The Irish Ewe

Spa was a blast! It was such a blur. We set up on Friday, sold for 2 hours Friday night, 7 hours on Saturday, and 2 hours on Sunday. There were 18 vendors in the ballroom of the Hilton. There were spinners & knitters everywhere, the snow was falling softly and everyone was so happy and having such fun. I met Lori & Shawn from http://www.flaggymeadowfiberworks.com/, a local mini-mill. They raise award winning alpacas too. Lori & I hit it off and we laughed all weekend. She has the same warped sense of humour. I can't even remember how we started talking but it was like I had met my long-lost twin. I think I've found a good friend here....

There were some amazing fashions walking around but I didn't get any pics and I was too busy laughing Saturday night to go to the fashion show. Astrid said it was wicked cool and she enjoyed it. Next year I promise to go!

Brian from Briley Knits was there and I had a little visit with him. He's too cute for words and he knits & spins. I just want to hug him all the time. He had the most amazing pink yarn that he's spun from his friend, I forgot her name, but I WANT IT!!!! The fiber that is, not her name, I have my own.

Marion & Gayle & Gracie came up on Saturday from the KATs (Knitting Assault Team), the local ladies I've been knitting & spinning with down here in Baldwin/Cornish. Marion picked up some interesting patterns for Norweigian mittens in size 0000 needles. Is she insane???? Yup, I do believe she is... I wanted to walk around with them, but I had to sell. And sell. And sell. We did great! Boogie's booth was mobbed too, and I think most everyone did good.

Saturday night we hooked up with Boogie from Spunky Eclectic (not ELECTRIC!!!) and went to Gritty's, a local brewary, where I wore my flashing crown and announced "I am the Queen of Everything". At our table we consumed much chocolate and Cold River Vodka. I think there was some food in there somewhere. Dee, Dagny, and me from the Irish Ewe, Astrid & Steven from Fiber college on Penobscot Bay (I've applied to be a teacher this year--hope I get in!!), Shawn & Lori, and Michelle who was spinning for Lori at her booth. Michelle is from Biddeford so we chatted about downtown for a while. I grew up just outside Biddeford and am quite familiar with all the alleys, opps I mean streets. Everyone was just SCREAMING with laughter (or with Vodka, not sure which) and my face hurt all night from laughing so much. There was an issue getting the key card to work at the hotel. Come to find out, it wasn't 'charged' for the 2nd night. Of course, it took us about 15 minutes to figure that out.

Dagny informed me that I snore. I want to set the record straight on that point. It was definately the heater. I am the Queen and the Queen does NOT SNORE!!!!

I chatted with Deb Claffie, one of the divas. Poor Deb was in charge of all the logistics this year. She's worked on spa for 6 years and next year she gets to be an attendee. Last year I bought Apollo & Athena from Deb, my first pygoras. We talked about the animals for a while and promised to get together soon. We only live about 5 miles apart! Deb has a farm in Limington called Tyler Farm and it's one of the neatest, cleanest barns I've seen. She's an amazing lady, very talented and a good person as well.

The Fuzzy Mitten patterns & kits were a big hit. I wish I had made more up for sale. All the ones that had samples went so fast! Here's the little Pocket Mouse sitting in a bucket of fiber.

Here's a pic of our booth:



Our neighbor The Woolen Rabbit sells fiber and handmade soap. The gardeners soap is the best!!

Another pic of our booth:

Here's the end of the display rack with more stuffed animals. I want to re-do the puppy -- I did him in Ella Rae 'nubbly' and he came out too big and too weird. I like using the Alpaca with a Twist 'baby alpaca' or Cascade's "Cloud 9" with cashmere. Makes for an ulta soft cuddly toy.

Here's Dee spinning on her Ashford Traditional and playing with Matthew, the son of the button lady. Matthew was our hired hand for the weekend. We paid him to run errands and get ice for my drinks. Dee even taught him spinning!