In between looking at apartment listings, trying to arrange tours with realtors who have only a passing interest in doing their jobs, packing, and dealing with the rest of day to day life, it has been yarn show season here in the NE. Last weekend I went with a friend and one of the kids to New Hampshire Sheep and Wool.
Deerfield is only a bit more than an hour north of here, but it feels like the absolute middle of nowhere, with an enormous fairground and spotty cell phone reception. We got an early start in order to be there when it opened.
There were so many vendors selling such beautiful yarn, it was difficult to make choices. We saw sheep shearing and herd dog demonstrations, enjoyed fair food, went to a lecture on alpaca farming (the retirement dream is real!), saw some sheep (and alpacas), and of course indulged our wildest yarn fantasies. Now that I can make socks, a lot of what I picked up will go for those, but the green one at the bottom is 1,000 yards of lace-weight merino, and I haven’t the foggiest idea what it will be.
It was a thoroughly delightful experience. Everyone was very friendly and sociable. The day was chilly and windy to begin with, but gorgeously clear and bright.
We even saw a few vendors we knew from New England Farm to Fiber, which I last attended right before the pandemic reached the area – it went on hiatus for a while afterward, like everything else. With that reminder, when I got home I did some checking only to find that a) FtF is back on and b) it was going to be the very next weekend. Nothing for it but to get in touch with another knitting friend and make plans to meet up at the Public Market for lunch.
Given the previous weekend’s haul, I was obviously a lot more restrained on this trip; it’s a much smaller show to begin with, and the goal was less to build stash than just to enjoy being out. I was also kind of tired already from volunteering at the Herring Run& Paddle in the morning. I did pick up a notions bag (with sheep on it!) from Crista Jaeckel to go with the project bag I got for Christmas. And of course we said hello to the sheep.
R Jean Stevenson 