MDS&W Gemütlichkeit

One of the pleasures of Maryland Sheep and Wool is seeing people that you know from the Interwebs, knitters and designers you've struck up friendships with whom you have instant rapport and a general feeling of Gemütlichkeit. On the long walk from the car in the middle of the field to the venue, Peeper-Lou asked me if "....my Internet friends were going to be there". Ahem. Why yes, child, many of them were!

I am also quite please to inform you that my usual maniacal hemmoraging of ca$h was kept to a very restrained, virtuous trickle as a. it was so hot that I was very concentrated on not vomiting and thus had to conserve my energy and b. I have so much freaking yarn that getting a lot more would somehow propel me into a category of greed and gluttony that even I cannot handle. Plus, it was just mostly fun to see people! Ohai I'm now my mother...what has happened to that child of the 80's that measured her fun by items acquired rather than *gasp* personal interactions? Oh wait, she waited til the Coach Outlet in Hagerstown to bust out and show her dark side. WHEW!
In any case, I did manage to pick up several things so that the festival wasn't a total wash:

Another Jennie the Potter mug, because I'm crazy about these mugs.


Miss Babs Bamboo Baby, maybe destined to be a Daybreak? When a finish the one I'm already doing?

Three skeins of Socks that Rock Heavyweight in Vancouver Violet. People--do you know how impossible it is to score this stuff at MDS&W? It requires one to push and shove more than one normally does in the Fold booth.

More Socks that Rock, destined to become socks (yeah, mmkay...) and most definitely an Ulmus Rectangle. Speaking of, another pleasure of of MDS&W was seeing a great pal, talented and lovely Kirsten Kapur:

Yes, that's her ring. Isn't it kind of amazing? She was kind enough to help me figure out where I was on my Ulmus, the viral hit from last year's festival (note: it's where I saw JulieFrick's Ulmus and had to buy yarn and cast on immediately for it).


I am so stoked about this pattern and can't recall why I ran out of gas on it last year. It is a phenomenal pattern--and like all her other patterns, it's on sale right now! So make your way over to Through the Loops and nab it, along with all of her other patterns.