Shenandoah Valley Fiber Fest

Julie and I had talked earlier in the summer about going to Rhinebeck for the NY Sheep and Wool Festival to see what all the talk was about. Then, I heard about the Shenandoah Valley Fiber Fest in Berryville, VA and it seemed silly to travel all the way to New York when we had something so close.

We watched the weather forecasts for the week prior and they went from possible precipitation to certain downpour. When the day finally came, the temperature was almost balmy--no rain when we left--but the skies were ominous. We dressed for the worst, with boots, slickers and umbrellas. We were determined to have fun, regardless of the weather. And that's exactly what happened.

We were delighted to discover that a large group of Julie's friends from the Reston Stitch 'n' Bitch group were also there. Every time we met some one we knew, we invited them to lunch at The Cup and Crumpet. (Elizabeth McCarus from Fibersmyth had a booth and her husband had one right beside her with pre-made goodies from his tea room.) By noon, we had a party of ten--the food was delicious and the company was even better. We all sat at a large picnic table, eating and chatting about what we'd seen, bought, or planned to buy. Suddenly, everyone finished eating at the same and they all left. It was like rats jumping off of a sinking ship! One minute we're all having a great time and the next, Julie and I were alone!

I'd been looking forward to the juried fleece sale and it was really interesting to browse through the 50 or so fleeces there. I bought a cream colored Romney fleece and half of an alpaca fleece. I hadn't planned on the alpaca, but it was so soft and had so much crimp--usually alpaca has little or no crimp--that it looked like a sheep's fleece. I kept coming back to it, as did another spinner. We were going back and forth, each one urging the other to buy it. Finally, we both bought half.



The festival was only about 1/4 of Maryland Sheep and Wool, so we were able to check out all the animals and visit with the vendors. We especially liked watching the rabbit owners blow dry and fluff their bunnies in preparation to judging and we absolutely fell in love with the lop-eared dwarf bunnies--so cute!



It was an absolutely wonderful day--regardless of the weather!