Rhinebeck Part Two

I like to go to Rhinebeck with wide-open eyes. There are possibilities around every corner, and even though I'm sure I missed seeing or touching something great that I would have brought home with me, I'm so happy with what did find its way into the back of the car. I had a short list of a few things I needed (spinning wheel oil) and some things I wanted (qiviuk and lavender sachets), but the rest was left up to my intuition.

These are the fibers I found:

• The top one is natural-dyed Coopworth roving from Botanical Shades. I've already begun spinning it; it's not super-soft, but the colors make me feel like I'm diving into a flower garden.
  
• On the left is some "Nasturtiums" roving, which is 45% kid mohair, 45% wool, and 10% silk, from Steam Valley Fiber Farm. Again, the flowers; this looks just like nasturtiums, and it's very soft.
  
• On the right is a beautiful batt of dyed Moorit wool and kid mohair from Hidden Spring Farm. If I have any regrets about the weekend it's that I didn't purchase all three bags of this; in person, it's a stunning deep raspberry red.

These were my first purchases of the day on Saturday. They are beautiful sachets -- dupioni silk, hand-embroidered, and filled with lavender -- made by Susan Borger. In addition to sachets, Susan makes the most beautiful wool-embroidered buttons I've ever seen. Her Etsy shop Lavender Trifles will be up and running soon.


I can't go to Rhinebeck without getting a couple of skeins of Morehouse Farm yarn. This is 3-Strand Merino in Fern Glen.


Another booth I can't pass by is Brooks Farm. This is Solo, their newest wool yarn. It's a soft but sturdy singles, and each skein has 400 yards. Three of them ought to be enough for something, I think.


This little ball of yarn, all 1 ounce and 218 yards of it, just might be the most precious yarn or fiber I've ever had. It comes from Windy Valley Muskox. All it needs now is the right little lace scarf pattern. I decided that I craved it, and that I would need just one ball to satisfy the craving. Done.

I don't have any photos of the beautiful yarn and fiber that Judy chose -- Brooks Farm Four Play in a deep scarlet, some Morehouse like mine only in Autumn shades that go with the scarlet, a bag of wool and mohair fiber in a rich rusty orange blend. She also brought home a special gift for herself, one that she has been contemplating for several years -- a felted vessel by Heather Kerner of SpiralWorks.

The R's dove in, too. PhotoStylist R chose yarn from Spirit Trail and Brooks Farm, and SockModel R sought and found needle felting supplies, fiber and a great kit to share with her sister at Black Sheep Designs.

We had a grand time, even though the crowds made me slightly cranky. We came home with so much to inspire and delight us that we're planning a fibery Sunday in a week or so. We want to get together to spin and knit and felt, to keep this momentum going.

I'm so happy that for the four of us Rhinebeck hasn't become a mad frenzy of acquisition and burnout and stress. We love our traditions, our time together, and the re-energized creativity that it fills us with. We have some grand plans, some little ideas, and a few germinating desires for new or better skills to keep us going until next October!

Rhinebeck 2007

We're back from Rhinebeck, still dazed and slightly worn out by the trip, but we had a wonderful time. Judy, the Amazing R's, and I left home on Friday afternoon in That Rain, which had slowed to a drizzle by the time we arrived at our motel.

We have Rhinebeck Traditions -- very important rituals -- that we vary only by consensus. This year we wanted to arrive in time to have dinner at the Eveready Diner. It was loud with a capital-L. We tried, but next year we're going to bring sandwiches from home and spend Friday night in our room, knitting and spinning and needle felting (the new new thing).

It was a beautiful Saturday morning, as seen from our motel room.

We got to the festival at around 10:00, and stopped at the Spirit Trail Fiberworks booth first. We hugged Martha, Jen, Anj, and Shelia, met Amy, and ran into Kathy. Then we went out and shopped and looked and wandered and looked some more.


We saw sheep, of course. Later in the afternoon we saw Clara, and the Remarkable R's got to meet her and show her their Hedgerows. Judy had her sign The Book, too.

The festival was crowded with a capital-C. In our book, it's not much fun to shuffle through hot barns filled with careening knitters and spinners, all of whom seem to be carrying or wearing incredibly large bags filled with Stuff that invariably whaps you as they turn, or that you can't help but run into as they stop dead in the middle of the aisle to gawk or greet or whatever it is knitters and spinners do when in the wild.

I wished there could have been a little traffic control, or common sense, or something. Besides, I'm pretty short; so if you are a tall person, and you are in the middle of a crowded booth, chatting away with your hands on your hips, oblivious to all around you, I have to worry about losing an eye. Common sense, knitters.

Back out in the open (which was by far the safest place to be) we ran into Kay and Ann, and there might have been a slightly embarrassing deep fried pickle incident, but that's all I have to say about that. The maple sugar cotton candy made up for it.

You've heard by now that it was hot with a capital-H, but it was also quite a beautiful weekend. After days of weird and rainy weather, it was wonderful to be out in the sunshine. I never seemed to manage to drink enough water, though. I was parched with a capital-P.

This trio is most likely the most blogged-about attraction of the weekend.

We dined at the Eveready not once, not twice, but three times. We think we overdid it. On Sunday, back at the festival, we made return visits to all the booths we meant to take a closer look at, made a few purchases we missed the day before, and gave farewell hugs to all our friends. I finally managed to meet up with Sandy, which was a treat and a smile and a Mission: Accomplished. We ran into Sandy and Norma and Claudia on the way out, too -- another treat.

We had a blast, but by Sunday afternoon even the yarn was looking forward to going home. Next year: sandwiches on Friday night, more knitting, better pictures, dinner at Gigi Trattoria on Saturday (oh heavens, that was good), and a better hydration plan.

Tomorrow I'll trot out the purchases. There weren't many, and I am in love with every one.

Fidgety blathering

I don't even know where to begin. I don't have anything monumental to share, and nothing is urgent or difficult or strange, or at least no more so than usual. But I haven't had time to post, and I can't figure out how that happened. Could it be that I am busy?

I tell everyone that this is the quiet time of year at work. We're in between summer and the holidays, so there aren't many people around, and those who are here seem quieter and less ... insistent.

This hasn't turned out to be a quiet time for me, though. I have so many things to get to that had to be abandoned during the summer that it may as well be summer. I don't have the desire to put in the kind of hours I do in the summer, though, so at this slower (but healthier) pace the work seems to take forever.

It's a good thing that Rhinebeck is just a few days away, then! I need a break. More than two and a half days would be nice, but I'll take these for now. Judy and the Remarkable R's and I are planning to load up and head out on Friday afternoon, the minute the girls' school lets out.

We're going to rumble up the island, and cross those bridges, and roar into the Eveready Diner parking lot in time to grab dinner before we check in at the motel. We're going to spend the drive in fidgety anticipation of all we'll see and do (and eat, I guess) all weekend.


We'll hope to run into Ms. Clara, whose new book is hitting the shelves on Tuesday. The Knitter's Book of Yarn is so amazing that the minute I got my preview copy the other day, I wrote an embarrassing post on KR. I almost wish I'd waited.

Part of my daily job is talking about books, and publishers want me to talk about them, and to that end they send me copies so I can read them, and then they hope that I'll gush and praise and ... sell books. This is a little different for me, since I know Clara and I'm excited for her, and KR is like a big room full of my friends.

I might have gushed and praised a little prematurely, since only a handful of people will get to have a copy before Tuesday. It might have been a little like being told you can have a treat, but it's locked in the cabinet and only a few have the key, but oh yes, the treat is in there all right, and it's a doozy, too bad you can't see how great it is yet. That doesn't seem fair.

This book will have been worth the wait, I promise.


There has been lots of knitting going on. I took this picture of a slightly damp blue Hedgerow sock so you can see what happens when you knit the pattern on smaller needles. Yes, the sock really is smaller, just as I predicted. I used 2.25mm needles for the leg, and 2.0mm needles for the heel flap and foot.

PhotoStylist R has very narrow feet, so she's getting this pair. SockModel R has regular feet, so the originals fit her perfectly. I also decided to go with a longer leg and a regular shaped toe on the blue pair, because I think they'll fit their intended feet better. See? You can do whatever you need to do with a sock pattern to make it fit or feel better, or suit your knitting style. That's the beauty of knitting.

I finished the Ripple baby blanket and gave it to my friend at work. She loved it, and I was very pleased with how it turned out. But did I take a final picture? No, that would have been sensible!

My diagonal ribbed scarf is off the needles, too. Gee, it only took a year! It was my carry-around knitting most of the time. I'll post a photo after it's washed and blocked. I liked working with the Brooks Farm Acero yarn, which I got at Rhinebeck last year.

I have a confession. I've lured a knitter over to the other side. I drove Rho up the island today, to Rumpelstiltskin Yarns in Sayville, where she purchased - on her own, without any poking or prodding - an Ashford Joy wheel. We took it right to her house and put everything together, and by the time I left she was on her way. I've been getting these sweet little emails since then - first she treadled for a while, then she made yarn, and then she ordered a couple of Patsy Zawistoski DVD's. I think we've got her, don't you?

Mmmm...Mitts

You know how it is when you need to knit just a little something? You search your patterns and your books, hoping to find the perfect combination -- yarn from your stash, and instant gratification. You want a surprise, of sorts, but what you really want to do is knit something clever and satisfying.

Presenting ... Maine Morning Mitts from Clara Parkes' brand new book, The Knitter's Book of Yarn!

Noro Silk Garden, Color 213
(left over from my Tilting Block scarf)
Less than one ball used
Needles: US 7 DPN's
Time to knit: in the blink of an eye

I was lucky enough to receive an advance copy a couple of months ago, and I've read it at least twice. I've had to be content with the grainy photograph reproductions, and whatever else an uncorrected proof contains (typos and such), but I've been having a blast.

I can't begin to offer a review, or any sort of unbiased opinion. I am totally biased. Completely, unabashedly, and sincerely. I'm already a huge fan of Clara and many of the designers she recruited to work on this book, and a new fan of all the designers I wasn't familiar with. And folks, Clara knows yarn. That's what this is all about, after all.

On Sunday morning, when I got that itch to knit a little something, I pulled out the yarn I'd spun a few weeks ago and cast on a new pair. Before long I was done, so I decided to start a matching scarf.

Crown Mountain Farms Corriedale Pencil Roving
2 ply, approx. worsted weight, Silver Fox colorway
Needles: US 7 DPN's
Time to knit: in a heartbeat

This pattern is quite clever, and very satisfying. I adore both pairs, and they'll be getting a lot of use this winter. I plan on working my way through the rest of the book, which is filled with clever and satisfying patterns. I can't wait to get my hands on a finished copy!

Every time I turn around these days, there's something else going on, something I need to do, or something I'm looking forward to doing. I spent last week returning to reality at work, and getting a little cold to spite myself. Mitt-knitting on Sunday was quite therapeutic, and now that this week has reached the halfway point I'm feeling better. I'm somewhat reorganized at work, and I might even be able to make it to Knitting Circle tomorrow.

On the horizon: Rhinebeck Weekend with Judy and the Fabulous R's -- it's a tradition. A quick visit with my mom, if I can swing it. The Knitter's Review Retreat. Before long, it will be Thanksgiving, and then Christmas! I'm not in a big hurry or anything, but is this year going by in a flash, or what?

Edit/P.S. Clara kindly gave me permission to show my mitts!