Whaaat have I done?!

There is absolutely no doubt that I have caught fiber fever in the worst way.

Last Saturday, I attended the 40th annual Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival via Philadelphia with Rosie's Yarn Cellar bus trip. I am so impressed that they had two full buses! What a treat to have made the trek with this friendly group. In just about two and a half hours, we were on the fairgrounds. It was just enough time to nosh, admire God's creation along I-95 and catch some righteous Zzzzs before lunging into action.  

Even though it was my third or fourth time being there, it felt as though it were my first. I was in such a daze. Reason being, the shopping was all about raw fleece. Unfortunately, all I know is just enough to be dangerous and not enough care.
I set out for something special, a fleece other than BFL or Merino that would be clean and inexpensive.

Not once did I entertain all the beautiful hand dyed yarns and fibers. Well, maybe once. I did stop by Gnomespun Yarn's booth for some undyed Dorset fiber which he brought at request.



I am really grateful, too. There were no Dorset fleeces to be had by the time I'd gotten to the fleece sale.  Were there any to begin with? Le sigh.

Instead, my first stop was to see Sheila and Michael Ernst's booth to drool over their glass knitting needles.  These earthy ones spoke to me.

By the time I did arrive at the fleece sale, it was mostly a ghost town. Slim pickings were left unless you were looking for common sheep breeds. My bad. Next festival, I get on the first thing smoking and run directly to the sale. 

There were a few fleeces that I looked at wistfully, wondering if they'd be a good purchase.  Along came a super helpful volunteer to my rescue and showed me how to evaluate them.  

This is what I brought home. Its a gray Cormo Cross fleece weighing 6.25 pounds.




Upon first inspection, it appeared to be a beautiful medium gray color with an oh-so-soft hand. A peek into the bag revealed some brown tips that I'd just snip off and still have a wonderful fleece to work with. Now while none of this was ideal, I really wanted to bring home something so that I could continue learning.

When I got home and unrolled the fleece the next day...all I could say was, whaaat have I done! Look at all the brown! At which point I begin to get the vapors.

I am glad to work with coated fleece and not have to deal with vegetable matter, but one has to wonder if the shepherdess should have changed this poor thing's coat to a bigger one so that the felted tip situation would not get out of hand. That's just my novice questioning, but really. What happened? Is this normal? Whatever it is, its creepy looking. And its all mine. Eww.