up for 50% off. It turns out my friends couldn't, either. Yep, I pulled them into the dark side with me. Just check out the crazed look on Carrie and Anne Marie as they practically dive in:

Mostly, though, we were very well-behaved. Jenny did score some fabulous Rowan, and I think just about everybody got some Regia sock yarn. (Well, everybody between this trip and the one on Sunday... of course I went back - are you crazy?)

After that, things started winding down at the fest. A last trip to Brooks, a last trip to Tess, and then I went to the gate to meet Cheryl & Stacy and wait for the stragglers. But then, who should I see walking by with the most ginormous bag of roving I've ever seen? Rachel and Lala! (In Lala's defense, it was Rachel with most of the roving). I sprang up to say hello, and convinced them to hang out for a few seconds while I rounded up my peeps (several of whom wanted to say hello). The next thing you know, it's a meet-up at the front gate!

The best part was when the man on the microphone in the front tent asked us where our group was from (since we obviously knew each other and all), and we said "The Internet." When he said, "No, I mean where are you from?" we replied with "Everywhere - we're from the Internet!" Yay for the blogosphere!

OK, so then it was home for some downtime and Subway, but then the call we were waiting for came... it was off to Korean karaoke!!!

[ASIDE: For those who have been curious (well, probably mostly those in our group), I found an article posted here that does have an explanation regarding the meaning of the phrase "1.7th Generation" - Jenny, the "th" is actually supposed to be there. Read and learn...]

The evening has been well chronicled elsewhere, thanks to the karaoke paparazzi, but I was no exception, so here are some photos for your enjoyment:

The all-important task of picking the right song:

Serenading the very willing local Koreans:

Doesn't every girl bring her own back-up dancers?

Seriously, because this one did too...

The beauty of blue soju:

And the whole (exhausted) crowd... click to make bigger:

Happiness.

But the night had to end, and we had to say good bye to our Georgia peaches. The next day a smaller crew returned to the festival for an all-around calmer, quieter day. If you were turned off by the crowds and insanity of Saturday, you should definitely try it on Sunday. Just don't expect there to be any Koigu left.

Yarn was purchased (another trip back to Woolstock for yet more sock yarn, another trip to Brooks Farm looking for some black - "Does this yarn match my coloring?" "Sarah, it's black. It matches everyone." "Good, I'll buy it then.") Funnel cakes and corn dogs were eaten. Sheep were admired.

The highlight of Sunday, though, was something I haven't done since I was much smaller, and I had completely forgotten what a thrill it was. When it was done, I laid on my back and laughed out loud for a long time. That's right... we rolled down a hill:

That's me, Sarah B. and Lara. Chelsea was our partner in crime photographer.

And that was the end. The only thing left was to take our yarn home and fondle it. Repeatedly. And take pictures of it, but that will have to wait until the next post - the Sheep & Wool Haul (or, how many feet do you have? or, how many skeins of sock yarn does one intrepid knitter need?)

Maryland Sheep & Wool, Post the Second

OK, I promised pictures and stories... I hope the suspense was bearable.

(There were plenty of other blog updates, so I know you weren't sitting around waiting on mine. In fact, you may feel as if you've seen all the pictures and heard all of the stories already. If that is the case, please feel free to skip this post, but please come back when I go back to my regularly scheduled knitting content. Thank you.)

First, a referral. If you haven't read it already, please go read this excellent entry by High Energy Jenny that pretty much sums up how I feel about the linking and the people and the name-dropping. There were several bloggers I met during the day who were obviously fabulous and known to others in my group, but whose blogs I had never read. I felt bad about that at first, but I also know that I can only do so much, and I will be reading them from now on.

By the same token, my main goal at Sheep & Wool this year was to socialize. I didn't really need to buy wool (not that I didn't - do you think I'm crazy?), I've seen the sheep and animals, but I hadn't met many of these folks before. Some of them I feel like I've known for a long time - it wasn't like meeting people, it was more like seeing an old friend again for the first time in years - you just sort of click. (Someone else wrote about this on their blog, but I can't find it again... if it was you, let me know so I can give you credit!)

One of the main things I took out of this weekend was a true sense of community. I think that I had previously thought of myself as a person who posted on the internet about knitting. Now, however, I truly feel like a knitblogger. All of this stuff that I'm sending out into the void is actually being seen by real friends, not make-believe internet friends. Deep and sappy, but how I feel/felt.

OK, enough of that, let's get to the pictures.

First was dinner, when I met Carrie, Anne Marie and Jenny for the first time, bringing along my houseguest Sarah and Natalie (a local blogger friend). They in turn introduced me to Frecklegirl, although in miniature. My impression of Frecklegirl is... well, let's just say that most of my pictures of Frecklegirl involve alcohol (you'll see those later). Jess, if you're anything like your tiny self, you got some 'splainin to do!
Here is our opening dinner toast. Notice that Frecklegirl has her own pint of beer, which is taller than she is.

There was more fun and hilarity that night, but eventually we all realized that we needed some sleep before the true fun of the festival. So it was home again home again Sarah & I went, where we met up with Cheryl and Stacy, awesome chicks and houseguests extraordinaire.

Very early in the morning (but somehow in a Christmas-morning type of way it wasn't early at all) we got up and went to breakfast. Blogger breakfast - hooray!

From L to R: Ei, Carrie, Donna, Jenny, Anne Marie (THRILLED to be there!), Heather, Kelly, and Sarah B.

Then a whole day at the festival... bloggers everywhere. You could generally recognize a fellow blogger, even if you didn't recognize them, because of the beautiful hand-knit garment, knitty or blog logo t-shirt, and camera. Lots of cameras. Lots of pictures - of everything... people, yarn, animals, food... you name it, a blogger was taking a picture of it. At 12:30, after I bought Spirit Trail sock yarn, lost it, and recovered it (hooray for ethical knitter people!), I (and Cheryl, I think - it's all blending together) walked over to the blogger meet-up... and got waylaid by finding Maggi and Greta along the way. They pointed out another mini-meetup which I joined momentarily in the line for Boy Scouts' lamb burgers (to clarify: the Boy Scouts were cooking them, there weren't lambs that were Boy Scouts). However, while I recognized several of those bloggers, there wasn't anyone from the group that I was supposed to meet up with, so I kept cruising up to the T-shirt booth and the meet-up that Cara organized. There were tons of bloggers there, hugging and taking pictures and admiring the knits. I met Rossana and Erika for the first time (even though we all live in the DC area - we need to do a meet-up soon!) Then I saw the familar faces of Lara and Chelsea, two of my local posse. I met Jenna, and we realized that we had three Boobholders in the same place. So we took a photo - Stef, this is for you!

After that, we all wandered over to the grassy knoll for the Yarn Harlot event. I went back and found the bloggers I'd left with the Boy Scouts, plus a few more, got a sandwich, and went back to the grass. We sat and knit and chatted, and waited until the line around Stephanie died down.
Don't Anne Marie and Sarah B. look happy and relaxed?

Stephanie turned around and took a picture of us - Bloggers in their Natural Habitat. Then we all (including Stephanie) chatted and showed off the yarn and fiber we'd already purchased, plus whatever WIPs we had. She was witty and wonderful and only said "arse" a couple of times (of course, she wasn't at a podium, so she could say "arse" as many times as she wanted). Of course, she still hadn't eaten, so we didn't tether her down for too long, but it was one of the (many) highlights of the day.

Here's a picture of Stephanie chatting with Sarah B., Lara and Cheryl:

And it's almost midnight and I still haven't gotten to Korean karaoke yet. Tomorrow night, my dears! (Sheep and Wool fun will last all week this way - hurrah!)

P.S. I found out the spotted sheep that think they're cows are actually Jacob sheep, and they are polycerate - meaning multiple horns. One sheep can have 6 horns! I find that a bit disturbing... go to this site to see pictures of some with 4 horns... 2 up and 2 down. Hmmm.
But on the plus side they have photos of their new lambs. This one is smiling at me. Totally cute.

Maryland Sheep & Wool, Post the First

There is just so much to process that this is going to be hard to sum up in one post. Besides, I figure the longer I can draw out the posting, the longer I can relive the weekend.

Going back to work this morning was rough. When Dan came to get me out of bed to go to work I looked at him and said "But then my weekend is over." So sad. I obsessedly sneaked looks at bloglines all day to see who else had updated to rehash the memories. Tonight it's my turn with my own pictures. So let's begin.

For fun, I went back into the archives and found my description of last year. I remember thinking before I went that I would surely run into tons of bloggers that I would recognize, because really, how big could it be? Damn big was the answer. It was hard to really grasp then, and still hard. Also, last year I didn't go on Saturday at all, only Sunday. I tried to warn all of the MDS$W virgins about just how big it is, but I don't think I did a very good job, since Carrie (for one) still seemed a bit shell-shocked. Erin got one of the best pictures I've seen that starts to convey the scope and number of people that were there.

There were lots of people. There was lots of yarn. There were lots of animals. I tried to take a picture of every animal that was there contributing to the fiber... here're a representative few:

Bunny

Goats

Alpaca

Llamas

And of course,

Sheep.

Not all sheep knew they were sheep. Some clearly thought they were cows:

Others thought they were rastafarians:
and

But that's OK. They weren't the only ones that were confused. One knitter bought fleece (for thrummy thrum thrums) and then thought it was cotton candy:

But can you blame her? Check out that fabulous color!!!

And that brings me to the people. While I had a great time checking out the animals and yarn (and buying yarn - I haven't gone completely mad), this year for me was all about the people. And I've got a lot to say and pictures to post, but they're going to have to wait until tomorrow, because it's bedtime for me.

(and still more Korean Karaoke suspense - do you love it? "The suspense is terrible... I hope it will last!")

Two words...

There will be plenty more updates and pictures to follow, I promise, but for now I leave you with just one photo (worth much more than 1,000 words), and two words of (not a lot of) explanation:

Korean Karaoke

Pick 5...

Oooh! Oooh! I've been tagged by Stacy! I've never been tagged before (that I know of), so this is exciting.

Pick 5 of the following and then complete the sentences. Then pass it on to 3 more of your blog friends! But no tag backs!

The Premise (pick 5):

If I could be a scientist…
If I could be a farmer…
If I could be a musician…
If I could be a doctor…
If I could be a painter…
If I could be a gardener…
If I could be a missionary…
If I could be a chef…
If I could be an architect…
If I could be a linguist…
If I could be a psychologist…
If I could be a librarian…
If I could be an athlete…
If I could be a lawyer…
If I could be an inn-keeper…
If I could be a professor…
If I could be a writer…
If I could be a llama-rider…
If I could be a bonnie pirate…
If I could be an astronaut…
If I could be a world famous blogger…
If I could be a justice on any one court in the world…
If I could be married to any current famous political figure…

My answers:

If I could be a scientist I'd be just the kind of scientist I am (well, OK, maybe I'd do a little more field work... like a cruise now and then).

If I could be a gardener I'd grow all of my own vegetables and herbs, plus have enough flowers to cut fresh ones for all of the rooms of my house. And I'd never have weeds.

If I could be a linguist I'd travel the world and live with native people until I could communicate, and then I'd move on and do it all over again.

If I could be an inn-keeper I'd own a fabulous bed and breakfast with lots of charm and only a few rooms (so I didn't have to worry about many people). I'd have a garden out back (see above) and would consider putting in a yarn store, just for fun.

If I could be a llama-rider my trusty steed and I would travel the world. I actually trained llamas once as a 4-H project, so I know that you can't actually ride llamas (well, if you weigh more than a 4 year old child, which I assuredly do), but you can convince them to wear costumes and hats if they really, really trust you. If I had the scanner hooked up, I could offer photographic proof, but I don't, so you'll just have to trust me.

I tag Joji, Monica, and Lara.

Have fun! And it's T minus 35 hours and counting - Hooray!

Sneaky

It's a before-work post! When I should already be at work! (Dan's having car issues and I'm waiting for him to resolve them before leaving him stranded)

No pictures, just a few updates.

First, the Chai cardi is progressing quite nicely. In fact, it's now a vest, which is how it will probably stay for MDS&W. The sides and shoulders are seamed up, and because of the pretty selvedge I did around the armholes it doesn't look half bad as a vest. I still need to do the neckband and I-cord ties, but that shouldn't be too bad. I also think I should clarify that the below picture of the yarn (see previous entry) was taken without flash, just natural sunlight - it really is that luminous.

Speaking of MDS&W - it's in 4 days!!!!! That's T-4!!!! WOOT! I'm getting quite excited, especially since some of my girls are coming to stay with me. Hooray for the internet and knit blogs! What will I buy at S&W? I honestly haven't thought that much about it. Now that I'm borrowing (uh-huh) my mom's spinning wheel, I might have to get some more fiber and then try to get the hang of it. (Disregard the fiber I've already purchased for just that purpose, please)
Also, sock yarn. Now that I've finished off my first pair of socks I should get some more going. (Disregard the sock yarn I have already in the stash, please)

I should definitely get to buy things if I want them, though - I've been vary good at resisting temptation prior to this Festival. It seems to be getting harder the closer I get to it, but I only have three more days to get through. Right now Merino Stretch at elann is calling my name - I love, love, love the sample pattern in it too (cabled zipper jacket yum).

And, no thanks to a few other bloggers, I found the wonder that is yesasia.com for ordering Japanese craft pattern books - English interface and free shipping if your order is over $39. I have a wishlist with tons of books on it already - thanks to amazon.co.jp and google translator and a few free hours of web time. (For the record, I currently only have one japanese knitting book - the I Love Knitting that Mariko has, ISBN 4-408-62691-0, thanks to Molly, my Secret Pal 3)

Dan's back - time to go to work!