Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival 2015

This past weekend we went to the Maryland Sheep and WoolFestival. This was the second year that I’ve been and it was even more fun than last year!

We left home on Thursday and wandered around the parkway enjoying the views. We ended up staying at the Fairfield Marriott ($79/night) in Harrisonburg, VA. The next day we headed up to Maryland and stopped at antique stores along the way.

We checked into the Hampton Inn South ($139/night) at 4pm. We didn’t get a microwave or fridge for $5/night extra but we got room 104 on the ground floor, which we liked. We stayed at this hotel last year and liked it so we returned. Then we met up with my friends Wendy (Massachusetts), Lois (California and Maine), and Denise (Kentucky) for dinner at Bertucci’s which was a nice place. It was really nice that they were staying at the Springhill Suites right next door to my hotel. After dinner, they came to my hotel and we knit in the lobby until 9:30.

On Saturday we left at 7:30 for the festival. I immediately went to Miss Babs booth to get the event colorway yarn  and got in the line for an hour before we could pay for it at 9am. Then Don and I

spent the day walking around the festival. We went to the sheepdog demonstration, which I really enjoy. We stopped midday to eat snacks that I brought and continued seeing all the vendors. I stopped at Cooperative Press and met Shannon Okey who said they will send me ebooks to review on this blog! I’m so excited. I also spent the day taking instagram photos of cowls in different vendor’s booths for a Cooperative Press contest. At 1pm I went to the podcaster meetup and was so thrilled to meet the podcasters in person. I also met mojaveknitter and beaglemomknittr who will be at the Minnesota knitting retreat with me. By 3pm, we were pooped and headed back to the hotel. We stopped at Five Guys for dinner on the way. I was able to rest up before going over to my friend’s hotel and knitting with them until 10pm!

On Sunday we went back to the festival at 8am to see the Sheep to Shawl competition. I enjoy watching them sheer the sheep. Most used electric shears but one man was using shearing scissors. We walked around the barns and it was fun seeing the booths without the hordes of people in them. About 10am, we decided to head for home. We arrived home about 6:30pm.

 It was a wonderful trip and I had a really great time! I’m really looking forward to next year!