Maryland Sheep & Wool 2009

Each year, for the last 3 years my mom and I have loaded my car with knitting projects, magazines, and coffee and driven to Maryland Sheep & Wool. The first year, we drove from Ohio – a 12 hour drive! This year, it was  a much shorter trip, just 5-6 hours (depending on how many times we stop for coffee!)

We left Friday morning, drove to Frederick, MD (note to self:  you must stop at Zazzy’z because there  is not another coffee shop until Staunton).

Frederick’s an adorable town with a nice little downtown with lots of boutiques (like The Muse), restaurants and ice cream.

We met up with Mia and meandered around town.

I don’t eat seafood but my mom loves crabs, so we had dinner at May’s – endless crabs for Mom, a fantastically broiled chicken for me.

Saturday dawned rainy and dreary but I leapt out of bed, excited or the festival! Maryland Sheep & Wool is one of the largest festivals of its kind and frankly, it’s overwhelming. I decided a head of time NOT to try to see it all! The same vendors come every year, so I’ve seen them before. I wanted to spend more time in the barns, talking with the farms, watching the sheep dogs and learning about breeds. Somehow, in years past, I’ve managed to completely miss the Breed Barn, where they have a sheep or two of nearly every breed, along with information about the breed! I am, more than ever, smitten with Jacobs

and Corriedales:

After the breed barn, I scoured the fleece sale and ran into the darling Liz of Hobbledehoy. It was fun to pore over the fleeces with her!

I ended up buying two fleeces and leaving them with Ohio Valley Fiber Mill for processing. I’m excited about my first milling experience!

I’m sad I missed Abby, Lauren, Cosette and Guido and his party! Part of the blame is the weather’s while some of it is my innate shyness; when Amy (of Knitty) walked by, I just completely froze!

But sheep and yarn cheer up anything!

After the festival, we rested and then hit downtown Baltimore. We strolled around the adorable Little Italy neighborhood, ate a pizza at Isabella’s and walked to the Harbor.

I wish I had more pictures of everything, but the rainy-ness continued throughout. So you’ll just have to take my word: a fabulous time and well-worth the drive!