Sunday, October 17, 2010

FINALLY Made it to Rhinebeck!!

After many years of wishing I could go to Rhinebeck, I got to go today! It was a bittersweet drive up the NY Thruway, as I lost my dear friend yesterday. Rhinebeck became my therapy, and it was wonderful to have the whole day there alone to revel in all of the gorgeous hand-knit items everyone wore, to feel, smell and buy yarn, and to enjoy the gorgeous fall day with foliage at its peak.
I wore my Einstein Coat for warmth, and debuted my February Lady Sweater, newly finished and for which I got many compliments (and saw MANY others, in all shapes, sizes, yarn, and colors!). Seeing everyones amazing knitted finery at this show is truly inspirational. You just don't see all of these knitted masterpieces, casually worn with jeans and T's, in your daily life.
I left NJ at 7 am and couldn't believe the gorgeous sky as I entered the Hudson Valley--dramatic clouds and flaming trees! I got right to work with the vendors and visited some of my old favorites (like Brooks Farm) and some new friends--like Autumn House Farm. I even went to the Ravelry meet-up and met Jess! Very exciting.
Here's what I bought (pictures in collage form at right):
--One beautiful shawl pin from Annie's Sweet Products
--5 skeins of Autumn House Farm Finnean's Rainbow, which I may use to make their "Finnean's Favorite Getaway Pullover" pattern, or maybe a shawl, or maybe a different sweater. This is really cool yarn!
--1 skein of Creatively Dyed Steele, in colorway Sharon. I really love this unique, handpainted yarn. Amazing colors! I'm thinking I'll try one of the shawls in Romi's "7 Small Shawls" e-book, which I purchased just before Rhinebeck. Right now, Celaeno is in the lead!
--2 skeins of Brooks Farm Solo Silk, right now queued to make the Hypotenuse Shawl (by Ann Hanson, whom I also spotted yesterday!!)
--4 skeins of Brooks Farm Solo, to make the Triple S Shawl pattern by Knitting Fairy that I fell in love with when I saw two samples at the Brooks Farm booth
OK, now I have to finish the pair of socks I'm currently knitting and then decide if I can keep my willpower and continue working through my queue, or cast on one of the Rhinebeck projects ASAP!

4 comments:

Kris said...

Your FLS is beautiful! Too bad I missed you to see it in person. Congrats on finishing it; you have inspired me to get back to my own. Sorry I missed you at Rhinebeck, and condolences on your friend.

urban muser said...

sorry to hear about your loss. it's good that you were able to get all that fiber therapy.

Sandra Singh said...

I'm glad you had a wonderful time at Rhinebeck and your Lady Feb is beautiful. I was sorry to hear about the loss of your friend.

L. said...

Kudos on making it to Rhinebeck, something I haven't been able to get to yet.
I like the yarns you bought and the pin....good picks!

So sorry about the loss of your friend. I know what that feels like, I'm sorry to say, since I lost my lifelong dearest friend in the 90's and I still miss her as much today as I did when I first heard.