Rhinebeck Review - aka New York State Sheep & Wool Festival

At long last, I had the opportunity to visit the famed New York State Sheep & Wool Festival (commonly referred to as "Rhinebeck" because of it's location), as the first part of our vacation this year.  

Having read endless raves and reviews of past years' shows, I had a pretty good idea of what to expect - barns full of magnificent yarn, fiber and knitting and spinning supplies, fleece and fiber-animal competitions, workshops, people, food, food and more food, and lots of fun. On every item, Rhinebeck fulfilled those expectations, but I had some reservations as well. 

We arrived about 30 minutes prior to the show opening on Saturday, and had plenty of good parking choices near a secondary gate. After sitting in the car knitting for a while, we purchased wristbands for entry - $17 for a two-day pass - and joined the growing queue.

 

The fairgrounds where the show is held are clean, beautifully landscaped and easy to navigate.

The autumn trees are lovely and there are food opportunities everywhere from the giant building full of food and wine vendors

to local 4-H kids raising funds, to fair-type food like cotton candy.

A fun part of the show for me was meeting up with my knitting friends Lynn, shown here in the Brooks Farm booth,

and Andrea, a workshop teacher at this year's event.

I kept a sharp eye on Ravelry badges, hoping to see names from my friends list, but was disappointed to not find any Rav friends. However, in the photo below are a few Ravelry designer faces (and backsides), including Ysolda Teague, Stephen West and others.

Muddy fields and parking lots, hard pavement and changing weather conditions mean comfortable shoes and layered clothing are a must.

Of course, knits were everywhere to be seen and a favorite part of the experience for me was admiring all the hard work displayed by thousands of knitters.

The only unpleasant part of the show for me was from about 12-2 PM on Saturday, when the buildings became so crowded that you were literally pushed along with a solid mass of people. Stopping to look or enter a booth was difficult, and I was concerned for mobility-challenged folks with walkers, and for  those pushing baby strollers.

Lines to have knitting books signed by the author were long, with one of the longest being to meet Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, aka the Yarn Harlot.

This photo was taken on Sunday when things were much calmer.

Of course for knitters, the fiber and yarn were the stars of the show and there was something there to tempt every taste. I especially loved selections from Briar Rose (always a favorite),

 
Spirit Trail Fiberworks, and The Sanguine Gryphon

It seems I'm also smitten with this skein of gray Miss Babs Yummy Sock yarn - what a surprise...

There are other interesting things to peruse in addition to fiber, like jewelry, baskets and farmer's market apples.

  
A pumpkin-carving expert displayed some creative items.

I saved the animals for Sunday so I could really take my time to enjoy interacting with them. A large part of the show is centered around fiber animal competitions and there were plentiful opportunities to touch the animals,

learn about them,

 
watch them being prepared for showing,

and competing with their handlers.

 
This little goat was so friendly and sweet.

My husband and I had a wonderful time and I look forward to visiting again sometime. Although it was a terrific show, for me it is not a yearly 'must-do' event, as there are so many other great fiber events held around the US that I'd like to visit. But Rhinebeck is certainly one I will keep on my list.

Seasons of Knitting

Can it possibly be September already?  Wasn't it just New Year's Day?

I can't say I have kept up with my 2011 New Year's goals of monthly crocheting and weekly spinning (although I have done both more or less regularly this year).    

One New Year's goal, that I have accomplished, however, was to adapt and create a few knitting stitch patterns, in the sense that I have not seen these stitches published in this precise fashion anywhere yet. Of course as EZ said (sort of), is there really anything new in knitting?  I like her notion of "unventing."

The photo at the top of this post shows some of my work in a favorite swatching wool, Cascade 220.  The photo below, from my last post, shows a stack of swatches.

Of course, that's all I can show for now, the details are under wraps until the patterns are ready to be test knit and published.

This inspired some of my swatching. 

 
As did this.

Today, September 1st, marks the first day of meteorological autumn, and the signs of the season are already making an appearance.  

If you're in the Midwest, mark your calendars for a fun fall experience - A Wool Gathering, Sept. 17-18, in Yellow Springs, Ohio.

With the coming of fall I turn my thoughts to what to gift knit this year.  I plan to do a few knit/ crochet/ handspun items for deserving people (those that comprehend the amount of time and love a handmade gift requires), including home decor projects made from squares based on my Northwoods Coasters pattern for Interweave Knits Holiday Gifts 2011 issue.  More details on that pattern in an upcoming post.

I also have in mind some new designs that would make ideal gifts, so those'll be put together for publication soon I think.  It will be the holidays - and New Year's - before we know it!

Knitting On

Wow, what a couple of weeks it's been!  Between finalizing and releasing my new shawl pattern Sothia, planting trees in the yard to replace those that died in last year's drought, attending a fiber festival, prepping for conferences and my mom's birthday, and working out details on my next pattern, I'm about done in.  

To everyone who made Sothia Ravelry's "hottest" pattern for two days and have kept it pretty well up there ever since - whether by buying the pattern, commenting with so much enthusiasm, or test knitting the draft - I humbly offer my heartfelt thank you.

I don't get much time to indulge in reading blogs, but every few weeks or so, I like to click and drift from one to another, reading about other knitters' and designers' doings and projects.  It's one of those mindless pleasures that I need as a break from always thinking, planning, doing, etc. That is how I became familiar with one of my tester's knitting and designing.  

Diana, or Deenulya (her Russian nickname and Ravelry username) is a superb knitter, having learned from her grandmother as a child.  She also designs lovely knitwear herself, and has a blog where she shares updates on her knitting projects and life with her beautiful family.  

Diana did such a wonderful job on the Sothia test knit that I just had to share (with her permission of course!) a few photos of her modeling her finished shawlette.  

Sothia is a true, wide triangle with increases on both sides, creating a shallow shawlette silhouette that is lightweight but drapes nicely around the shoulders.  

Blocking the finished object with a horizontally-stretched top edge enhances this shape, bordered by a flounce of restrained ruffles. 

Thank you Diana for the wonderful job you did on your shawl, your incredible photos, and terrific input on the design. 

Memorial Day weekend my friend Lynn and I had a great time being escorted by my husband (with my dog in tow) to the Great Lakes Fiber Show in Wooster, Ohio.  

We found lots to enjoy including these jacket-wearing sheep being guarded by an adorable shepherd-in-training Great Pyrenees puppy.

Of course there was loads of fiber and yarn to interest us like Knitting Notions' fantastic hand-dyed assortment,

Ohio Valley Natural Fibers beautiful gray mohair/ wool blends,

and their merino/ dog hair blend (!!?? - dog of unknown breed),

Lynn is an angora nut and cannot resist it's silky allure.

Especially when there was SO much of it to consider, like this lovely selection from Angoraonline.com

 

My Pom was a chick magnet.

The little diva just basked in the love.

I've now progressed to knitting on my next project, a light summer top in Louet MerLin, the swatch is shown below.  

I'm also knitting something summer-y in Classic Elite Allegoro linen/ cotton blend, that yarn is shown in the photo at the top of this post.

I normally almost always lean towards rich or saturated colors, but lately have found myself working with more neutrals, although they mostly do not suit my coloring at all.  Perhaps it is the lure of warm summer evenings and soft breezes?

The Land of Enchantment

Well, we've finally arrived home from a trip to The Land of Enchantment.  Yes, that is one of the mottos of New Mexico.

I loved watching the dawn breaking over Sandia Peak.  In the middle ground can be seen a couple of tiny dots - those are hot air balloons lifting off for a morning flight.

My husband and I had such a wonderful visit and explored some of the major sights around Taos, Santa Fe and Albuquerque.  I have lots to show and tell about the Wool Festival at Taos, 

reviews of several awesome area knitting and spinning shops, new yarn and spinning fiber I discovered, and other adventures, in coming posts. 

First some knitting updates.  Of course, I packed way too much yarn for traveling.  I started 5 projects, and completed 4, so that's pretty good, but I hauled along enough yarn for ten!

I like to use vacation time to knit other people's patterns for a break from making up my own stuff and several were quite successful, one was less so, and another is still in the works, but looking good so far. 

The trip out went smoothly, but the trip home was delayed in Atlanta, and we did not roll into our own bed until after 2 AM.  

One project I worked on was a simple beret in a moss texture pattern, knit from some Nashua Creative Focus Worsted yarn I had in my stash.

Since I substituted yarns, I swatched and decided on US 5 needles for a firm ribbing, and US 8's for the body in seed stitch.  I mostly followed the pattern, but in my chosen yarn the hat was coming out a bit short, so I frogged back to the decrease section and began adding an additional plain, 2-round pattern repeat in between every decrease round repeat.  This modification made a nicely super-slouchy hat, but might not be to everyone's liking. 
 

I'll show photos of all my current FO's as soon as time permits, and notes on the projects, and my next pattern should be  posted here ASAP, hopefully in the next few days!