Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival 2014

Photo Blog from the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival 

by: Emily

I was privileged to attend the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival this spring with my dear friends, Pat and Lisa. We enjoyed the weekend at the festival ... buying, observing, competing, and learning!

Our little group arrived at the Fairgrounds a day before the festival opened. Our missions was to register fleeces for the competition.

The check-in area was swarming with activity. 

In this photo, Lisa and I are checking our fleeces in. The ladies raved about the fleeces and thought they were beautiful! 

After checking the fleeces in, we spent the rest of the day enjoying the Baltimore, Maryland area.

We arrived back at the fairgrounds early the next morning. The traffic lines were already long and the parking lot was filling fast.

Our first stop was the fleece show. We were excitedly awaiting results from the show and wondered how our fleeces had placed. There were almost 800 fleeces on display!

Faith's fleece finished first in her class - Natural Colored Long-Wool

Gilbert won second place in White Long-Wool.

Daisy's fleece took second in the Romney breed class.

We were thrilled with the results as the competition was strong in the classes we entered!

After the fleece show, we started shopping! There were nearly 1,000 vendors offering their goods to Festival goers.

The colors of yarn were striking and the quality was amazing.

There was a wide variety of fibers and yarns available. From wool to camel, yak, silk, flax,angora, cashmere, and alpaca, you could find almost any type of fiber you desired. 

Beautiful balls of Tussah silk/Merino roving.

Silk and merino wool roving

Raw fiber was prevalent among the vendors. At this booth, alpaca wool was sold in many different natural colors.

As well as yarn, roving, and supplies, finished products were also for sale.

We heard there were around 100,000 people there during the two days of the Festival.

 As times it was difficult to maneuver. 

I enjoyed watching some of the sheep shows in the show barn. Here, Colored Romneys are being shown.

White Romney ewe show

A beautiful pair of Corriedales

The big Corriedale went on to win Supreme Fleece at the Sheep Show.

Cute Romney lambs

There were many different sheep breeds represented at the Festival. The Parade of Breeds held in the show ring was fun to watch.

One of the highlights of the Festival was the Sheep to Shawl Contest. 

There were seven teams competing this year.

Each team was required to shear a sheep, card the wool, spin the yarn, and weave a shawl in 3 hours.

It was exciting to watch the teams work.

This team had a baseball theme to their costume, display, and weaving. 

The winning team of ladies (above) created a beautiful shawl which included whole locks spun and then woven into the shawl.

Lisa, Pat (photographer), and I enjoyed our time at the Festival and are grateful for the opportunity to have gone!

Calf Friends!

Bonnie and Russet 

Foggy's Fleece

Foggy's fleece from this spring has been beautifully carded and prepared for spinning! Thank you, Judy, for sharing this picture of your work. 

Russet the Red BueLingo Arrives!

Ruby delivered her first calf on May 13th. We named him Russet! 

Russet had a rough start to life as he didn't start breathing right away after birth. With some intervention and assistance, he started taking breaths on his own. 

He was too weak to walk in the barn, so we wrapped him in a sheet and transported him on our hay cart. 

Russet has improved and is now running and playing with his other calf friends! 

Desibelle's Fleece For Sale on Etsy

Desibelle's fleece is now for sale on Etsy!

Her fleece weighs about 6 pounds.

Desibelle's fleece is soft, having recently tested at 31 microns.

The staple length is 5 inches.

View the listing here. 

Meet Bonnie!

Our BueLingo cow, Vivian, delivered a healthy heifer calf on April 26th. We named her little one, Bonnie. Bonnie is a playful calf with a shiny coat and big eyes!

Vivian and Bonnie

Beautiful Sweaters

Our friend, Judy, recently shared some photos of her handiwork. Each one of these sweaters was made with wool from our sheep. Judy hand spun the yarn and knitted these beautiful sweaters.

Of Lambs and Wool

The past couple of months have been busy ones here on the farm. Winter hit our area with a particular vengeance, adding special challenges to lambing and daily chores. The snow has almost melted now and we are eagerly anticipating the coming of spring!

 This lambing season saw the arrival of nearly 90 lambs, with more yet to be born. 

The lambs are growing rapidly and chowing down on their hay.

Little lambs are getting their first homemade coats. These coats will help their little fleeces stay clean.

Speaking of wool ... we have been hard at work preparing fleeces for our customers. There were over 80 premium fleeces for sale this year!

Coming up, we will be posting updates on our 2014 lambs. Check back soon for birth announcements and pictures! 

Murphy's Special Friend

Our little ewe lamb, Grace, has become fast friends with Murphy, our guard llama. Grace regularly sleeps right next to Murphy and he watches out for her.

Sneak Peek!

Enjoy a short preview of some of our freshly-shorn fleeces!

Delilah

Faith

Frappe

Garfield

Gilbert

Gina

Gomer

Gretchen