A Very Satisfying Weekend - Part 1

As soon as I got off work on Saturday, Mr S and I hopped in the car and headed for the WI Sheep and Wool Festival. It was a lovely late summer/early fall day, the soybean fields turning golden, brushings of crimson on the tops of scattered trees, a true-blue sky.

When we got to the fairgrounds in Jefferson, the first stop was for food (Hey, I hadn't eaten since breakfast).



The lines were long, but they moved quickly.

After lunch, we headed to the barns to see the beasties.

Random assortment of sheep

Of course, the sweetest spot was the pen with the new lambs.

After the barns, we split up. Mr S went to watch the shearing demonstration, which he just loves and goes to every year, and the watch the dogs working. I headed to the "Country Store", meaning the two buildings full of vendors.

It seemed to me as if there were slightly fewer this year (maybe because Stitches Midwest was the same weekend?) But it's possible that I was just imagining that. There was still plenty to see.

I've refined my strategy to a quick circle through the buildings, just to get the lay of the land. I spotted a couple of locals: Linda D from Hillspring Eco-Farm, and Kristi from the Argyle Fiber Mill.

I unexpectedly ran into a non-knitting friend, who was there with her knitting daughter; also, less surprisingly, Elizabeth and Cathy from the Last Saturday knitting group.

Then I make a second go around for serious shopping. There was lots of temptation, but I was pretty restrained as far as yarn purchases go, two hanks of sock yarn from Samantha in Stitches, and indy dyer based in Illinois. She had lots of beautiful blues, but I stuck with my resolution to widen my color horizons.

The little wooden thing at the lower right is a "yarn susan" from Gosh-Yarn-It, LLC, a LYS in Lake Mills. (I couldn't find a web site, but the address is 103 S Main, Lake Mills)

The top platform spins around smoothly on ball bearings, so you can pull from the outside of the ball without drag. This was a complete impulse buy. We'll see if it significantly improves my knitting experience (I think it has potential).

We headed out a little after four. It would have been fun for me to stay for the Ravelry "after party", but knowing we would be getting up early on Sunday to head back again, a late night just didn't seem sensible (plus, short of finding a bar in Jefferson, which really isn't his style, I'm not sure what Mr S would have done with himself).