One more week!
Just one more week before New Hampshire Sheep and Wool. Hands down, this is my favorite event of the year. From the committee members to the vendors to the customers – this is where I get a chance to see all my favorite people. Well, nearly all. Okay, most of my favorite people in the northeast. And, best of all, it is the only show where I get to see my family, as Tom always brings the boys to the festival for a day.
It is also the only time of year I miss the FiberShip. As little as I enjoyed driving that beast around the country, I loved camping at NHSW. The fairgrounds are a relatively short drive from home, which gave me loads of time after set up to wander the grounds, talk to the sheep, and enjoy an always wonderful potluck dinner.
There are bigger festivals out there. Bigger is not necessarily better, however. The vendor selection at NHSW is excellent, the animals are from top notch breeders, and the hot apple crisp with ice cream outside of the Bingo Hall where our booth is located is amazing.
Maybe that’s been my inspiration this week. I’ve been in a color/fiber rut lately. I’ve just felt sort of stuck and uninspired. I haven’t spun any yarn, let alone worked on any sort of project, since the beginning of the year. It’s one of the longest fiber-dry spells in my life, and it has left me feeling rather unconnected. And then I started to card for the show.
I dove into the fiber I had ordered for NHSW and saw that key colors were missing. After a few moments of panic, I started grabbing colors and putting them together in new ways, building one combination on the previous one. Suddenly, I found myself with a bevy of beautiful new colorways and a rejuvenated excitement toward my work.
This morning I photographed a handful of the new colors that I cannot wait to bring to the show.
All these and more will be found on the shelves next weekend in Hopkinton, NH. If time permits, I’ll put up another grouping in a few days.
