New England Woolcraft Fair

All right, so it was raining and 47 degrees -- did that deter Ann and me from driving for 50 minutes to Cummington, Mass.?  Noooo ... actually, we decided to be wild and crazy and stopped at a flower sale at the Congo church in Haydenville first.  (The giant impatiens is shivering on the front porch now in 47 degree rain.)

Not that it was cold, but we could see our breath.  We only watched about 4 sheep dog herding trials before we headed to the sheep barns (shearing had been done, trimming was going on) and barns full of wool and other fibers for sale.  And ... in the interest of honest reporting -- these are file photos! But the vendors and views are exactly the same! There is something to be said for tradition, especially when you forget your camera!

It's hard to see (above) but that's a shepherd with a dog.  The sheep are off to the right.  Today, a dog went nuts and rocketed over to the sheep who were going to the pen to rest.  (They alternate batches of 3 sheep at a time.) The dog ran into the sheep pen.  You should have heard the gate guard bellow!  She was so commanding that I lay down!

We ended up under the contestants' tent because it blocked the wind.  I asked a woman (who turned out to be not only a shepherd but one of the judges) how they train sheep dogs.  She said first you pick a puppy with good instincts and if they do what you want with the sheep, their reward is more time with the sheep (play).  If they do something wrong, they get, "That'l do," and theynthey can't play with the sheep any more.  She said it's unlike obedience, when the dog gets a treat whenever they do it right.

I really like the above hooked "penny" rugs.  This year, she had a black cat sitting on a stool.  She also sells the materials to begin rug hooking. It looks easy.  Yeah, right. Not.

Above, Ann provides a size perspective for these felted figures.  She ended up buying some fish and dolphins for oceanography with her older grandson.  He's 2 but obviously, above average ...

There was a lot of grooming going on today.  I had quite a conversation with a black sheep (he was gorgeous).  He was not happy to be constrained for so long.  I tell you, those sheep sure are talkative. I could hardly get a bleat in edgewise.

This is a bunny (angora) and none was outside today.  Brrrrrr ... they were all huddled inside the craft barn.  And I didn't see any alone -- they snuggled in one big ball to keep warm.

This is just a sample of some of the colors.  You should have seen the skein after skein of yarns! The colors were gorgeous!

I have to admit, this booth was not there. They would have had a bunch of wet wool.  However, these people (I believe) were in one of the craft barns.  It was raining too hard to risk this type of open air booth.

I did not buy any of these baaaath soaps (made from sheep something), but I did buy some lotion (unscented of course) made from shea butter.  It sinks into your skin unlike other dry skin lotions, so it won't leave stuff on your quilt (or knitting) that you are working on.  The woman who made it is from Lunenburg, Mass. near Leominster where I lived as a kid.

I don't know if she had comments about her mermaid, but this one was not there this year.  It was a much more modest (clothed) mermaid today.  Ho hum.  How droll.

The angora bears were there -- only many more were much smaller than this one.  The about 5 inch tall ones were $25.


And that's about it.  I have to say that there was a LOT of hand dyed yarn, but there was even more un-carded, and un-spun, and raw wool for sale.  Personally, I don't want to start from scratch.  In fact, I don't even knit or crochet.  But I love the sheep and the colors and talking with the vendors!