On a muggy Friday evening last month, Jay and I had the pleasure of visiting Hobby Knob Farm in Weaversville, NC. Shepherdess Elizabeth met us on her big back porch, where she was working on a fleece, cleaning out the grass as it sat on a big screen door.

Elizabeth gave us a grand tour, past the guard llamas that were being groomed for her daughter’s upcoming 4-H show and up to the sheep on a leash. Yes, a sheep on a leash (a very long leash) in the yard! I knew then that I was gonna love this place!

The flock of sheep all live in several huge fields and are rotated throughout the day. When we arrived, Elizabeth put out some feed in the chicken yard and the sheep (and their constant companions, the llamas) came running. As cute as the sheep are, that chick . . . → Read More: Fiber Friday – Hobby Knob Farm

At Maryland Sheep & Wool, strolling through the sheep barns, I came upon a table with some business cards, a skein of yarn and a bag of wool. As I plunged my hand into the wool (ecstasy!), the farmer approached and he and I my mom began chatting about his sheep. It took me about two seconds of admiring the sheep

and fondling the wool before I pounced on it! I was thrilled to learn that Wit’s End farm is just a few hours from my house, in rural Virginia. When I returned home, Jay had purchased the first of the season’s strawberries. Inspired, I pulled out the local wool, and dyed it in “local” colors.

Strawberry

I set aside 4 oz of fiber to sell and quickly spun up another 4 oz:

Strawberries, already sold!

A few days later, the leaves outside my office door inspired me . . . → Read More: Fiber Friday: Wit’s End Fiber

My mom and I left Friday morning for Maryland, stopped at every coffeeshop, ice cream booth and bathroom between here and there, and arrived 6 hours later in Frederick.We failed to take a single picture in which we didn’t look like death, so you’ll just have to trust me – we had a great time! Frederick is such an adorable town, with a great range of shops. Our perennial favorite is Muse, where each got a little handmade book from YeeHaw Industries to use a trip journal. We enjoyed fantastic sandwiches at Cafe Nola, where the waitress was knitting and was also going to the Festival!

At the festival, we got down to goat picking: Mom & a sweet Pygoraand farmer meeting,

These lovely Rambouillets belonged to Wit’s End farm and produced this:

And shopping!

from the American Cormo Sheep Association, which had the nicest, most . . . → Read More: Fiber Friday – At Maryland Sheep & Wool

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These are just a few of my favorite photos from this year Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival. Tomorrow I’ll be posting my own photos and acquisitions!

I’ll be here all weekend. And on Saturday, at 11:30, I’ll be at the Ravelry meet-up, hoping to (finally) meet Lolly! Will YOU be there? If so, drop me a line so we can meet up!

PS. The shop will continue as usual, anything purchased Friday – Sunday will be shipped on Monday (which is the usual way it goes)

When I first started looking for sustainable and responsible fibers to spin, dye and knit with, I mostly focused on organic cotton and recycled materials (mill-ends, recycled sari silk, etc). As the world has become more ‘green’-minded, I find it’s easier and easier to find organic wool and natural-grown cotton. What it’s not so easy to find, is proof that this is sustainable or assurances that these products really are the best I can do. The more I’ve learned, I’ve begun to redefine what I consider ‘sustainable and responsible’. Reading Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Mineral impacted my thinking on supporting the local agricultural economy (and I’m blessed to live in an agrarian area). So, too, did learning that very few people in this area grow sheep for wool, due to its low market value and local alpaca farmers can get more for their crop if they . . . → Read More: Fiber Friday #4 – Silver Thunder Alpacas