Showing posts with label rhinebeck. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rhinebeck. Show all posts

19 October 2015

Rhinebeck!!!

Wow! What a fantastic weekend! I am wiped, so you get lots of pretty pictures. There are some Periscope broadcasts over on Katch, and I think I'm going to upload all of them to my YouTube channel once I look/listen to them to see if they are worth preserving (I have no idea - I was so excited to be there that I'm not sure the video or sound was at all useful).

Coherent words to follow when I am more coherent. Suffice it to say, a good time was had by all.

If we met this weekend, "hi!". If we missed each other, :( I saw many other lovely fiber folks but was too busy enjoying myself to take the proper pictures.

I'm off to do laundry and get myself organized, even though all I want to do is knit all the things (starting with some long arm warmers - it was cold!). Hope you had a lovely weekend, too :)

Thanks for stopping by, and happy knitting!
xoxo,
Tone Poem Photo: reflected foliage and blurry coffee mug

So excited to be here at Building B!

Annie and I fussing over our handknits by a favorite tree
Cider donut stand in the background

Modeling - smize and show your footwear!

With Annie and her girls

I heart wool

I think this ram was flirting with me

So fun to meet Gaye of GGMadeIt in person (and all the other knitters/periscopers/bloggers/podcasters/wool lovers)!

View of the posing tree from the other side with delicious lamb barley soup

How cool is this jacket? She made all the flowers then sewed them together.
Her beau (not pictured) had one flower pinned on his jacket as a boutoniere.

Captain meetup: Liz Gipson (weaver extraordinaire known as Yarnworker), Lisa Check of Flying Goat Farm (that's her booth of rainbow-organized gorgeousness), Lisa Barnes (LMB Designs). Thanks, Tara, for bringing us together!

OMG! That's my Sotherton as a sample in the Spirit Trail Fiberworks booth
My talented test knitter, Jennifer, told me she'd spotted it.

Frost on the windshield - glad I packed mittens and a hat!

Saturday night's frost caused all the trees to start dropping their leaves like mad -
some parts of the smaller roads had thick carpets of leaves on them

Another Captain meetup in Lisa's booth, this time with Ariel Altaras

I'm sure this lady thought I was crazy going on about her Bohus hat
but she was kind enough to let me photograph it

Tough decisions in the Fiber Optic booth. I went with Vitamin C over Au Naturale,
since I found myself going crazy for yellow sweaters at the Fair this year

See those white things on my cape and hat? Snow. It was cold enough to wear my
Caught in the Rigging (again) over Sailor's Valentine, which is a crazy-warm sweater.

Meeting a pet bird. Like you do. This little one had fallen out of its nest and been rescued
by this lovely woman. She cuddled it and kept it the rest of the time in a cozy pouch. So sweet.

So lovely to meet yet another Captain, Corinna Ferguson of PicnicKnits,
and check out her wonderful all-season book, Warm Days, Cool Knits

This. I have to work up the right idea for Catskill Merino's Pure Indigo yarns - there were three different "strengths".
I was a little fried by this point so will have to visit them at the Union Square Farmer's Market some time.

14 October 2015

Rhinebeck? Rhinebeck. Rhinebeck!

It's that time of year - the last big fiber festival is this weekend up in Duchess County, New York! New York Sheep & Wool Festival is an annual get-together of fiber folks from the farmers who tend the lovely creatures giving us wool, alpaca, cashmere, mohair, etc. to the dyers and spinners who turn fiber into yarn to all of us fiber lovers, whether we "just" knit or crochet or weave or are designers and "industry" folk.

I wasn't able to go last year (due to some not-fun stuff) so am extra excited to get up there this year for cider donuts, turning leaves, staring at sheep, and trying to decide which yarn HAS to come home with me (um, all of it).

My plan is to drive up Saturday morning and do the Ravelry meetup at noon. I'll be at that meetup on Sunday, too, because it's so much fun to see all the knitters. The rest of the time I plan to visit the sheep, fondle the yarn, hang with my dear friend/former roomie, and hug all the people I don't see often enough. I'm also going to talk with a small group of knitters my friend is bringing up on Sunday morning.

If you will be there, I'd love to see you! I will try to do a Periscope broadcast or two, if Verizon puts out a decent signal. Otherwise, I'll take some videos and post them on YouTube.

Now to just decide what to wear to what someone on the Rhinebeck Ravelry forum called "Yarn Prom"! Here's what I'm thinking...

Saturday: Benwick

Hoping I will have finished my Benwick cardigan (working on the shoulder shaping now) to wear on Saturday. It should be cool and sunny according to my weather app, so a fitted, worsted-weight sweater seems like it will work. And once the sample is knitted up, I'll be able to publish my version of the pattern for you!

Hoping the me-sized Benwick will be ready for Saturday
This is the original from Jane Austen Knits 2013

Sunday: Caught in the Rigging

It's supposed to be chilly on Sunday, so something like Wavelette with Caught in the Rigging on top. "Layers" is always a good game plan for things like this. Plus, it will be fun to take Caught in the Rigging back to where she originated (I bought the yarn from Miss Babs in 2013). Wavelette is a fingering-weight pullover, which seems like it will give me the right amount of wool with some ventilation from the lace. Thistle Leaf Pullover is my other thought, though its shorter sleeves might leave me chilly, or maybe Bloc Pulli with those orange cuffs peeking out.

I'm thinking Caught in the Rigging cape for Sunday (high of 48F!)
I'll probably bring my red boots, too, since there's a chance of rain :)

Will I see you this weekend? Let me know in the comments or just say "hi!" on the Fairgrounds. I can hardly wait!!!

Thanks for stopping by, and happy knitting!
xoxo,

22 October 2013

A Day at Rhinebeck

Saturday I headed up north (Google took me through NJ after it got confused near the GW bridge, but it was scenic that way, too) to meet one of my BFFs and her family for a day of yarny goodness at the NYS Sheep & Wool Festival, known to the knitting cognoscenti as Rhinebeck. The drive was gorgeous, but I was alone in the car and couldn't safely photograph my passing. Suffice it to say that the sun was shining, the sky was blue, and the leaves were putting on a show.

But before I left, I had to decide which sweater to wear. Lots of knitter attendees create a new sweater to debut at Rhinebeck, but I didn't want to do that, since almost any new sweater of mine will also be a new design, and to have it ready to publish around Rhinebeck, I would have had to start in the spring. Maybe next year...
Which sweater will it be? #rhinebeck #gametimedecision
Rhinebeck sweater choices
Top (l to r): Sailor's Valentine, Wavelette, Mermaid's Cardigan
Bottom (l to r): An Aran for Anne, An Aran for Frederick, Bloc
Here I am getting ready to get in the car. Nick stayed back with the girls, so I could really focus on the wool fumes. Maybe next year the whole gang will be able to come up.
Getting ready to go #rhinebeck
Almost ready (with Isobel and Penelope)
The drive was smooth and uneventful, once I got over what Google Maps had done to my original plan (I have realized that reliance on technology is not helping me get used to driving around NYC; I just don't have a firm grasp on all the parkways and whatnot and how they connect). The only hitch was the last two miles to the fairgrounds, which took me half an hour to traverse. But I did get to snap a pic of the billboard as a result of the traffic.
Almost there (took 30min to go last 2mi)!
Billboard that I got to stare at for quite a while during the last half hour/two miles to the fairgrounds
I'm working on my selfies. Here is Upon the Spanish Main, which is being tested by some lovely Ravellers even as I type. Mine is in Jill Draper Makes Stuff's Splendour Sock Yarn in Glacier, which I bought at my first Rhinebeck two years ago.
At the fair
Happy to be here in my Upon the Spanish Main shawl
And the Rhinebeck sweater winner: Sailor's Valentine! I heard from friends all over with their choices, and what I loved was that there was no concensus. Maybe I should have done a fashion show throughout the day :)
Sailors valentine at #rhinebeck
Sailor's Valentine was the winner!

On the way to the Rav meetup
Walking to the Meetup
Yellow foliage
Foliage
Rav meetup 1
Rav meetup 1
Rav meetup 2
Rav meetup 2
Rav meetup 3
Rav meetup 3
Mohair goat
Angora (Mohair-producing) goat
Annie's Rhinebeck sweater
Annie bananarota in her Custom Fit Jackaroo
Waiting for some lamb
Everybody wants some lamb for lunch,
but the best was the sheep's milk ricotta filled cannoli - yum!
Annie and I went the whole day without buying yarn! Some booths were just crazy, and Annie was looking for some yarn specifically for a work-appropriate cardigan, whereas I had decided to just let the whole thing wash over me and see what inspiration came. Right near the end, we headed back to Harrisville's booth, which was full of woolly goodness, though nothing quite gelled for me yet. Then we went on to Cephalopod Yarns, which had been a madhouse when we'd passed through earlier. All was quieter. Quiet enough to discover this ombre set in grey. Love! Annie found her cardi yarn here, too.
Traveller
Grey ombre Traveller set from Cephalopod -
this stuff isn't even going into the stash; I'm swatching immediately!
On our way to the car we walked through Building 39, and this undyed merino glowed at me. The half-sweater sized hanks sealed the deal, and two of them came home with me. I think these are going to end up as a unicorn-inspired pullover.
Spinning Mill merino
Luscious undyed merino from the Spinning Mill
If that yarn doesn't look unicorn-y, I don't know what does.
Then we headed back to the house-without-tv with Max's BBQ in hand and listened to the Red Sox win on the radio (actually, we were so tired that we went to bed in the 6th, but they won all the same). Sunday's drive back along the Taconic was even more spectacular than the drive up.

See you again next year, Dutchess County!

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