News From Browntown

Sheep, Alpacas and Bunnies - Oh My!

The MS&W was quite something and did not disappoint. There was more wool-related stuff and activity than you could shake a needle at and then some. I really never have seen anything quite like it. The wool and yarn stuff was spectacular. The rainbow of yarn - hand spun, hand dyed, hand painted, and, ultimately hand knitted or hand woven, was incredible.

We arrived early (8 a.m.) on the advice of my yarn shop friend (voice of experience). She suggested that we would probably want to make more than one trip back to the car before we were finished for the day and that early arrival could insure a reasonably close parking space. Well, she was right and when we returned to the car (second trip) around noon we could see that later arrival would have been baaaad...regardless of Dad's parking karma which would have been useless in that situation. Fairground parking directed by Boy Scouts who make sure all is fair and parking is organized by the "first come, first served" method rather than "parking by karma". One report I read on the Internets this morning said there were more than 60,000 in attendance and that seems to be a conservative estimate from what we observed.

The crowd was a great mix of wool crafters, old hippies and animal folks (and all sorts of hybrids thereof) so it was a very congeniel group and large crowd size was not an issue. Even incredible bargains on some fabulous yarn did not create havoc. The weather was perfect!

The yarn was beautiful and producers from all over the U.S. and other places were there to display their most gorgeous stuff. The animals were also lovely and we really enjoyed watching the sheep shows which went on all day (10 hours) both Saturday and Sunday. The show actually started on Wednesday, May 3 and there was some sheep judging on the days leading up to the week-end. Not only were the sheep judged but there was also fleece judging - that is, fleece without the sheep underneath. The fleeces are judged, awarded prizes and then auctioned off just like the 4-H Beef Cattle Auction at the Warren County Fair. Obviously the prize-winning fleeces are the most desirable.

Speaking of fleeces, what a sight to see dignified, gray-haired ladies dressed in lovely hand-knit finery trudging to their cars with huge plastic trash bags thrown over their shoulders! Dad calls them the "hard-core knitters" - the ones who buy the full, raw fleece fresh off the sheep, process it by hand (washing and carding), spin it into yarn, dye it and then knit it up into really exquisite items. Of course, some of the also weave as well.

Saturday we watched the dogs herd the sheep and caught the Junior Spinning Contest - both fun to watch. There were a surprising number of youngsters involved in the Spinning Contest including some boys. Some had nice wooden wheels and some just had drop spindles (as Dad says, "spinning on a stick"). It is a fascinating and ancient art - one of the most ancient of man's skills.

The other really interesting event was the "Sheep to Shawl" contest where several spinning guilds competed on Sunday morning. The task was to take raw fleece (the sheep was sheared right there that morning), pick it clean, card it, spin it and weave it into a shawl within a three hour time period. Each guild had an educational display on weaving and spinning and a somewhat costumed team competing in the event.

It was a well-planned show - of course it should be after more than 30 years and it is the biggest of it's kind in the U.S. Although Dad is not interested in yarn or crafts, there was still enough going on keep it interesting. Much better than an arts and crafts show or an antiques show, he said, because "there are animals to see here!". The animals really were fun to watch and we saw some beautiful sheep. There again, some ancient breeds that have been key to survival of our own species.

The only disappointment of the whole event was the Navajo exhibit which I expected to be far more than it was. I am thinking maybe we missed part of it or something but Dad says not. He Who Was Not Blinded By Yarn could be a bit more observant than I.

We had great food the whole week-end, especially Saturday night at Phillip's in Baltimore. Dad gave me a driving tour of downtowon Baltimore and I saw the UofMD hosp. where he spends a lot of time these days.

We left early on Sunday in time to stop for brunch in Frederick, MD at Cracker Barrel. We had just finished eating when Dad looked up, got a funny expression on his face and said quietly, "knitting alert behind you!". I turned around and, sure enough, two ladies seated behind me were knitting socks while they waited for their order! Of course, we got to talking and had a nice chat. They were on their way back to PA from the show and gave me their blog addresses. A great way to wind up the week-end.

It was a good week-end and the MS&W lived up to all my expectations. I hope we can do it again. The week-end after next is the First Annual Virginia Fiber Festival in Berryville. It is a very small event that is in it's infancy and has no animals - none featured, anyway. I am planning to go to that one and drag along poor Grammy (poor thing, Char and I keep sucking her into this craft stuff) and Barbaba Greco (already sucked in as a long-time knitter).

Dad has some more good pix including some of the Scottish Black-Face sheep with their beautiful, curly horns!