NH Sheep and Wool Festival 2008 aka a Fiber-Lovers Extravaganza

Warning :: This post my cause you to suffer from fiber sensory overload.

Oh. my. gosh. If you love, knitting, crocheting, spinning, weaving, the NH Sheep and Wool Festival is possibly the greatest event ever! I don't even know where to begin...

I guess I'll start with my purchases. I had limited funds for the day, but I managed to score some great things.

* The Official Vermont Maple Cookbook purchased from Sweet Maple Alpacas - at $2.25, how could I resist, really?!



* 100% Romney/Border Leicester Roving, hand-dyed, 4oz for $8, purchase from Brimstone Hollow Farm, (no website, 603.525.3070). I plan to use these in another round of thrummed mittens to go into my shop for next winter. The deep red is going to go nicely with the chocolatey brown wool I use to knit those up!



* Tashi, oh, tashi! This was one of the first yarns that we saw during the day, and I thought about passing it by ALL DAY, so we had to return to Ball and Skein's booth before we left. This is to be shared with mum, because at $20 per 195 yards I would have never been able to take this home! It's so soft!!! It's 65% Merino/20% Bamboo/15% Silk and Hand-Dyed, so gorgeous, I could gush on and on about this yarn. Mum and I are going to combine the colors to make shorty anklet socks for summer. I didn't catch her first name, but the owner of Ball and Skein has a blog called Smatterings where she records her spinning and knitting adventures. Smatterings shared her booth with Leslie Wind, a talented jewelry maker who makes shawl pins. She blogs at Folly Cove Fiber Freaks. They were both super nice people, nice chatting with you ladies!

That was it for me on purchases, but I saw so much more that I wished I could've scooped up and taken home with me.

Don't you just want to dive into this hammock of roving from Riverslea Farm?



This yarn from Buckwheat Bridge Angoras was deliciously soft, and I loved the vibrant colors!




I learned tons of fun things too! I was amazed by watching the ladies of the NH Weavers Guild in action. Their work was mind, numbingly over my crafting head!





Another weaver created this ingenious first prize loom out of drinking straws - now that's what I call rock n' roll!



Then there was Dilys Morris (no website, 603.744.3047), who sells ancient beads for support spindles from every continent. She was kind enough to give us a spinning demonstration.





I know this is turning into a fiber love-fest novel, but this post wouldn't be complete without mention of the many cutie animals that I saw...

Like these guys:



Look at that punim!



This fluff ball is an angora bunny:



Oh there was food too - frozen apple cider, cobbler straight out of the oven and a fair staple, fried dough - yum!



Are you still with me? Here are links to more fibery/crafty goodness.

* Cheryl Kumiski - beautiful, art glass jewelry and buttons

* Ewe and I Farm

* Foxfire Fiber and Designs - this booth had some fun knitting patterns such as the bird in the hand mittens and the wintergreen mittens.

* Maple Creek Farm

* Melissa Jean Handknit Design - original patterns and AMAZING handmade buttons

* Thyme and Ewe Farm -my mom bought a ton of preserves and jams from this booth.

Maple Weekend

I did get a brief reprieve from work this past weekend by have a little local eating adventure at Sugar Momma's in Northwood.



This big piece of machinery boils the sap down into syrup. It takes an enormous amount of sap to make syrup. I might be remembering this incorrectly, but I think that Sugar Momma said that it goes in 2% sugar content and comes out 68% sugar content! Sugar Momma was so cute with the little wee kids, who she called her "sugar buddies." She sang them a little maple syrup song that went something like "First you take the tree and you tap it, you tap it, then you take the sap and you boil it, you boil it, then you take the syrup and you eat it, you eat it!"



Sugar Momma uses this little tool to tell what grade the syrup is. The first and last two jars are permanent fixtures to this little tool. When a new batch of syrup is ready, she places it into the center slot and hold it up to the sunlight to determine the grade. Pretty nifty!

Outside the sugar shack they had samples of all sorts of maple products. Maple cobbler with ice cream and syrup on top, maple cream with doughnuts, little cups of maple syrup to try, and maple cotton candy!!! I brought home a fifteen piece box of maple candy and a container of maple cream and I'm slightly ashamed to say that it is all GONE! I think I have a slight weakness...

Wendy, (who I buy most of my local meat from), of Lasting Legacy Farms was there with little baby animals. There was a calf and two little piglets there. The calf was sleeping, so I didn't want to disturb it, but these little piglets where lovin' the camera.





They were so cute and friendly and would butt their noses up against your hand to see if you were holding anything good to eat! All in all, it was a fun little adventure.

If you would like more information about Sugar Momma's products - she does not have a website as far as I can tell. Her contact information is:

Sugarmomma's Maple Farm
213 Ridge Road Northwood, NH 03261
603-942-7005