bear(d)s of maryland sheep and wool
May 10, 2011
i feel like everyone who blogs about a fiber festival
covers three basic things:
sheep,
their haul,
and famous people.
(i saw clara parkes coming out of the bathroom,
and am 99% sure i saw anna zilboorg.
can anyone confirm that one?)
but how many pictures of cute sheep can one look at
before you realize you’re bored out of your skull?
so on sunday, the last day of the festival,
i decided to photograph something different,
something i saw all around the fairgrounds this year:
men.
specifically bearded men.
they seemed to be everywhere,
which is lucky since, at least to me,
facial hair is very sexy.
it took tremendous energy to overcome my shyness,
and ask total strangers if i could take a picture of them.
so for about every five beards i saw,
i asked one for a photo.
and now without further ado,
i give you, the bear(d)s of maryland sheep and wool!
this was my first beard of the day. his wife, a shy raveler, sent him over to ask if i was the infamous “hotpants” from the ravelry forum. he asked to take my photo so i thought it was only right to ask for his.
(his accent was wicked cool as well).
immeditately after, this guy rolled up. you gotta respect a dude who can commit to that kind of length. i could never grow my beard that long. plus, you may notice he is smoking in this photo, which of course makes him extra cool. what? you never knew smoking makes you cool?
well, it does.
then we have kilty mcbeard as i like to call him. i’d seen him the day before, and when i decided to undertake this project, i hoped he’d be there sunday as well. he gets kudos for his whole ensemble, from the leather hat, to the cabled vest, to the utilikilt. there were a lot of guys in utilikilts at the festival, but many of them weren’t flattering. his was the right color and length. seriously guys, your utilikilts are too long! you need to shorten them up or else you look like 6th grade catholic school girls. definitely not hot.
i had this man in mind as well when i decided to shoot some beards, if for no other reason than he is exactly one of my good friend’s type (you know who you are, buster). i’ve forgotten his name, but i believe he is the proprietor of the trawitz sheepskin products booth. while from afar he’s very imposing, he was willing to model his sheepy hat, which is frankly a little hilarious.
he may be able to snap my not-so-little ass in half,
but i think that smile deserves a second shot for sure.
i almost missed this beard. i was standing on the main drag, and one of my friends yelled “beard!” i immediately stopped him with my, “excuse me sir” line, only to realize it was my fibery friend tammy‘s husband, who i had just talked to the day before. he accused me of using his image for nefarious reasons. someone help me think of one. i wouldn’t want to disappoint.
here we have a beard in motion. i caught this guy in passing in the main barn. he may have a confederate flag pin on his hat (boo!), but his hat/suspenders/pocket protector combo makes this beard worth noting.
i saw this little guy, walking around with his pretty girl, holding hands, clearly in love. rather than make me vomit, it touched me, and gave me the courage to ask for his photo.
apparently, i’m going soft in my old age.
the final beard i captured belongs to the the sanguine gryphon‘s cute male worker bee. i have to admit he was my festival crush, and i made sure i told everyone to hit up their booth to take a peek. to me, he looks like stephen west‘s older, beefier brother, and believe me, this photo doesn’t do him justice. i did ask to take his photo, but even on the last day, he was too busy to strike a pose. so i did what any good knitting blogger would do.
i kinneared him.
there is of course my beard,
meager though it may be.
it had a lovely time at the festival.
and because it’s obligatory,
this is my haul:
jennie the potter yarn bowl (victory is mine!),
a crochet hook roll up.
and some bugga!.
nothing too outrageous,
but these four little guys still put me over budget.
see you next year!
**tomorrow, an epilogue or hotpants strikes back.
Bitches Get Stitches 
May 10, 2011 at 4:18 pm
I’m so glad you managed to get a shot of the dude in the tall straw hat (Mr. Confederate Flag Pin). I wasn’t sure if any of the shots you took were going to turn out okay.
Oh, and I totally kinneared the guy in the cabled vest and utilikilt.
May 10, 2011 at 4:32 pm
I love this take on the festival. 🙂 I’ve always been partial to men with facial hair, and those utilikilts are awesome.
May 10, 2011 at 5:14 pm
Utilikilts apparently haven’t made it west of the Mississippi yet, although it’s early in the festival season (both music and fiber). I’ll keep an eye out. Hubby here does the seasonal beard (start growing on Halloween, shave off on Spring Equinox), so I get best of both worlds. He’s got kickass legs, wonder if I could get him to wear a utilikilt….
May 12, 2011 at 6:49 pm
Um, utilikilts have a store of their own in Seattle, where they are surprisingly popular.
May 10, 2011 at 5:41 pm
wow…looks like you had a great time AND I think it’s fantastic that you did something different..beards…your too much. No wonder we love you xx
May 10, 2011 at 5:55 pm
Those are some enviable beards, but the one of you is the best. Reminds me of another meager bearded, aviator wearing young man.
May 10, 2011 at 5:58 pm
BEARD!
May 10, 2011 at 6:16 pm
Ha! So funny. I think the one with the cigarette is an old boyfriend. Oh jeez, memories of my mountain man boyfriend phase. So glad that ran its course.
I like your haul. Good job with the shopping.
I am still jealous of all the eastern U.S. events. I say again, San Diego is a wasteland. (I know I am ungrateful)
Nancy Paris
May 11, 2011 at 12:08 am
Thanks for the great eye candy. I am, however, conflicted. I have this thing for men in kilts.. so, be still my heart…next time you see a man in a kilt – get his number for me… but here is the conflict.. my own personal little rule of little or no hair where the mouth goes.. so lots of facial hair – not so great….but the kilt.. good lord, i could ignore the facial hair..did you say something about knitting?? i got distracted…
May 11, 2011 at 1:13 am
Your beard may yet fill in with a bit of age, young Jedi.
The yarn bowl is gorgeous.
So, you were around a number of men wearing utilikilts. Did you take a survey to see how many were wearing theirs in the manner of traditional Scottish kilts — and how many were wearing support garments from Wally-World or Tar-zhay underneath? You don’t have to name names. . .
May 11, 2011 at 9:43 am
They need to call this the sheep, wool & bear festival.
May 11, 2011 at 12:09 pm
Excellent post! Much more interesting than sheep. It was fun helping you beard spot. Sadly I couldn’t find the elusive baldy bush face. Here is the beard video of Mr. Kim I told you about. My huzbeast is good crazy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIpwLQVhe40
May 11, 2011 at 5:57 pm
A friend sent me this link… Sorry we got so busy at the SG booth. Everytime I thought there was a break, more people got in line! Felt bad since you asked and I couldn’t get away.
In response to the Anonymous question… The only thing you should wear under your kilt is your shoes!
I’ve passed the link along to Kilty McBeard too.
May 14, 2011 at 5:42 pm
[…] Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival 2011 was great. This is my 3rd year attending the festival. My knitting buddies Cheryl, Gabrielle and Rachel went with me and I can say a good time was had by all. The weather was on our side this year. Sunny, 70s with a light breeze. Couldn’t have asked for better weather. And unfortunately, I did not see Hotpants aka Steven, nor did I take photos of beards. […]
May 14, 2011 at 8:37 pm
Brad says he is disappointed by the lack of nefariousness in this post, but he’ll let it slide this time:) It was great to see you up and well enough for beard hunting!
May 30, 2011 at 11:30 pm
now, THIS is the kind of recap a boy could only dream of. beards > yarns.