Wednesday, May 12, 2010

New Hampshire Sheep and Wool Festival 2010!

Karen and I had a great time at the NH Sheep and Wool Festival last weekend. On our way to the fair grounds, we stopped at Contoocook Needlework Gallery and looked at gorgeous needlework yarns.
And a sweet miniature needlework shop.
After we set up at the Festival, we checked out the delightful felted animals our neighbor, Sue Carey of Marble Meadows makes.
It was a little chilly at the fair, and I loved the fingerless mitts worn by Debbie Bergman of Purple Fleece.
Owls made by Sue!
Wooly Beers Yarns and Knits, of Durham, NH, had a beautiful vase of lilacs at their booth.
Wooly Beers lovely yarns.
And their hooked rugs.
At the end of our barn were Pygoras.
These gorgeous yarns are from Mocha's Fiber.
The New Hampshire Weavers Guild was there, with demonstration looms.
And demonstration tapestry weaving.
Purple Fleece was there with a great selection of spinning wheels and spinning equipment,
and gorgeous hand-woven towels, which I love (they make perfect presents!),

their lovely hand-dyed yarn (which I have personally tested, and love),
and roving.
Here's Jan Marek Raczkowski, who was also at the Connecticut Sheep and Wool Festival, with his gorgeous yarns. He doesn't have a website, but can be reached via email at janraczkowski(at)comcast.net. As I said, it was chilly at this festival.
More of Jan's beautiful yarns.
It was, as a librarian knitter friend of mine said, perfect knitting weather. These yarns are from The Fiber Studio in Henniker, NH.
As are these.
There were many lovely hand-knits at the Festival.


The setting is gorgeous. I love the pines.
Cute baby alpacas.
Sweet finger puppets knitted from alpaca.
They are very sweet looking animals!
The chill didn't keep the crowds away! We are hardy here in New England. The cold just stirs our blood up.
I loved the sheep. These are Tunisian sheep.
I should know what these are, Corriedales? They are from the farm below.

Here is the fascinating story of the Tunisian sheep.





I tried to get the signs with the sheep...

Look at these beauties.


A shepherdess spinning.




There is a barn with exhibits.


And someone added a sweet bouquet.
A fleece demonstration.
These sheep dogs were marvelous! I loved watching them work. They are quite tired after their show.

Another good weather quote, "There is no bad weather, only wrong clothing."
Thank you all for coming, it was great to meet you. Till next year!

Now I am off to the new Hampshire Library Association Conference at Attitash in Bartlett, New Hampshire.
-Kathy


8 comments:

Village Books said...

You call THAT chilly?! Great pictures of a great event!

clairz said...

Gosh, New Hampshire, sheep and wool festivals, and library associations--as a former New Hampshirite, a spinner, a former shepherdess, and a retired librarian, I couldn't be more homesick right now after reading this post and viewing your wonderful photos! Thank you for sharing your experiences!

Knitting Out Loud said...

Thanks, Village Books!

Clairz, I am in the White Mountains right now at the NH Library Conference. It is GORGEOUS here, the mountains are amazing.

Mr Puffy's Knitting Blog: said...

Wonderful post! Thank you for all the great photos ~ it's nice to see a glimpse of what these shows are like!

Knitting Out Loud said...

Thanks Mr P's KB! There's a Ravelry Forum, Festival Fans, which has a list of all the fiber festivals in the U.S.

Robin said...

Wow! This looks like a great festival!!! Thanks for all the photos!

Knitting Out Loud said...

Thanks, Robin! There was a lot to love at this festival.

t does wool said...

what great photos...looks like a great festival...so glad you had fun!!