Another terrific thing about Maryland is seafood. I can't express just how great the whole trip was without including crab cakes, mmm.
Also enjoyed a flounder filet stuffed with crab and wee shrimp on top. shut the front door delicious.
By FAR one of my favorite things to find at any event is a friend (: Stephanie of Lunabud Knits and A Tangled Yarn 
SWAG! I purchased a festival bag featuring the current logo which calls to mind daffodils in the spring, photo missing, but i will find it or take another. Other purchases include: Rare breed fiber of Hogs Head Island sheep (more on that in an upcoming post) from Fingerlakes Mill. Lilac Heather fiber from Bartlett Yarns in Maine (the oldest operating woolen spun mill in the USA). Print tray, silverware hooks & overdoors plus fat-quarters (for girlie) from Pleasant Memories. Cat & mouse felt ornament and flower pin from Candra Day who sells things made in Kyrgyzstan for an organization there - amazing rugs and large pieces, too - i wish they had a website. And of course, sweet gnomie which was a gift from our neighbor whose card i cannot find! But they are not the mill listed on the map on the website, alas, if i find it i will share. Gnomie was actually a gift, but that is a story for another post. (you may have to remind me).Two skeins of rug yarn from Blue Acorn Woolens - a lovely spring green and tardisy blue.
Most surprising conversation: While talking with two ladies who live less than 60 minutes away (and have been knitters "for years") I mention helping with a couple much smaller events back home. Nice lady 1 says, "How much smaller?" I chuckle and say, "30 to 50 vendors, tops." Kind lady 2 says, "We thought they were all like this, but this is our first time here."
"this is our first time here"
Now i realize not everyone is an event type person, but when i replied, "Oh, this is the great grandaddy fiber festival - very few, worldwide, are even close to this size." Kind lady 2 says, "I wish we'd known about it years ago."
yes, I WISH WE'D KNOWN ABOUT IT YEARS AGO ...
I would never, ever, compare our fantastic yet *much smaller* local events to the great and mighty Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival, but there is something reassuring albeit unsettling about people living less than an hour from MDSW and involved with "that world" for "years" not knowing of the event. There was more to our conversation, though i admit i was reeling from all that had transpired thus far.
So here is your takeaway: If you know of a place, activity or event that you, your friends &/or your family enjoy/s SHARE information about said item. Not everything has the benefit of 140 years of history in the back pocket (;
