the Village Knittiot

Saturday was such an unbelievably wonderful day that I am almost at a loss for how to describe it. By the end of the day I couldn’t stop myself from smiling even if I tried and satisfaction and contentment were simply radiating from the core of my being. I felt as if I had come home.

It’s hard to tell if we go to Maryland for the fiber and stay for the friends, or if we go for the friends and the purchase of said fiber is a pleasant side effect. Whichever it is, I do know this — it is a scientific fact that you get more pleasure out of purchasing things in the company of friends and companions than you would on your own. This is what makes a fiber festival such as Maryland so successful, because even if you have managed to wander into a booth all by yourself, all you have to do is turn your face a few millimeters to the left or the right and you will find someone who can be brought to tears by the beauty of a drop spindle or a 1/2 oz. of Mongolian Cashmere. They will rejoice with you as if you are their best friend since first grade and you’ve just told them the most important and exciting news of your life.

As everyone predicted, I walked into the festival and was immediately overwhelmed. Wow. There was so much to take in you hardly knew where to begin. I was so grateful that in the first barn we wandered into I ran smack dab into Juno, who promptly sat me down at her brand new spinning wheel (which is so beautiful that I just want to sit and stare at it forever because it is that amazing) and after a few minutes of spinning on the best wheel I’ve ever used in my life I was completely calm again. Don’t you love people who know what you need? After that, the fiber aquisition began.

Juno gave Mr. Knittiot a crash course in fleece selection and we immediately found a beautiful white border leicester half fleece and purchased it. Later after wandering the entire festival we went back to this booth because we liked what they had so much and bought two more half fleeces. Mr. Knittiot picked them out and as it turns out he has quite the talent for it, because my girls are gorgeous. They are exactly the colors I was looking for, they are soft, clean and delicious. Right now my whole house smells like sheep. That rich, earthy scent of lanolin is the best drug I know of. See below for a few pictures that don’t quite do them justice, but it was the best I could do. The white fleece is 3-1/4 lbs. and both the dark chocolate with the brown tips and the grey with rosy tips are around 2-1/2 lbs. each.

True to his word, Mr. Knittiot was an excellent Id and Enabler. He urged me to buy when I was starting to falter and hesitate on the things I was clearly in love with. He hung back when I needed a few minutes to think. He kept an eye out for booths that he knew I would like and at the end of the day when he wandered off for a minute he came back, took me by the arm (without any explanation) and walked me over to a place called Botanical Shades. Turns out they specialize in selling naturally dyed yarn and dyeing supplies. We had a fantastic discussion with the man who was running the booth for his partner who does all the dyeing and it was so encouraging to find another business that has larger goals than just making a profit, or rather are interested in making a profit while practicing business in a way they can feel good about. After realizing that I didn’t have enough money left, Mr. Knittiot did the best thing. He bought me an Earthues Natural Dye Kit for my Summer of Knitting Naturally project. Everytime I think I love him as much as I possibly can, he expands my definition of love. It wasn’t that he bought me something, because anybody can buy any person anything. It was the whole day and the thoughtfulness and the support and the everything else. He is charming and wonderful and I feel so lucky to have him.

Since the Summer of Knitting Naturally is foremost in my mind these days, it pretty much dominated all my purchases. And I was interested to discover that while there were a number of places that offered naturally dyed fibers (in some of the most stunning colors I’ve ever seen), what really attracted my attention were the natural colors of the fibers themselves. It is such a rich palette that we have to work with. Particularly once you start mixing and matching fibers and blending them together, it is unbelievable the variations you can get. Just from my fleeces alone, the range and depth is stunning.

I knew that I wanted to do a lot of experimenting with different fibers, so my goal was to obtain as many different types as possible. Luckily for me, I happened across Shadeyside Farm in the main barn. They specialize in more exotic fibers, and I was able to get (from left to right in the picture below) some Baby Camel/Tussah, Yak/Bombyx Mori, Black Alpaca/Bombyx Mori, Chocolate Alpaca/Tussah. The photo doesn’t do the colors justice. And, of course, you can’t feel how soft they are, so you’ll just have to take my word for it — they are exquisite.

At the Dzined booth, I picked up an 8 oz. ball of hemp for a mere $9. The woman who owns, runs and does everything else for Dzined gave me some great spinning tips and I am thoroughly excited about delving into plant fibers. I looked for Soy Silk and Bamboo, but sadly found none. I did, however, find a supplier who I can order through. She also happens to carry the Foxfibre naturally colored cottons developed by Sally Fox (one of my real life heroes).

Later in the day, Cassie of Too Much Wool introduced me to the wonderful world of Woodchuck Products, where I got a nostepinne in walnut and a little wraps per inch counter. His prices are so reasonable and his work is so good that I will certainly be getting more from him.

Oh, also, remember the Mongolian Cashmere I so casually dropped into the conversation way back toward the beginning. Yeah. Well, there is indeed a half of an ounce sitting on my futon right now and it is so soft that it will make you want to cry. I tried to take pictures, but I think its beauty may have broken my camera. Just trust me, it is amazing. The best part about it is that the woman who purchases the fiber works with a fair trade company. This means the product was a little bit on the expensive side (no, I’m not even going to tell you what I paid for half an ounce), but I know that the producers of this exquisite material are getting paid a fair wage. It’s a little thing, but it makes me feel even better about it. If all goes well, there will be another Mongolian Cashmere accident and it will net me enough fiber to spin the yarn for the Bird’s Nest Shawl from Folk Shawls.

It feels very strange to be writing such a product heavy post. I don’t typically blog about my purchases and this post is getting very, very long. The truth is, as wonderful and exciting as all these things are and what they will mean for my spinning in the next several months, nothing can compare to the joy of being with people. And Maryland was all about the people. It was so gratifying to finally be able to spend some time with these fellow fiber folks. Among some of those I was finally able to meet in person were the lovely Etherknitter (who was as delightful and warm as I imagined she would be), Rachel H. (whose thoughtful and engaging comments are so good that it does seem to indicate she really should have a blog, but not if it is going to distract her from making spinning wheels. I’m just sayin’.) and Crazy Lanea (who is as talented, funny and enjoyable to talk with as you can imagine). When the festival closed and it was time to go home, I wasn’t ready for the day to end. Luckily a couple of local Philly knitters/spinners suggested that we all go out for Indian food (If you are ever in Columbia, MD — Mango Grove was the best vegetarian Indian restaurant I have ever eaten at). Naomi and Kirsten were wonderful dinner companions and it made the whole day just seem complete.

Okay, now this has gotten ridiculously long and I really ought to sign off. More tomorrow…

This entry was posted on Monday, May 8th, 2006 at 8:30 am and is filed under Summer of Knitting Naturally, this Knittiot Life, this Random Life. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.