It's Mother's Day weekend, so it must be Shepherd's Harvest Festival time!

On May 7 and 8 at the Washington County Fairgrounds in Lake Elmo, we have the biggest fiber fest of the year in all of Minnesota! Click here to visit the 2011 Shepherd's Harvest Festival website.

Shepherd's Harvest brings together ranchers from all over the upper Midwest and Canada selling their own unique yarns and fleeces. On top of that, fabulous Minnesota yarn shops will be there, too, selling their beautiful yarns, specialty knitting and spinning tools, and other wares. If you're not a knitter or spinner or crocheter, come along anyway, because you'll find finished sweaters, shawls, and other knitted and crocheted items.

Let's be honest. Minnesota winters are long and hard. "It gives you time to think," as the old people said. Immigrants to our region in the 1800's and early 1900's were predominantly German and Scandinavian, and those countries had strong knitting traditions. Those traditions have been handed down through families from grandmas and moms and aunts to grandchildren, daughters and nieces, and nephews and sons. The result? Our region has some of the most skilled and avid knitters in the country, our yarn shops amaze those from other parts of the country, and our ranchers spoil us.

We would love you to join us for Shepherd's Harvest no matter where you're from or wherever you live now! We love seeing old friends and making new ones!

Nearby Stillwater, Minnesota has hotels, B&Bs, and motels where you can stay if you're coming from out of town and can't stay with a relative. It happens.