score for 4!

The Connecticut Sheep, Wool, and Fiber Festival is an event that all four members of my family enjoy, all for different reasons, but all in a big way. The 2008 festival, yesterday, was no exception. Scott had a blast selling his glass buttons and beads, sharing a booth for the 2nd year with one of our soapmaking friends. He just loves to chat it up with anybody who stops by and gets a kick out of how many say they remember him from Spa 2007 , or they read this blog, or they too are homeschoolers, or they know Leah from some event or guild. He didn't expect to discover that one of them is a not-so-distant-but-long-lost relative, but there you have it.

There were, of course, eleventy billion skeins and batts to fondle, wheels and spindles to try, workshops and demos with knowledgeable fiber enthusiasts.

There were many cute critters to pet. I spent much of the time cuddling a baby angora bunny, which seriously cut into my knitting plans, but the soft snuggliness of those little fiber fluffballs is irresistible. There were also plenty of bigger types of fiber fluffballs looking beautiful.

It's a big enough festival to offer a good variety of things for sale and things to do, small enough to not be overwhelming and exhausting. It also happens at a time of year when being outside, in the sunshine, among the blooming everything, is a much-needed breath of fresh air.

(An aside: Have I told you about the yo-yo obsession here? I don't think so. Jesse is yo-yo obsessed x 4 months now. We have had videos and books from the library about the diff. tricks. We have bookmarked websites with instruction. The yo-yos go everywhere with him -- one for his own use and at least one more in his pocket for anybody who wants to join in. He taught somebody at the Polynesian Cultural Center when we were in Hawaii, he taught some kids at Old Sturbridge Village, and he put on an impromptu show for a group of girls at the fair yesterday. Good stuff.)

What I can't capture in this group of photos is the non-stop stream of old friends we ran into and new friends made along the way. Everywhere I turned, there was somebody we knew from some fibery aspect of our lives, and then there was a Ravelry meet-up where I put faces to the online names and those virtual acquaintances turned into local friends and neighbors. I was going to do a linkfest here, but there are just too many. Such fun!

Bonus prize: We'll see a bunch of them, and more, again today. Can't wait.