One great thing this year was the fact that I didn't have a shopping list of dyed Merino colors. That makes things a bit more fun, because we didn't have to be looking for one particular color match --- or end up disappointed when we couldn't find just the right color. Alpaca is the "in thing" right now, so there were a lot of vendors there with everything from the raw fiber to finished sweaters. We have special friends in Pennsylvania who are very creative (one of them being a fantastic knitter!), and we really wished they could have come with us this year . . . so, we took the camera to send a photographic record of the show! Hence, I've got a ton of photos posted here.
We found some great stuff (some of which we brought home), but the highlight for me was certainly the farm that brought three Gotland sheep up for display. Not only that, but they also had Gotland locks for sale! I was able to buy about 10oz. of black 1st Clip locks! Those are hard to come by even online, and this is the first time that Gotland anything has been at the show. The black locks will be perfect for some doll hair. (Scroll down to the end of the photos here to see the locks and some of the other things that we bought.)
Okay, now you can get started on the photos. All of the little thumbnails click to show the photo at full size.
Here are three other things that we bought at the show. The house socks are hand-knitted and double thickness. Can't wait to wear them, so it makes me look forward to some cool weather coming in the fall! The little plush lamb is just cute, and I couldn't resist it. The legs are wired, so it stands up very well and looks so realistic. The screen full of fiber is half of a bag of alpaca fiber that we got (it's drying out in the kitchen here after being washed). Not only were large bags of this stuff on sale at a BOGO price, but smaller bags were only 3 for $5.00. This screen shows half of a smaller bag (we had two screens like this from the one small bag), which makes it work out to $1.67 for the fiber on the two screens! Can't beat that for an amazing show deal, that's for sure!