16 October 2013

Countdown to Rhinebeck 2013: What to Wear?

Just three days left until the New York Sheep and Wool Festival! Lots of knitters work up a new sweater to premiere at Rhinebeck; however, since all my new sweaters are new designs still under wraps, I have to decide which of my published patterns to wear Saturday. It looks like the weather will cooperate, though it may get a little balmy (high of 68F). Hopefully it will be a little cloudy. As lovely as the sunshine is on all those colorful leaves, it starts steaming everyone in their handknits :)

So, having worn Sotherton last year (see below :), my choices seem to be Wavelette, Mermaid's Cardigan, or Bloc (the navy/tomato one) - lace for ventilation and/or knit at a looser gauge. If it ends up being quite cloudy, I would consider one of the Arans (Anne or Frederick) or Sailor's Valentine, but those are pretty substantial sweaters.
Sothertons
Annie and me in a pair of Sothertons at Rhinebeck 2012 (photo courtesy of Bananarota)
So, I put together a little collage to help me decide. What do you guys think?
rhinebeck2013decisioncollage
What sweater to wear to Rhinebeck 2013?
Top: Wavelette, Mermaid's Cardigan, Bloc
Bottom: An Aran for Anne, An Aran for Frederick, Sailor's Valentine
In the end, I'll probably bring a few to choose from, so I have options :) 

Yikes! I haven't even thought about shawls. I guess it will depend a little on which sweater...

And I'll be working on some more ideas for the potential Unicorn project (what do you think of codename: PUP?) - thinking about yarn choices and such (I love finding local-ish yarns and indie dyers, so NYS&W is the place to be), as well as refining some ideas for magazine submissions. There's always more to do, isn't there?

Life has been a little stressful on the home front (problems with my ex), but I'm focusing on the good stuff, like Rhinebeck this weekend with my dear friend Annie; Nick and I going to LA next week (squeezing a five-year anniversary celebration into a work trip - can you believe we've never been on vacation alone together?), and "creating" a new knitter (private lesson for a great left-handed 3rd grader yesterday - saw her mom at school this morning who told me that she was still knitting at 9:15 last night, just as I'd warned them :)

Alright, I'm off to work on some pattern editing so that we can get some more test knits going. It's always more fun when I can share my stuff with you guys, rather than just the cats on the couch. Which should I get out of the way first: pattern grading a cardigan or translating a large lace chart to written instructions? Oh, and then there is the Pi shawl design that I knit up this summer and have to get down on pixels.

Hope to see some of you up in Duchess County this weekend. What are you going to wear?

Thanks for stopping by, and happy knitting!
xoxo, Kathleen

3 comments:

  1. You know what I'm wearing -- you helped me pick the buttons! And hoping it's not too warm for it....

    I'll vote for Sailor's Valentine. But I can't promise I won't try to abscond with it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I can't wait to see yours in person! You can unbutton it, at least.

      I know what you mean about Sailor's Valentine. It's one I am so proud of - the construction really serves the cables well. But it is *warm*. Bartlett Yarns Fisherman's Wool is no joke! At least with the Arans I could get away with not having a t-shirt underneath and get some "Nature's A/C" with each passing breeze. The Bartlett is just too wooly to have next to my skin.

      Delete
  2. I wish I were going but my son is coming home from college for the first time and as much as I would love to be among all you amazing knitters, I cannot wait to see him! I think all your sweaters are beautiful so just close your eyes and grab one from the pile ~ you won't go wrong! Have fun!!!

    ReplyDelete

what do you think?