Ever have one of those days that starts off a little weird but quickly ends with you feeling a bit like it's a ride on the Crazy Train? Such was this year's
Oregon Flock & Fiber Festival.
It started, oddly enough, with me trying to convince Boy-O that we didn't have to go. I've been reading The Not So Big Life (particularly the chapter about "nut accumulation") and posited that, perhaps, really, I do have enough yarn. (I know, right? Smack some sense into me - I was attempting to be mature.)
However, the Boy insisted that we go because he knows how much I enjoy the event.
So we get in the car, discover that we are camera-less (gah!) but decide to continue on anyway. (How much do I love this man? He totally offered to go back home and retrieve the camera so that I could get pictures for the blog. What a sweetheart.) I figure, hey, it probably looks about the same as
last year, minus the preggo tummy, so no big.
True enough, we arrive and the layout's very nearly the same. I head first to
Blue Moon's booth so I can snag some mill ends of STR (I got some lovely skeins that I believe were meant to be
Gypsum, and one that I think was
Ruby Slippers). Once I've accomplished this mission, I'm happy to wander about willy nilly. We head upstairs to see the prize-winning fleece (fleeces? fleecii?), but that exhibit isn't open yet. (Nuts.)
So we wander around, in a very lax fashion, right up until I realize we've nearly interrupted Debbie New's class. (Whoops.) I am struck speechless by seeing the sight of this awesomely clever lady, and it takes me a moment to recover my wits, stop staring at her fabulous sweater, and sweep the kids out of the space. (Double whoops.)
We decide to check out the barns, and head across the lawn, wandering through the amazing crowd of fiber loving people. This is definitely *the* most laid back fiber event ever. Every one seems so darn happy to be there. Even the non-crafty spouses (spousees? spousii?) of the yarn/roving/spinning folks are smiling and yucking it up.
Just after we've read through the warning signs and told the kids to keep their hands in their pockets, we head into the barn. We get maybe halfway down an aisle when the sheep start making that plaintive sound that they make and baby Z starts giving the same distress call. She will
not be soothed, so I take her out to watch a few minutes of the herding dog demo and calm her down a bit. I'm sad to miss the babies (always my favorites), but it's no big deal.
We reconnect with teh family, and after a quick nursing/diaper change/potty break, we decide to get lunch. The Boy-O ducks into the espresso hut and I entertain the kids with tales of the ancient technology called...the phone booth. (Mwaaaa-haha!)
Just then, a blond girl of about 11 or 12 walks by in a very shiny gold
lamé outfit with what I think is a black person, but turns out to be a llama with an afro wig and a matching
lamé cape.
(Which is where I really regretted not having the camera.)
Honestly, I don't know if she meant any insult (and in truth, it's not necessary that I know) but I certainly found it a strange and off-putting choice. Paticularly since I suspect she's from one of the smaller towns in Oregon where people of color are just a rumor.
At any rate, the rest of the festival was good: I met a couple of the PDX Knitbloggers, I had lamb kabobs (and damn, are those delicious!), and saw lots of stunning spindles and fiber and kicked myself for not being born rich and able to purchase all of it to take home with me.
In a fit of industriousness, I decided to start working on a new pattern I'm hoping to put out in a month of so. I've been pretty excited about this idea for a couple of months, and was sure that the four skeins of STR I got were perfect for this design. Except I opened up my bag for the first time since yesterday and I only have three of those four. (Gah.)
I put in a call to BMFA to check for it, but of course they're still at the festival and I'm not very hopeful that I can get that skein back. Which means I can't do that design as planned. Which means I need to get back to the drawing board on that one to use what I currently possess. So I'm totally thrown off my stride.
Labels: Oddities, Yarn Play
