I came back from Baltimore with serious booty, people, booty of the pirate variety (that is, if pirates could knit.) Here’s a sampling of the tastiness I picked up in Maryland:

First, the luscious roving in the bottom of the pic. The natural is Corriedale curls; the brilliant orange is blue-faced Leicester and Cotswold. It’s ridiculous - I can’t spin, and I bought only a tiny amount of each - but I was so drawn to these that I decided I would determinedly figure out how to make a shawl or two with great curly locks as fringe. The grey is some wonderfully lustrous Mountain Shepherdess yarn from Coburn Creek Farm & Pottery in West Virginia. And the blue mohair was a thrift store score at 50 cents a ball! Best of all, in the center, is this extraordinary 100% kid mohair fingering weight from Brooks Farm. I didn’t realize until it was too late that this might be a yarn worth stocking up on. It’s extraordinary stuff, all of it, and much more is available at the shows than is available on their website.

In other yarn acquisitions, I’ve made some nice trades lately - including this gorgeous Koigu:

There’s more of that (in a crazy bright color) that you’ll be seeing when I show off my half completed sock!

And here’s some lovely Noro, which I am going to make into a mitered bag:

Thank goodness for Knitty!