In which I finally reach the Estes Park Wool Market

Guess how many days it will rain at Nikki’s home in the UK during the Tour de France and you could win yarn, chocolate, or a copy of EZ’s Knitter’s Almanac. Submit your guesses by 11 pm GMT, July 7.

Sallee’s having a contest to celebrate three years of her Nana Sadie Rose handcrafted bag business and making her 500th bag! Send her an email before midnight EDT on Friday, July 6, guessing which of the pictured bags was #500 and you could win some fun prizes.

Really, you’re all so very patient with my meandering vacation tales! When last we visited this narrative, I was waiting for the rest of the cabin folk to arrive. Although the cabin we stayed in had some definite shortcomings (such as the touchiest toilet ever), it did have a fabulous view of Estes Park.

When the Ewetah Grrls (Margene, Blog Free Val the Hummingbird Whisperer, Karen, Cheryl) and Laura from Kansas arrived, we headed into Estes Park and got some dinner. Back at the cabin later, we knitted and chatted and laughed, but made an early night of it so we would be ready to face the festival in the morning. I shared a room and bed with Cheryl, who I must say is much more considerate than Chaos or Mayhem – she didn’t walk across me once during the night, nor did she drop furry mice on me and want to play fetch. Thanks, Cheryl! 😉 (Plus Cheryl got some great pictures of the cabin crew, which I apparently didn’t manage.)

On Saturday, we all headed to the festival, arriving when it opened. Some booths, such as Brooks Fiber Farm, were quickly packed.

Really, there is yarn in that booth. See?

Knitbloggers were everywhere! Imbrium, Mim, and Laura were kind enough to stop shopping and pose for me, although Imbrium and Laura might just have been scoping out their next purchases…

While I was in the Interlacements booth, I found myself behind this backpack and introduced myself to Jane.

Jane and I headed out to the blogger meetup at 11 am. Here are many knitbloggers listening to Margene as she invites us to join her for lunch.

Margene and Jane from the front – see those cute little sheep buttons they’re both wearing?

Kristi the Fiber Fool brought them for all of us! Thank you, Kristi! Here’s Kristi with her famous Queen of Diamond Socks:

The Knitty Professor herself, with the back of Black Sheep Lisa to the right.

Alas, I wish I had taken many more pictures of this event! I didn’t get a picture of Knittymama – how funny was it to meet up with someone who only lives a few miles away from me here in Minneapolis?

Anyway, after lunch Jane and I wandered around some of the animal barns. You’ve already seen some of those pictures, but here are a few more. I learned that alpacas are very stretchy.

This poor guy’s bandana read “I’m for sale!”

Whew! That sure seems like plenty for today. More on the rest of vacation later. 🙂

“I still haven’t forgiven you for that vacation business. You’d better not do that again.” -Chaos

34 thoughts on “In which I finally reach the Estes Park Wool Market”

  1. I would have thrown myself at that “wall” of yarn. Gorgeous colours!

    Poor, Chaos! Hasn’t Mother made up for being away?

  2. hopefully, it’ll happen every year like clockwork, right? maybe if they understood that while they can walk over the legs whilst we are sleeping, walking over our HEADS is quite disruptive. sheesh.

  3. Thanks for the mention of my little contest!
    And OH…What great shots, and that wall of yarn is to die for! Gorgeous.
    (Sorry Chaos…people VACATE – it’s for mental health purposes..you wouldn’t want your mom to go STIR-crazy!!!)
    (((hugs)))

  4. What great advertisement! I should start making shirts and bags to promote my blog.

    Maybe…

    “Pickled Beef, it’s what’s for dinner.” Hehe

  5. I enjoy your vacation photos. It’s fun to see knit-bloggers in the wild, so to speak.

    Chaos looks pretty serious. I’m sure he says it’s because he’s afraid he won’t get dinner, but I bet it’s you he really misses.

  6. It is so nice to wander through my old stomping grounds, even if it is vicariously! I’m really enjoying the tour. Maybe next year I can talk my high school reunion into being the same week as the Estes Park Wool Market.

  7. Chris- You did partake of that wall of yarn, didn’t you?

    Maybe Cheryl just forgot to pack her mousies. It’s a common mistake, people travelling without their mousies.

  8. I keep thinking that one day I’ll make one of these fabulous markets, and after much thought, I think I’d like Estes over Maryland, mostly because I’ve seen the east, I have barely seen anything out West.

    I loved the kitty watching tv pictures by the way. I should send them a Basil video.

  9. BAAAAAA! Thanks god for Cheryl! Those damned headwalkers are driving me crazy! The other morning I woke up with blood all over my ear, neck, and pillow–Jack walked across my head and dug his claw in my ear when he slipped.

  10. I want to know how you managed to sleep without the fuzzy mice, and being walked upon!? I find when I’m “cat free” somewhere I normally wake up wondering what the hell they’re up too since they’re not harassing me 🙂

  11. I don’t think Chaos is kidding either.

    Oh, it looks like you had such a fun time! What a fantastic trip. Llamas are SO cute! Too bad they’re not cat sized.

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