Folk Festival a great shopping experience

Editor’s Note: ShopGirl will be on vacation for the next 21/2 weeks. Her column will resume on Sept. 27.

Technically, I have to work this weekend.

If the National Folk Festival weren’t the biggest show in town, things might be different. But I’m on the clock, chasing down performers, interviewing festival-goers, and generally taking in the whole scene.

So if you think you see me in the vendors tent, don’t tell my editor. I mean, I’m supposed to be working, not shopping.

That girl walking away with armloads of yarn? Not me. What about the girl trying to balance a stack of burlwood bowls on top of her notebook? Nope, not me either. And that girl drooling over the quilts? That’s my long-lost twin sister. From Omaha. Funny, her name’s Kristen, too.

If I had the time to shop, here’s what I’d buy. This is by no means an all-inclusive list, because I can’t buy everything, but I urge you to visit all of the vendors, because they’re all great. Tell them I said hi.

. Yarn. I love it. I have chests full of it, because my knitting can’t keep up with my buying. Go figure. Maine-made yarns are among my favorite – at last year’s Folk Festival I left with a hank of hand-painted mohair from Vermeer’s Lace and Fiber Studio that made one of the prettiest scarves ever. Proprietor Beeuw Van Knijeren is on hand for this year’s festival as well, selling yarn, maritime fleece-lined mittens, knitted caps and scarves, vests and sweaters.

I also would buy patterns from M. Joan Davis at Maine’s Fine Fibers – her hats and scarves are stunning – they go way beyond the plain old scarves I normally knit. Lynn Winters of Ash Grove Spinning and Knitting has the cutest fulled (sort of like felting) bags, and Paula Farrar’s hand-dyed fleece and yarns look kaleidoscopic. Liz Ahern’s Maine Merino focuses on the soft, luminous wool of merino sheep, and Nanney Kennedy of Seacolors uses ocean water to dye her yarns, giving them muted tones that soften with age.

. A hand-tooled red leather belt from Bob and Anne Dickens of Ellsworth. Perfect with jeans. Enough said.

. One of the amazing quilts designed by Gabriella D’Italia and Ginger Phelps of Newport. Their company, The Spring Street Co., incorporates Asian themes with traditional American quilt patterns for an elegant look.

. Exquisite burl bowls from Donald Deschane of Medway. A longtime woodworker, Deschane designed and built the post-and-beam log cabin he shares with his wife, Pati, a basketmaker. Donald and Pati also team up to create ash baskets with burl accents – very cool.

Speaking of wood, I’d also check out the garden gnomes by Laurie Stearns of Brunswick. Everyone else will probably want her carved wood flowers or her simple, elegant Nativity scenes, but ever since I saw “Amelie,” I’ve wanted a garden gnome. Out of character? Perhaps, but who cares?

. Pottery by Susan E. A. Dickson-Smith, J. Victoria Rattigan and Donald Sutherland. I’ve seen Dickson-Smith’s Proper Clay Stoneware booth at craft fairs, and I’m especially smitten with her ring-shaped vase. The Japanese influence is evident in the simple, sleek lines of her designs. Rattigan, who runs Shard Pottery, takes a more folk-art approach. Her blue-and-white-glazed stoneware incorporates nautical themes with a traditional look. Sutherland’s Earth Forms evoke the best of early American pottery, and I’m especially fond of his striped mixing bowls.

. Common Folk Farm and Shaker herbs. If you’ve ever eaten a Shaker-inspired meal, you know that herbs are essential to their simple, delicious cuisine. Betsey Ann Golon sells herbs grown at the Sabbathday Lake Shaker village as well as her own herbal blends. Check out the teas, sold in canning jars adorned with a decorative tea ball.

. A birdhouse by Gary Griffith, who runs the Iron Art Forge in Parkman. His funky, folky iron art is chic in a country-style way. Check out his wall hooks, as well – they’re perfect for the camp or farmhouse.

. Lavender massage oil from Knott-II-Bragg Farm. Owner Natalia Bragg says the oil is designed to aid circulation and soothe hot, tired feet and legs. I think I’ll need it after the folk festival winds down.

So how did I know about all this stuff? Well, that’s my little secret, seeing as I’ve been far too busy to shop.

Oops, there’s my editor. I’ve gotta run! Need to stuff my shopping bags, I mean, notebooks, into the car. If she asks, you didn’t see me. OK?

ShopGirl would love to hear from you. Send questions, comments or suggestions by mail to: Kristen Andresen, Bangor Daily News, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor, ME 04402-1329; by e-mail to kandresen@bangordailynews.net or by fax to 941-9476.