Wool You Be My Neighbor?

Do you see the person in the above picture? No no no... not me (the tall one), but the other one. Yes. That's Kimmie. And she is potentially definitely one of the most sweetest, generousest, kindest, wonderfulest people that I know.

Last Sunday, Kimmie and I went to the Wool Gathering in Yellow Springs, Ohio. This event is comparable to the Great Lakes Fiber Show that Kimmie, Nicole, and I had attended this past Memorial Day weekend. This one was a smidge smaller than the other show, but this one took place at Young's Jersey Dairy, a popular hangout from when I was in college. So not only did we get scrumptious fibery goodness, we also got ice cream. Could a day get any better?

It could indeed. Let me back up a bit. Kimmie picked me up Sunday morning, and when I went to get in her car, there was a little gift bag on the seat. It was an early birthday present from Kimmie! I opened it to find a (creative, ATKIM-automated teller Kimmie) gift certificate to the Wool Gathering so that I could get something that I wanted while I was there. How cool is that? And then she told me that if there was a star on the back of the gift certificate, it was good for a free lunch. Shockingly enough, I had a star on the back of my certificate! Score!

When we got to Yellow Springs, we did a pretty good job of going through most of the vendors before making any decisions. I did buy some 100% silk pretty early on, but for $2 per 100 yard skein, it was pretty tough to leave there. Oooooh... shiny.

(If you were a fiber lover, and you were in the middle of interviewing for your dream editing job, would this sign offend you? Yeah, me too.)

We wandered around a bit more and found a sheepdog demonstration. I was pretty impressed watching this dog crouch behind the sheep, watching to make sure they stayed in a group.

He had to run around them a couple times to make sure all the sheep stayed in line, until he finally got those little woolies over the bridge...

And into the pool. I love the smell of wet wool in the afternoon, don't you?

At the Yarns & Fabrications booth, you could Kool-Ade dye a skein of yarn for only $5, and Kimmie treated so we could both dye some yarn. Hers turned out to be a pretty red/orange color, and mine is the butterfly vomit delightful variegated in this picture.

I liked it better when I got it home and dry and all balled up, because I remembered this lime green Kool-aid dyed yarn I'd bought at the fiber festival in Wooster. Don't they go together well? I think I'll use the two together for something. I haven't decided what yet. I could felt them, too.

There's a new shop opening soon in Shreve, Ohio, which is near where my mom lives, and also happens to be where I went to elementary school. We first met the owner back in May, and we saw her again in Yellow Springs. Her shop carries some really interesting Japanese yarns, and I had to try one out. This one is a 100% cotton yarn, sort of eye-lashy, and I think that all wrapped up it looks like a haystack.

Kimmie, however, convinced me that it looks sort of like coconut. I remembered I had some fingering weight chocolate brown yarn at home, and I've decided to combine the two yarns, probably for a baby hat. It will look like a Crohn's Medicine hat!

I also got some really cute buttons for a really cute baby sweater that I'll soon be starting for a really cute baby's birthday at the end of November. But I can't show you those. Not yet anyway.

My favoritest, most happiest, gorgeousest, most beautifulest purchase, though, was this sock yarn from Artyarns. It's their Ultramerino sock yarn in potentially definitely the prettiest sock yarn color combination I've ever seen. This will definitely be socks for your very own drunken monkey, I just have to find the perfect pattern. (Oh, and finish those other dozen SWPs I have hanging around.)

Mmm, seriously.

All in all it was a very fun day with a very fun friend. We got to see Lisa and Wendy (hi Wendy!) and Nicole (hi Nicole!) while we were there, we had a great lunch with some screaming children and crazy old people at the Golden Jersey Inn, and we even got to listen to some quality music in the car. Hehe. Thanks again, Kimmie, for your generosity and fiber-excitement... both of which made the Wool Gathering an even greater experience. You're the best!!