Yaks and Sheep and Hugs, Oh My!

https://instagram.com/p/2OhOwjny-v/?taken-by=jac_attacking

Yesterday, I told you about our trip to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival through pictures. I’m gonna be up front and say that I have a bad case of the “star-strucks.” When I met Mike Krahulik, I was literally unable to speak to him. I said stuff inside my head, but was later informed by Jac that all I managed to croak out was some kind of guttural noise akin to that of a “dying toad.” So even though one of my favorite things about festivals and conventions is getting to meet the artists I admire, it’s also one of the hardest things for me. I hung out with Debbie Bliss once, and I’m pretty sure I didn’t embarrass myself, but I get kinda weird when I admire people. I’m thrilled to say I managed to get all the way through MDSW without embarrassing myself*, even though I met some really amazing folks including the artist at Incognito Sheep and the yarn-masters at Bijou Basin Ranch Yarns.

I’ve been a fan of Bijou Basin Yarn for a long time, so checking out their booth was super high on my to-do list. I used their delightfully squishy yak yarn for the Scarlet Letterman’s Jacket, but never actually had a chance to meet the legends behind the yarn before MDSW.

I’m a total fangirl for that yak yarn, and I can’t even get over what a cool background Carl and Eileen Koop (the owners of Bijou Basin) have. Did you know that she is responsible for Oxiclean? She’s basically a mad genius, and I couldn’t leave without some of those sweet sweet yak fibers and a few bottles of Allure.

I’m planning on giving the Allure Wash a run for it’s money tomorrow when I must block all the socks. I don’t enjoy blocking, but a good wool-wash can really take the edge off doing something I don’t like.

The extra special surprise of the weekend was Incognito Sheep. I’ve decided to get rich and then buy all of her paintings. Every. Single. One. And just plaster my studio with them.

We did not photograph Connie’s paintings, because it seems like kind of a dick move to photograph and more or less distribute a painting here on my blog. At least most of the time, I aim to be not a dick. So I’m showing you a few of my favorites from her site. Click on the photos to head over to the site and get some of Connie’s prints for yourself. Me and Jac and Alena each picked up a necklace with a printed tile of one of her paintings at the show.

~Megan-Anne

*that’s actually not true. I walked out of a yarn booth into a super crowded corridor where I stood for a bit before I discovered that my skirt had been stuck up under my backpack since I was in that booth. So sorry to the 800 or so people that may have seen my panties that day. If I’d have known it was going to happen, I would have worn cuter ones. ;)