April 27, 2008

All better now

The Gore Place Sheepshearing Festival was just what I needed - lovely weather, excellent company, sweet fuzzy livestock and (of course) yarn.

There were knitters...

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...And of course, the main event...sheep getting the livestock equivalent of a Brazilian wax (though we were assured that the process is actually painless for the sheep)...

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There were goats (including one camera-shy fellow who spent the entire afternoon tucked away in this cubby going LA LA LA LA you can't SEE ME)...

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And (aaaaw) lambs....

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I was also privileged to witness a special moment in the life of any knitter - the first time a non-stasher buys yarn, not because they have a specific project in mind, but because it's too beautiful to pass up.

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Welcome to the dark side! May your stash continue to grow and give you as much joy as that cashmere does.

I myself resisted the considerable temptations of the Bartlett yarns booth...

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Though the Daft Crafter got up-close and personal with some of their yarn (you can just see her green t-shirt and quite smashing green cowl peeking out)...

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The man of my dreams was working the yarn tent as well. Admittedly, he was probably 60, but he was also Scottish (maybe Irish) and brogued hotly and knowledgeably about wool and dyeing and shearing and spinning.

Between sexy wool brogue guy and the epic quantity of reasonably priced tweed, my resistance was worn down by the time we stopped in at Lucy's Mind's Eye booth.

So unsurprisingly, some of her always lovely yarn followed me home. Merino-tencel hand-dyed sock yarn, in the Ashes of Roses colorway. So ladylike, isn't it? Like dainty Victorian underpants.

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Some Araucania Ranco multy might have fallen into my bag at the same time...

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I love both these yarns so much that I wanted to yank my current sock off the needles so I could start knitting with them on the car ride home. The logistical difficulty of balling yarn in a car fortunately intervened, so I'm still making good progress on (re)knitting my mom's sock.

As for yesterday's bitterness? All gone. I'm entirely charmed by knitting again.

4 comments:

Sarah said...

What a fun day! Have you started knitting with that new yarn yet?

Karen said...

Oooohhh, such pretty yarn. If CT Sheep & Wool hadn't been the same day, I would have considered making the trek up to Waltham (ahhh, beloved Waltham). Mabye next year. :)

Jenny said...

VICTORIAN UNDERPANTS!

Okay, the Sienna cardigan is going to look PERFECT on you! I love it love it love it, it's beautiful.

Rebecca said...

did they use electric clippers to shear the sheep? just wondering. the farm where i volunteer is going to use manual clipper/scissors, and THAT takes about 45 minutes per sheep....... talk about traumatized sheep.