SPA was, as always, lovely. Honestly, what’s not lovely about 3 days full of friends, fiber, food and fun?

Sharon, Jo-Ann and I left Thursday at lunch time and arrived in Freeport around 4:30pm. We immediately saw our friends Kelly and Diane in the lobby and we spent the better part of the afternoon spinning with them. The rest of the evening passed quickly with dinner and drinks, more spinning, some knitting and lots of laughing.

Friday is the first “official” day of SPA and our friends arrived throughout the day. We chatted and visited, snuck into the vendor room during set up to see Kim and Judy, spent more time spinning, knitting and laughing.

Oh, and I bought a wheel. No biggie.

Saturday was more of the same but with more people around. I had fun spinning with my new wheel while visiting with everyone. We did a bit of shopping, had lunch at the Freeport Chowder House, ate dinner with a large group at Linda Bean’s Maine Kitchen & Topside Tavern, and stayed up until the wee hours making the most of our last evening to hang out with our friends.

On Sunday we got up and had breakfast and then spent the next two hours saying goodbye to our peeps. These weekends go by so quickly but we always create such lasting memories. The things that will stick with me this year: Sharon “borrowing” a candle from a restaurant, my automatically refilling bourbon glass on Thursday night which Diane declared a “bourbon miracle”, Terry’s new fondness for martinis, beer and Drambuie, the look on Judy’s face when a friend gifted her with a beautiful shawl to replace the one that was stolen out of her booth at the New England Fiber Festival, Laurie’s Public Toilet Emergency Kit, flashing rings, tiaras (just say NO), holding babies, the laughter of Cheryl’s little girl, and so many more that would take way too long to explain.

I’m already counting the days until SPA 2013.

I always start out with such good intentions when I go to a fiber festival. I vow to take lots of pictures so that I can write a full and timely post about my experience. Well, you know what they say about good intentions, right?

That picture from yesterday was the first picture I took on Friday. I tried to take a few more on Friday evening but they look like crap. You’ll just have to take my word for it that we had an awesome dinner at Cal’s Wood Fired Grill and then had an even more awesome time hanging out in our hotel room. Blogless Sharon and Jo-Ann and I hosted everyone and we drank wine and beer and ate chocolate. We laughed and swapped stories and jokes and got yelled at by the hotel manager to quiet down. I’m always secretly proud when we get sushed by the management.

And see this picture? Well this is the first picture I took on Saturday. Much like Friday, it’s the only decent one of the lot – other than the one of our haul and you’ve already seen that one. I had my camera in my hand when we arrived at the  Big E and I snapped this one of Sharon and then a couple of others and then I put the camera in my bag and never hauled it out again. So, you will just have to take my word for it that we had a blast at the Fiber Festival of New England. We shopped and gabbed with friends. We had a yummy lunch (hello chili cheese fries) and did more shopping and  more gabbing. We finally left when the  wool and dust got to be too much for Jo-Ann’s lungs to handle but we left with lots of stuff and lots of memories. The three of us enjoyed another great meal at Cal’s and headed for home on Sunday morning.

I honestly feel like this event is a great alternative to Rhinebeck. The scenery is definitely lacking and I missed wandering outside to break up the shopping but it’s half the distance from home, the hotel is significantly cheaper, and the crowds are practically nonexistent. I’m not saying I’m  done with Rhinebeck but I am saying I am IN for next year at the  Fiber  Festival of New England!

I know I said I wasn’t going to participate in NaBloPoMo . . .

But the above photo of today’s haul at the Fiber Festival of New England has inspired me. Take heart, it’s not all mine.

For years my family has gone on vacation the 3rd week of August. This year, however, to better accommodate various work schedules, we have changed our vacation to the 4th week of August. This provided me with the absolutely huge benefit of being able to go to Fiber Revival for the very first time. I was most definitely not disappointed!

Sharon and Jo-Ann and I tried to get an early start but Boston traffic delayed our arrival until nearly lunch time. It was okay, though, because that meant we didn’t have to wait at all before hitting the beer truck. Yes, I said beer truck. You have to love a fiber event that has beer.

And vendors. Some of my favorite vendors, in fact. Kim and Dave, Amy and Josette and many more.

There was vintage baseball going on in one of the fields and that was very cool. Truly, it was like watching a scene from Field of Dreams. I kept expecting to see Shoeless Joe come walking out of that cornfield.

Of course the highlight of the day was hanging with my peeps, chatting and spinning. I have had Jo-Ann on the hook for months now with the spinning bait and on Saturday I set the hook and reeled her in. She’s doing just fine with the spinning and I expect she’ll have a wheel of her own, and not my borrowed Lendrum, in no time at all.

Speaking of wheels, check out my friend Kelly’s pendulum wheel. So cool and so big, but I know I’d have conked myself in the head with that spindle if I’d had the guts to try it.

Kelly really does always have the coolest spinning stuff, like this beautiful Bosworth spindle made from flame box elder. It’s a work of art, I tell you.

I had such a fun day. It was relaxing and the setting was spectacular. My family vacation has been moved permanently because I can’t imagine missing out on this event now that I know how wonderful it is.

As always, SPA was a wonderful experience. As always, I took very few photos.

There’s this one of Sharon with our wheels on Thursday when there was no one around.

And there’s this one of Sharon and Manise drinking tequila.

And there’s this one of Manise’s handspun.

That’s it.

I don’t have pictures of all the laughing and the talking and the joking. I don’t have pictures of the knitting and spinning and shopping. I don’t even have pictures of all the eating and drinking and hanging out.

What I do have, though, are the memories. And those are, no doubt, the best thing of all.

Like Ruth, I wasn’t planning on going to Rhinebeck this year. Sharon told me months ago she wasn’t going. And then I forgot to book a hotel room. And then I heard the rooms were sold out. I knew that several of my friends had decided to opt out this year and it just didn’t seem worth the travel time and money to go so I spread the word that I wasn’t going.

And then I got sad just thinking about not being there. And then I talked to Hillary and realized that she would be there and that if I didn’t go I would miss seeing her a lot. And I wanted to see the newlyweds again. And then Dale said, “let’s go!” So I called the hotel and go the last room available and we went. It was quick because of other commitments but it was worth it.

The foliage was incredible this year. Truly, it was breathtaking. The drive through Hyde Park was amazing and the trees at the fairgrounds did not disappoint.

It was crowded but not as crowded as it was on Saturday, I’m sure. I mostly shopped with JessaLu and I bumped into lots of people and spent a fair amount of time talking with Laurie, Monica, Kim, Maryse, Manise and Vanessa.

I stood in the shortest line I’ve ever seen for the artichokes french and Dale had fried pickles. We didn’t try the pretzels but they looked and smelled wonderful.

There was shopping, of course, but I only bought 2 4oz braids of Into the Whirled and some cashmere/merino/silk from a vendor that had lots of shiny beads but whose name I can’t recall.

And there were sheep. Lots of beautiful, smelly, woolly sheep. It wouldn’t be a sheep and wool festival without them.

Rhinebeck was awesome and I promise to tell you all about it . . . on Wednesday.

Dale and I spent the weekend in New Hampshire for the Sheep & W0ol Festival. I think this is my 6th year in a row attending and it was as great a time as ever. It was a little different, I’ll admit, but I always manage to find some fun!

Friday night we headed north and hit traffic. A lot of traffic. By the time we got to the hotel we decided to just hang out with some drinks and room service. It was a great way to not only end the day but also to rest up for the next day. Turns out, we didn’t need to rest much.

Saturday morning dawned rainy and cold. We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast at our hotel and headed to the festival – in the pouring rain. I was determined to get there, though, because I wanted to hang with my peeps – and I did. For a little while, anyway. We visited and chatted and hung around. I bought some yarn and we hung around some more. Honestly, though, by 2 pm we were cold and decided to leave. We spent the rest of the afternoon hanging in the hotel, knitting and napping. I bet you can figure out who did what without me spelling it out for you.

Saturday evening we met Judy and her husband for dinner at Margaritas. It was the perfect way to end our day. Margaritas, burritos and good conversation!

On Sunday we headed back to the festival – simply because I wanted to see Kim. We met Kim and her husband, Ken, almost immediately upon arrival and spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon visiting and chatting and shopping. Are you sensing a theme here? It was sunny but cold and really windy and by 3 pm we hit the road for home.

We went out for dinner with the kids Sunday night – Chinese food for the rest of the family and sushi for me – talk about a win on Mother’s Day!  It was the perfect end to a perfect weekend!

As always, SPA was fantastic. How could a weekend away, full of knitting, spinning, eating and drinking with my best fiber buds not be?

Sharon and I headed up on Thursday and had lunch at the Harraseeket Inn. We wanted to check out the new spinning space and we had heard the food was good. The food was excellent – we both had lobster stew and salad – but it was also fairly pricey. And the spinning room, while large, was  quite a distance from the parking lot. Even if Sharon had dropped me at the front door, it would have been  a real challenge for me (in my breathless pneumonia laden condition) to walk that distance with my wheel. We decided then and there that we would make the best of it at the Hilton and find a space to spin. The rest of Thursday was spent meeting up with other early arrivals, enjoying a cocktail (or two!) at the Hilton bar, and spinning in the lobby.

Friday’s spinning

Friday morning we woke up to no power in the hotel. Our room wasn’t cold at all but others were pretty chilly. We gathered in the lobby and found coffee and set up our wheels. Basically we staked a claim! The morning passed quickly but not without drama as vendors and hotel guests worried about what would happen if the power was not restored. Fortunately, it came back  on right before noon. I never saw a look of relief like the one on the hotel manager’s face, I can tell you that! It wasn’t long before the rest of our friends arrived and the vendor room opened. We shopped for a bit and went back to spinning in the lobby. It was crowded but manageable and we had a nice (but long) dinner in the hotel dining room.

Saturday’s spinning

On Saturday we decided to skip trying to find space in the lobby and we spun in Martha’s room as she had a suite. It worked out beautifully. It was peaceful and there was plenty of room for anyone who wanted to be there. The day passed quickly and we headed to the Azure Cafe for dinner. The food was great but the service was poor – and I’m being kind. I was quite disappointed as I was the one who suggested we go there because it was so great last year. Looks like we’ll be on the look out for someplace new next year. We spent the rest of the evening spinning some more in Martha’s room.

Sunday’s spinning

Sunday came all too quickly! We visited the vendors one last time and then found a corner by the hotel bar for spinning. It was nice to hang out with people I hadn’t seen much all weekend and I finished up another 4 oz braid of fiber before it was time to head home.

I am not exaggerating when I say that SPA is one of my favorite weekends of the year.

It’s a Random Wednesday and it’s all about the rest of Rhinebeck.

• The foliage was lovely. It would have been lovelier against a bright blue sky but it was still beautiful.

• I had some great meals with friends. Dinner at the Eveready Diner on Friday night was delicious and our waiter was new and adorable. Saturday night we dined at The Coyote Grill and I broke with tradition and had Bang Bang Thai Shrimp instead of my usual fish tacos. It was a great choice.

• JessaLu sold a whole bunch of box bags. I’m so glad she’s having success with her sewing venture – she totally deserves it.

• There were some awesome carved pumpkins at the fair. I didn’t take pictures but Hillary did and JessaLu did and you should really go take a look.

• Kim brought a whole bunch of sock yarn with her. On Friday night we dumped it out onto the floor of her hotel room and I literally rolled around in it for a bit. On Saturday night we dumped it out onto my bed. I tried to get her to leave it there for me to sleep with but she took it all back. Well, except for the 5 skeins I bought and all the skeins everyone else bought.

• I love sheep.

That is all.