Ham--The Other White Meat

Last weekend I went with Randy to the annual Hamfest in Huntsville, Alabama. This is going to sound shocking, but Hamfest is not a festival celebrating the endless variety of succulent pork products. I was disappointed my first year. Honey Baked Hams has a "booth" at the festival, but no free product give-aways. It's a shame, such a captive audience. My dear knitters, Hamfest is a festival for ham radio operators...and it is something to behold.

If you live near Huntsville, you should make a point to attend the annual 'Fest. The things you will see will astonish and amaze. In the world of ham radio operators, size matters. It's all about who has the longest antenna. Seriously. There were guys with antennae clipped to their ball caps. I kid you not! There were ball caps with LED inserts that scrolled and flashed messages like "Hi, my name is KI4FNU! What's yours?" There were husbands and wives with t-shirts that said, "I'm with WB6TFN" and "I'm WB6TFN." I can't make this stuff up. Everything from pink hair to no hair, from short shorts to pants pulled up a bit to high. Hamfest is a people-watchers paradise.

So why did I go? Huntsville is only a 2 hour drive from here, and the LYS is well worth the trip. Yarn Expressions is located at 8415 Whitesburg Drive, near the Post Office. It's a great shop! The owner has a good web site also. Go, touch, buy!

I bought a bag of undyed blue faced leicester roving. So soft and wonderful. And I bought a skein of sock yarn from Pagewood Farm in the Crayon colorway. YUM! I probably spent an hour in the shop touching and trying not to drool on everything. She really has a great selection and the prices seem right in line with other yarn shops. Her sock yarns were tremendous! Lots of Trekking, Tofutsies, etc. She had yarn that I can't get from my LYSs, stuff I've only read about. What a treat to fondle! She also carries spinning wheels. Yes, spinning wheels! They are pretty hard to come by in the middle Tennessee area, but she had several. I didn't inquire as to prices because "if you have to ask you can't afford it." So I settled for the lovely sock yarn and the roving. I'll get a wheel one day.

These ladies were buzzing me as I was taking photos of my yarn. Note the dry dead vine on the hook. My garden is crispy. Everything is nasty dry. Got to feed the hummers and the birds! Poor things.