Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival

This past Friday me and my friend Pam drove 2 hours to Columbia, Maryland for the annual Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. I got off work early to avoid traffic and to check out the local yarn store All About Yarn. The yarn store was huge, it was like my LYS times 3. Anyway, we went to Macaroni Grill for dinner and back to the hotel for our own little KAL. We happen to knit the same thing twice now. Saturday morning we got up bright and early and had breakfast at the hotel then off to the fairgrounds. This was my first yarn festival and oh my god I was overwhelmed. So much yarn, fiber, and people. 
My highlight on Saturday was I got to meet Laura and Lesley from the Knit Girllls Podcast

 and Diane from the Knitabulls Podcast.

They are such nice people and I love watching their podcasts each week.
Saturday I went a little over half way through my budget so I paced myself and started to just browse, whatever I kept on my mind I went back on Sunday and purchased it. That was a good system, because on Sunday I went back for a yarn and the second time around I didn't love as much then I did on Saturday, so I got a different one I loved even more.

Here is my yarn purchases, including buttons I collected throughout the day.
From left to right: Dream in color in the starry base in Sundown Orchid colorway (love the sparkle), tilli tomas sock in the Bad Romance colorway (love the Lady Gaga colorway name), ...into the whirled in the Manchester base in Vampires in Venice colorway (what can I say you say Vampire I have to have it), The Verdant Gryphon in the Mithril base in La Cantante colorway (I owe no lace yarn and no orange yarn, it was an orphan I had to have it), the last two I bought at All About Yarn Crystal Palace Yarn in the Saudalito base no color name.
I have patterns picked out for every yarn, except the ...into the whirled. Any suggestions what would go with it please comment.

Onto the fiber again from left to right: Some plain corriedale for practice, Three Waters Farm BFL in Santa Fe colorway, ...into the whirled Superwash Merino Combed Top in the Bird Girl colorway, ...into the whirled English Shetland Combed Top in the Abercrombie colorway, Loop Merino Corriedale Nylon Angelina in the Parrot Fish colorway.
So now I just need a spinning wheel and some practice.

This weekend I am taking a mini vacation in Nags Head, North Carolina. Next week I will blog about some finished secret knitting and current work in progresses.