First there was the 4-H; ladies and gentlemen, I present a league of our own, the 4-F Divas
Friends, Fiber, FUN, Food…
the Wisconsin Sheep & Wool Festival
Take a bunch of like-minded people, put a map and a cool drink in their hands and two hours later, VOILA!
FRIENDS (from L to R): Michelle, Carolyn, Monica, Rachel, Dee, & Lynette
Not as huge as MDSW, the WSW fest was just as user friendly and fun! There were about three sheep barns and two big vendor barns located in Jefferson, WI, on the recently built fairgrounds.
We had a BALL! Many hugs and kisses to Michelle for handling, with ultimate style, the driving, and a big thumbs up to my mates for not mocking me when I discovered that I’d had my shirt on inside out for most of the trip! (I’m blaming the Rolling Stones concert I’d attended the night before at Soldier Field for that insane fashion faux pas…)
FIBER: the really lovely stylings of Briar Rose Fibers, from Michigan, hand-painted yarns extraordinaire. I just love those little sweaters – what a great idea to simply show off how your colour ranges work.
FUN!: a little bit of ye olde Men Who SPin! Oh, alright, the truth comes out at last! The only reason I’ve been going to all these Fiber Fests is not the critters or knitters, it’s the MEN! I love a man with a staff or strand in hand!
Awwwh! NOW we get to the real reason one might go to these events: the purdy little critters! Now, laugh if you must country-folk, but us City People have to get by imagining other four-legged species beyond the Domestic Chien et Chat (Rotweillers, although large, do not count!) We enjoyed a demonstration of some very large sheep running in a very large field herded up by a very talented Shepardess and her Border Collie.
FOOD: nothing beats the wonderful viddles one finds on fairgrounds in America! Here in Wisconsin, I enjoyed a pulled-pork sandwich, with some delightful crisp and cool potato salad, polished off with a piece of homemade rasberry PIE! YUM!
oh man! that food (and of course the yarn) look good, very good! thanks for sharing – more insight to something I may go to in the future.
I went to Sheep & Wool in Maryland this year, and I’m hooked! A former city girl myself, I enjoyed the pastoral atmosphere – I came real close to bringing home my own French angora rabbit source!!
Oooh, thank you thank you for posting the pics! I was so sad not to be there. But having taken stock of my finances, I realized that the Yarn Diet is very necessary anyway. Sounds like great fun!
Briar Rose is the new cool vendor. I loved what I bought at the MI fiber fest. Now if they’d only get a web site!!!
Looks like you all had fun. I’m sorry I had to miss it.
Love ‘dem pictures! That pie is making my stomach rumble.
Oooh that yarn looks fabulous (as does the pie) ;) Thanks for the compliment on my FO blog about my Chickami! I love that pattern– I’ve made 3 :)
Sounds like a *great* day!
I also picked some yummy Briar Rose hanks this weekend…it was hard to chose which ones to spurge on.
My 19 month old daughter loved the whistle dog trials and of course, the sheep.
I am drooling over your lunch! and I love the little sweaters too! Sounds like a fun-day!
thanks for sharing your pie! it was delicious. i had a great time. i’ll be sharing with you an email from Chris, the Briar Rose owner. =)
I was in the bathroom when I heard someone come in and announce that her shirt was on backwards the whole time. I didn’t realize that was you. :-) Thanks for the fun adventure. I still want that “little” puppy.
I enjoyed hooking up with your crew and shopping and noshing together. That BBQ sandwich was very good. And I am so glad you took a picture of the Briar Rose display with the tiny sweaters, I just loved how that looked and those kissing sheep ah! My only regret was not snapping a picture of the border collie hugging his “mom” that was too cute for words.
that was last weekend?! man, I would have loved to have gone down, but there’s been too much travelling the past month (next weekend will be my second trip to WI in the last month).
recently built fairgrounds, you say? did they move them?! man, you move away for a year and a bit, and you don’t know what’s going on anymore… (I went to High School in Jefferson, my family lives around there, and my in-laws own the bowling alley in town.) I miss the GEMUETLICHKEIT City
Speaking of men…did you check out the guy doing sheep-shearing demos? Yummy muscles, I must say.
this looks something like the Wool Market in Estes Park! i saw my first cashmere goats and picked up some gorgeous burgundy wool/silk rovings. wish I could go to all of them! i’m drooling over the pie…