Our Trip To The New Jersey Sheep and Fiber Festival September 11, 2021

Saturday, September 11, 2021

Today was the NJ Sheep and Fiber festival Hunterdon County 4H Fairgrounds in Ringoes NJ on the usual 1st weekend after Labor Day Sep. 11-12, 2021.

The Sheep & Fiber Festival is presented annually to showcase the beauty of sheep and other fiber animals, as well as to offer a variety of products for sale by breeders, vendors and artisans.

This is the fourth time we've been to this one. They didn't have it last year because of Covid-19.

The weather forecast was sunny and for temperatures to be in the low 80's.

We left after breakfast at around 9:30. We had two stops to make before we could begin the actual trip. First we picked up a prescription at CVS and then filled the gas tank at WA-WA.

According to GPS - Seri - the trip to Ringoes, NJ would take us about 90 minutes.

The first hour of the route was very familiar. It's the way we go to my daughter's house.
The road, Route 539 is a two lane county highway.
There are many traffic light intersections along the way. This breaks up the traffic pattern into strings of about 4 - 10 cars steadily moving, caravan style.
Much of the route passes through isolated areas of the Pine Barrens and the eastern end of the Fort Dix entity of Joint Base McGuire–Dix–Lakehurst. In these stretches, the route has a speed limit of 55mph, one of the few two-lane roads in the state to carry a 55 mph limit. Along much of the road, there are passing and no-passing zones.

Now I am a strict observer of the speed limit. In the sections of the road where passing is allowed, it's annoyingly obvious to me that most drivers do not obey the speed limit because I always get passed. I never understand why these impatient people feel that those perhaps five minutes they may save by passing me is so urgent. I must admit I gleefully love it when I catch up to them at the next traffic light.
Even at my steady, obeying the speed limit speed, we arrived at the fair grounds in the 90 minutes that Siri predicted.

As we pulled into the entrance, there were people directing cars into the various parking areas. I think I was supposed to stop and pay an entrance fee. But I thought they were waving me on, not waving me to stop.
Oh well. Sorry, Sheep Breeders. I'll catch you next time.

Compared to other fiber festivals we have been to, this one is fairly small. There are four barns. Two of the barns are where the animals are being shown. The other two barns are filled with vendor booths. There are various types of vendors all having to do with fiber, and fiber crafting. I would say the majority of the vendors are selling yarn that they have hand dyed.

There were not a lot of people in the first two barns. They were the ones where the sheep and goats were being judged and shown.

The vendor barns were quite crowded. This posed a dilemma for me. Mask or no mask. I would say 2/3 of the people were not wearing masks. As we entered the vendor barn, I told Ross we should mask up.

Once we started through, Ross took his mask off. I kept mine on.

These festivals are typically tough to navigate through. Most of the vendors have single booths and they are small. Once the booths are filled with product displays, there isn't must room for customers to comfortably browse.

I was a little concerned about how Ross would do today. There is a lot of walking. Also, it can get quite warm in the barns. He is now a slow mover. He also gets distracted easily. In times past, I would usually be walking ahead of him, not worrying about whether he was in sight because I knew we would eventually catch up to each other.
Today, we walked side by side. Since he is somewhat unsteady on his feet, I suggested that he bring his cane and it did help.

Because customers were elbow to elbow in the booths, I wasn't comfortable being that close to others. I was constantly making sure I kept track of where Ross was which made browsing and shopping nearly impossible.

I personally know four of the vendors. I had another couple of favorite vendors that I wanted to visit.
I found the way the layout of the booths were described in the brochure difficult to understand.
For instance one of the booths I wanted to visit was listed as being located "4 SE Wall'.
Huh? I assume the 4 meant barn 4 and SE was the South East Wall? Again it was probably just me, but I couldn't even find where the barns were labeled as being 1, 2 3 or 4.
Even though we walked through the entire two vendor barns, I never found the booth at "4 SE Wall".

We did find Helen and Mary Beth of the "Crafty Toads" but they and their booth were so busy we just waved, said hello and then moved along.

We were able to chat a little with Christina the owner of Chelsea Yarns. Christina is also one of Ross' favorites. He enjoys exchanging quips with her. She helped me pick out yarn for a sweater pattern that she and a designer collaborated on.

The yarn is gorgeous! That turned out to be the only purchase I made today.


Normally, at these affairs, I would buy single skeins of yarn from various sellers. I have quite a stash of those singletons without a specific idea for their use.
I am quite happy with my one purchase this time because I bought enough yarn for a planned project.

After completing the tour of the two vendor barns, both of us had had enough.
I started out tired from 1-1/2 hour drive to get the fair. Knowing that I had another 1-1/2 hour drive back, I knew it was time to go.

There's a diner right near the fairgrounds. We decided to stop for lunch. We both had grilled cheese sandwiches and pink lemonades. It was a good break to be able to sit and relax before the drive home.

We got home around 3:30. We turned on the Navy game and chilled out the rest of the evening.

Yarn haul from Chelsea Yarns

Even though these fairs are hectic and sometimes impossible to navigate, I still love going. It's yarn. Yarn for for the hobby I love. Yarn and the hobby I love both keep me sane and giddily happy.

A to Z 2019 April Blogger Challenge - The Letter S Foot Massage

It's April - That means I will be participating in the A to Z Blog Challenge.

I will be posting six days a week for the month of April - (with a rest day on Sunday).
Each post will begin with the corresponding letter of the alphabet beginning with A and finishing with the letter Z.

I began participating in this challenge in 2012.   With the exception of last year, I believe I completed the challenge each year.   Last year I lost steam somewhere around the letter W.

A favorite item of mine to knit is a pair socks.   Non-knitters are usually surprised when I say I knit socks.
The yarn I use to knit the socks is a blend of 80 % merino wool and 10% nylon.   The nylon is necessary to give the socks more durability. 

Merino wool comes from the breed of sheep of the same name.   It is incredibly soft and feels like a foot massage when wearing hand knit socks made from merino wool.

I have knit many pairs of socks for myself. 

I usually don't knit socks for others, mainly because trying to get the size just right takes trial and error.
I have knit Ross two pair of socks.  I know he loves them because they get a lot of wear.  Also, he never misses an opportunity to boast to others about them.   He will pick up his pant leg, point to the socks and say, "My wife knit these." 

At the beginning of the year I had an idea to knit advent Christmas socks.  I would knit one pair for each of the 24 days before Christmas.  I bought a pretty holiday box to put my socks in as I finished them.  I never measured how long in hours it takes to knit a pair.  But they do take a bit of time to knit.   Knitting at the pace that I do, that is knitting a few hours a day, it probably takes me about 3 weeks to knit a pair. 

Now, in the middle of April, I realize that goal is a bit ambitious. 

Perhaps it will have to be scaled down to the Twelve Days of Christmas.

A to Z 2019 April Blogger Challenge The Letter C - Hooks and String

It's April - That means I will be participating in the A to Z Blog Challenge.


I will be posting six days a week for the month of April - (with a rest day on Sunday).
Each post will begin with the corresponding letter of the alphabet beginning with A and finishing with the letter Z.

I began participating in this challenge in 2012.   With the exception of last year, I believe I completed the challenge each year.   Last year I lost steam somewhere around the letter W.
Let's see how far I get this year.

Crochet

I've been crocheting for 40 plus years.  I started when I was pregnant with my first child, Jennifer.
I became interested when I saw the beautiful items my mother-in-law made.

I think the first thing I learned to crochet was the "Granny Square".  And at the time mostly grannies were the only ones crocheting.

I've made many afghans over the years.  My most ambitious project was this one.  It's pretty cool, don't you think?

It is made up of granny squares.

Each square is about 3-1/2".  There are 17 squares across and 17 squares down.  Which means there are 289 squares.

There is one odd square.  Can you spot it?

It's kind of amazing what one can create with a hook and string.

When I first started crocheting, the only places available to buy hooks, string or yarn was the local 5 & 10, the drugstore, or a general all purpose store like K-Mart.

The hooks were plain - steel for fine cotton work, aluminum for heavier blanket acrylic yarn.

Now, of course there are many different styles of hooks and many different choices of yarn. Both can be found at a local yarn store or online.



Crocheting has made a come back and is quite popular among people of all ages and genders.




I am mostly a knitter now, but I still love to crochet and when I get a little bored with knitting, I'll pick up a hook and string.

A cozy crocheted shawl for spring

A to Z Challenge -The Letter S - Shopping

I am participating in the “April Blogging From A to Z Challenge” for 2018.  Except for Sundays, but starting with Sunday April 1, I will be writing a post each day in April.  Working through the alphabet, by the end of the challenge I will have posted 26 writings.  

Shopping

I was excited for the last four days of this week.  Here in my part of the world, Thursday, April 19 through Sunday, April 22  is the 2018 New Jersey Wool Walk.

And to top it off, today Saturday, April 21 (besides being my favorite granddaughter’s 14th birthday) it is the first “Local Yarn Store” day.   This is sponsored by The National NeedleArts Association. 

As noted on their website:

Local Yarn Store Day is a brick-and-mortar yarn shop appreciation day created by TNNA Yarn Group. The inaugural LYS Day will take place on April 21 and is designed to show support for small businesses while bringing together a unique community of knitters, crocheters, weavers and spinners to drive awareness and celebrate the craft.

One of my favorite things in the whole wide world to do is shop at a yarn store.  I really didn’t need a special event to get me to go yarn shopping, but in some way I guess I thought of it as more of a party that I received a personal invitation to. 

Thursday was a cold rainy day.  But that didn’t deter us.  By us I mean Ross and I.   He is my patient yarn shopping companion.

We had our map.  There are 15 stores on the “Walk”.  It, by no means, should have been called a “walk”  because there weren't even two stores near enough to each other to be able to walk to.    My intention was to visit three of the shops on Thursday, one on Saturday and maybe a couple more on Sunday.

We did visit two stores on Thursday, Chelsea Yarns in Red Bank and Frame and Fiber in Point Pleasant.   I had never been to Frame and Fiber.  We had the opportunity to meet Paige, the owner.  I watch Paige’s YouTube knitting podcast called Paige TheFramer.   She is a great gal.  

Today, we went to what I consider my Local Yarn Shop, Woolbearer’s.  I’ve been shopping at Myra’s for the last 10 years.   I particularly love the yarn she hand dyes.  

I did a lot of shopping and loved every minute of it, but I think I am shopped out.  

My Pretties

A to Z Challenge -The Letter H - I Am A Knitting Hoarder

I am participating in the “April Blogging From A to Z Challenge” for 2018.  Except for Sundays, but starting with Sunday April 1, I will be writing a post each day in April.  Working through the alphabet, by the end of the challenge I will have posted 26 writings.  

Hoarding

I am an avid knitter.   Okay, to be more precise I am an obsessive knitter.  I knit every day.
But I am not here on H day to write about knitting.  Because, you know K day is coming up soon and I don’t want to waste good K material on H day.
But there is a correlation between my H word and knitting.

For those of you who are not obsessives, you might not understand what I am about to tell you.   But trust me, I would say this topic, this H topic, can apply to anyone who is obsessive about their passion, or passionate about their obsession.  It works either way.

For I believe it to be a fact that most obsessions require stuff.   You know I’m right.   You not only have to have the right gadgets and tools, you absolutely need to have more than one of each.

I will admit that over the years of my life I’ve had more than one obsession.  For instance there was the tennis phase.  And of course, how can one play tennis without a racket and a spare racket and covers for the rackets. You need the right bag, proper tennis shoes and let’s not get started on the outfits.

But today I want to tell you about the stuff my current obsession, which happens to be knitting, requires.

But let me back up, just a bit.  When I first re-discovered my love of knitting I would shop for my stuff at the big box stores.  I started out with one skien of yarn and a pair of knitting needles.  But I quickly realized that I also needed a pair of scissors, a darning needle and something called stitch markers.  If I wanted to do the cable stitch, I needed cable stitch holder.  If I wanted to make something larger than a scarf, I needed needles with a wire connected to them so they could hold more stitches. Then I realized that I needed a bag to hold all of the stuff.
As a beginner I would work on one project at a time.  So all of my stuff would fit nicely and neatly into one bag.
One day as I was browsing around the internet for a pattern to knit a hat, I came across a site called *Ravelry. That’s when my little knitting corner exploded wide open to the WWK.  The Wide World Of Knitting.

*Ravelry has 7,810,192 registered users from countries from all over the world.  929,442 Ravelers have been active during the last 30 days.

That’s a large community!  A community with new ideas, new patterns, new yarns,  new bags, and just lots of new stuff. 

Actually, when I started my blog, the first followers of my blog were knitters. 

Ravelry led me to the makers of ETSY who create all of the stuff one obsessive knitter can possibly need and absolutely must have! 

And finally my journey along the WWK led me to audio and video knitting podcasts where the hosts of these shows enable we obsessives by showing off the latest yarn they acquired, the newest pattern they are knitting, the best knitting needles they have discovered and the cutest project bags they are using to hold all of their new stuff. 

The one knitting bag I started off with has grown to a dozen bags.  Five of those bags hold “in progress” projects.   I have a closet with bins of yarn and boxes filled with needles and gadgets.

My name is Lynda and I am a Knitting Hoarder!

Just One More Skein, I Promise - A To Z Challenge - The Letter Y

Blogging from A to Z Challenge
April 2016
This month I will be participating in the “Blogging from A-Z Challenge” 
What is it?

Blogging every day.  It begins on April First with a topic themed on something with the letter A, then on April second another topic with the letter B as the theme, and so on until I finish on April thirtieth with the theme based on the letter Z.   The theme of the day is the letter scheduled for that day.

Photo Credit CoolChaser Graphics

I am an avid knitter. I also crochet.  Most avid knitters and crocheters I know are yarnaholics.   We call our accumulation of yarn our stash.  Actually, a knitter's stash can also include knitting needles, project bags, markers, stitch holders, binders filled with hundreds of patterns, and anything else having to do with our craft.
But mainly our stash is yarn.
I have a four tier shelf in my walk-in closet which holds eight plastic bins, two on each shelf.  These bins are filled with yarn.  Not all of my yarn fits in those bins, though.  Some of it is still in shopping bags from whatever store I purchased the yarn.  Those bags are on the floor in front of the shelf.
Next to my chair in the corner of our living room, known as my nook, I have two baskets filled with the yarn of my current project(s).
If I had to explain my addiction, I would say that it is a pleasurable sensorial experience which in turn engages my creative imagination.
Trippin' on yarn?  Perhaps.
When I walk into a yarn shop, I'll stop for just a second at the front of the store and sweep the room with my eyes, perceiving the vibrant colors and soft hues of yarn filled shelves as one large painting.
As I make my way down each aisle,  I will choose an inviting skein to touch and squeeze and brush my cheek with.
I think of who might like a "Really Red" hat or a "Periwinkle" shawl.
On the way home, with my newest acquisitions safely tucked inside the cute pink shopping bag from "Woolbearers", my local yarn shop or LYS,  I solemnly promise not to buy another skein until I get my stash under control.
Yep, that's the talk of an addict for sure.
Oh, and don't even get me started on WEBS,  which is not only my favorite brick and mortar yarn shop (a four-hour car trip that I'll take once a year) but it is also my favorite place to online shop.  Curses to them for currently having their 42-anniversary sale. 

Okay, you wanna see, don't you?

I really have to re-organize 

But, I dare to believe that I have knitted and crocheted my way into perpetuity.

Do you have a guilty pleasure?

You Can’t Go Home Again? - Well Maybe to Thunderbird Lanes, You Can!

I have been hanging around the house for the past two weeks, per doctor’s orders, taking it easy, recuperating from my minor surgery.
As I am sure Ross will attest to, I think I might be going just a little stir crazy.
The subjects being discussed on the View and Katy are getting to be repetitive and mundane.
I have run out of  new-to-me TV show marathons to watch.
I’ve listened to hours and hours of audio books.
It is obvious that I have, too much time on my hands and apparently spend too much time studying my hands, because I have begun to notice that my pre surgery mani/pedi is way past its two week old expiration date.
Since I had shopped online for the April part of the WEBS 39th April/May Anniversary sale, and I have, thereby, added to my already substantial stash of yarn, I am desperately trying to hold back on my temptation to participate in the May part of the sale.

Not Me or My Amiga

 I finished a pair of socks and am now knitting Amiga designed by Mags Kandis.







Ross and I have become even more attached at the hip.
Yesterday, I decided it was time to venture out on my own.
Before Joe became ill, I was a member of  the Tuesday Morning Ladies Bowling league.
I left the league when Joe’s illness had progressed to the last stages.
After he passed away, the ladies tried to convince me that I should come back to bowling.  It would “do you some good” they said. “To get your mind off of things, you know” they said.
At the time, I thanked them for thinking of me but politely declined.  I was pretty sure that a few hours of bowling would not distract me from the pain of grief over the loss of my son.
It has been 17 months since Joe died.  I mostly now hide from the pain, kind of push it to the side.  It has become my way of coping with the life which, true to the cliche, “does go on".
But, yesterday, it being Tuesday morning and all, and me being just a little stir crazy and all, I thought a visit to the bowling alley might “do me some good.”
A little background on the ladies of the Tuesday Morning league.   When I started bowling with this league, about 8 years ago, I was still in my fifties and I was one of the younger women.
Although, at that time the majority of the women were in their mid 60’s, and a couple of the eldest ones were in their 80’s, they were a vibrant group.
I have not been to the bowling alley to visit since I quit the league a few years ago.
My memories of those Tuesday morning bowling sessions are noisy memories.
Each sound distinctly greeted me the moment I stepped through the double glass doors.
Practice was usually already in progress. Above the thunder of simultaneously thrown spheres, swiftly cruising (or okay, sometimes limping) their way down the boards, and over explosive cracks as ball met wood, were welcome shouts of “hi’s and how are you’s” .
As the games got under way, the racket seemed to get louder. There were high five slaps, cheers, hoots, and hollers for spares and strikes. Splits and near nine pin misses brought about foot stomping, and colorful expletives from the more bawdier women.
Voices had to be raised as the chatter of gossip, husband grievances, grandchildren stories and the how the days of the past week were spent could be barely heard above the din.
Growling, angry complaints were shouted when the alleys were too sticky or too slick.
A number of the women were knitters.  If you listened closely, you might have even been able to hear the click, clacking of needles as they worked on their latest projects as they waited for their turn to bowl.
Yesterday, I noticed it immediately, the moment I stepped through the double glass doors. The hush and quiet was, well, quite deafening.



At first I thought that I had the wrong day.  After all, the days seem to run into one another lately, and I have to frequently stop and think of what day it actually is.
The inside of the building was dimly lit and noticeably empty.  Presumably, Thunderbird Lanes was conserving on energy by providing necessary lighting on only the lanes being used.  When my eyes got adjusted to the low light,  I saw them, a handful of them, way down at the other end of the alleys.
As I walked up to where they were bowling, one or two of the women recognized me and waved.   I, on the other hand, only could identify a few of the women.
Erica, the league secretary, came up to me and greeted me warmly.
When I mentioned the quiet, she began to recite a linty of reasons why that was the case.
Over the years, it was obvious that time had taken its toll.
Sadly, now instead of happy animated conversation, tales of surgeries, forgetfulness,  injuries, illness and death have become more the norm, and spoken about in hushed tones.
She said that a lot of the members can no longer throw their balls with the same amount of strength as they once were able to.  The result is apparently reflected in lower scores and averages. She told me that each year the league has become smaller and smaller.
Most of the bowlers I used to bowl with have dropped out and it has become increasingly more difficult to find replacements.
Under five feet tall, with a petite frame, Erica is a tiny bit of a woman.  Her close cropped hair is still jet black and pixie cut.   Traces of her German heritage come through her speech.
Once a strong bowler, tossing a 14 pound ball without effort, it has become necessary for her to use a lighter ball.  Presently, she has been forced to sit on the sidelines, as a spectator, while she waits for her rotator cuff surgery to heal.
After Erica and I had spoken for a few minutes she gave me an intense look.  “Will you come back in September?” She asked.
Just then one of the women, Marie,  came up to Erica and told her that she would not be able to finish bowling. Her arm was hurting.  Marie was one of the women I bowled with.  She is not much taller than Erica with a full head of thick, snow white hair.   She glanced over at me and said, “Oh hi.  I didn’t recognize you.”  She wanted to know if I was going to be bowling next season.
Marie was there with her husband, Al.   Marie is a caregiver for him as he struggles through chemo treatments.
I watched as Marie and Al slowly made their way towards the double glass doors.  She trying to mange her bowling gear, purse and car keys, all the while steadying him.  He not able to help.
Erica asked me again if I would join the league and told me that they could really use me.
The image of Marie and Al still lingering in my mind,  I told Erica that I would think about it.
As I said my good-byes, another woman, Laurie, stopped me.  She told me I was missed and asked if I would please consider coming back.
Why do I hesitate with this decision?
Do the women of the Tuesday Morning Ladies League represent a futuristic mirror for me?  Am I seeing my not too distant reflection?
Or could I, shy me, be someone who could help breath back some of the life into, shed a small glimmer of light onto and perhaps even whoop up some noise again with the Tuesday Morning Ladies League?

Oh by the way, before I hit the double glass doors, Erica caught up with me.  She said, with that trace of her German heritage slipping in, “I have made a decision for you.  I put your name down.  You will be back in September!”