Rhinebeck - Day #2

The festival didn't open until 10 AM on Sunday. We arrived about 15 minutes after opening and there were already a lot of cars parked on the lawn. I was hoping that it would not be as crowded so we could check out the Spirit Trail booth which was mobbed on Saturday. Another bonus was that the weather was 10 plus degrees hotter than it had been on Saturday. No fingerless mitts or hat needed. As soon as we entered the gates there was a parade of alpacas and llamas. Luckily I was able to get some really good pictures.


This one had some serious long locks. I was kind of jealous.


My favorite part of the parade was the little ones. They were so cute!!!


Once the parade past we went back through all the barns/booths to see if there was anything that we absolutely had to have before we headed home. Of course there was and I was able to spend the rest of my money. I tried to buy things that I couldn't get on-line, at my LYS or items that were hard to find. Luckily the festival was not as crowded so we did get to go back through several of the booths that were really crowded the day before.

After all that shopping we decided that we better get some food and decided to try the chicken pot pie line. Just as we stepped in line one of the ladies selling the pies said that they had 50 left and that we probably wouldn't be able to get pies. They smelled to good to give up that easy so we decided to stay in line until the last pie was sold. Thankfully, we were able to get 4 pies with plenty left for those in line behind us.

Mmmmmmm!!! It was as good as it looks. With full bags and full bellies we decided to call it a day and head back home. What did I bring back with me you ask?

Earrings from Jennie the Potter. I love pottery of any kind. I took several pottery classes when I was in Art school. I think I need to buy the matching necklace too.


Bugga from Sanguine Gryphon. Andrea and I both fell in love with this color but there was no name on the tag. Andrea (andiRN) asked Gryphon what color this was because it did not have a name on it. She explained that it was one of the one off colors and asked Andrea if she wanted her to name it. Of course Andrea said yes and Gryphon named it Andi Bug after Andreas Ravelry name. I am so excited that I am one of the few to have the Andi Bug colorway.


More Sanguine Gryphon, Edios base in the Eleatic colorway. Such a pretty green!!!


Lace weight yarn in the Cove Creek colorway from Creatively Dyed. I'm planning on making the Featherweight Cardigan with this. I can't wait to cast on.


Shelridge Farm DKW wool for a hat and fingerless mitts.


Some beautiful roving from Gales' Art. It is Blueface Swirl in the color Moldy Pumpkin. I need lots of practice spinning before I'm ready for this.


A beautiful drop spindle from Journey Wheel. It's made of walnut and weighs 28grams/1oz.


Finally, something for the pup and his paws that usually crack in the winter.


I had a great time in New York at the Sheep and Wool Festival and would definitely go back again. Thanks, Tina, Andrea, Alison and Jessica for a fun trip.

Last, I will leave you with one of the hi-lights of my trip. We always talk about knitted shorts or pants in my knitting group. Well, in New York I did see someone wearing a pair of knitted shorts. Really I did it was at the Ravelry party at the Elk's Lodge and you can see them here. I think this is one of my new favorite blogs and I have to say that Steven worked those shorts. Now I just need to find those pants that I was knitting. ;o)

Rhinebeck - Day #1

I was lucky enough to go to New York Sheep & Wool Festival in Rhinebeck this year with a great group of friends Andrea, Tina, Jessica and Alison. I had no idea what to expect. I have been to fiber festivals in the past but none of this size or this far from home. We left early Friday morning because we had an 8 hour drive. The drive seemed to fly by because we were all so excited to get there. Tina and I managed to stay up the whole time chatting which was a good thing because Tina was driving. Andrea, Jessica and Alison were sleeping in the back and we have the pictures to prove it. Too bad they are on Tina's phone and not mine or I would show you.

We stayed at the Comfort Inn in Saguerties. We were a bit worried because it was suppose to be a two star hotel. Thankfully the rooms were nice and we didn't have bed bugs which was a bonus. Diner consisted of Subway and a glass of wine from plastic cups. We made sure to keep it classy. I think we all crashed by 10:30 or 11:00 PM on Friday. We wanted to get to bed so we could get an early start.

I guess I was the only crazy one that got up at 5:15 - 5:30. We were on the road by 8:00 AM so we could get to the festival nice and early. Our hotel was about 17 miles from the Fairgrounds so we didn't expect it to take too long. I had to take a picture of the sign with all the cute sheep.


The sign is a bit blurry but I think that is because Tina was driving 80 MPH trying to beat the crowds. Just kidding Tina!!! The sign says rain or shine and thankfully we didn't have any rain. We had strong winds in the early morning or at least while we were standing in line. I was dressed for the cool weather which was in the low to mid 50's. No one called me out for my Old Navy gloves or sweater. I even saw someone else wearing the same sweater in green so only she and I knew that we didn't knit our sweaters. Right?


The first thing that stood out to me about this festival was the number of people that attended and the diversity in the crowd. There were families, people of all ages and men in kilts. There were also no fashion rules about the number of hand knits you were allowed to wear at one time. There were lots of beautiful sweaters, hats and mittens worn by all ages.

Sanguine Gryphon was the first booth that we hit. Alison ran ahead of everyone taking out woman and children if they were in the way. Just kidding. It was hard to walk around and fondle the yarn because there were so many people trying to check out all their beautiful bases and colorways. We met Gryphon and Sarah in their lovely dresses. They are very nice and in my next Rhinebeck post I will show you the yarn that Gryphon named after my friend Andrea.


The Fold booth was also really packed because everyone was trying to score some Socks that Rock. The Spirit Trail and Brooks Farm booths were also really packed. We managed to walk through all the buildings including the ones with the animals. It was a bit overwhelming because there was so much to choose from but I did a good job not to spending all my money the first day.



By the end of the day we were all really tired. I could barely feel my legs so we decided to get some Artichokes French because all the Fried Artichokes were sold out and so were the Chicken Pot Pies. The artichokes were delicious!!! I'm glad that we all decided to eat them so all of us smelled like garlic. Hopefully we didn't have offensive garlic breath when we attended the Ravelry party that night.


In the background you can see a little bit of Alison's Mara Shawl that she finished on Friday. It turned out great and I am in love with the color she used. It was a good thing that she had the shawl because she was so excited to go that she forgot to bring a coat or sweater so she froze most of the day.

After the artichokes we decided to call it a day and head to the Ravelry party at the Elk's Lodge. We had to park at a school and wait for a bus to pick us up. We did our best to entertain ourselves but laughing is not suggested when you are cold and have to pee. I think we had to wait for 5 buses to come and go before we had our turn. When we finally got there I was just excited to see who we would see and meet.

Ysolda was there and she is absolutely adorable. Cirilia was also there, I think she was helping to guard all the items that were going to be raffled. She is even prettier in person, if that is possible.
Gudrun Johnson was there wearing her Moch Cardigan which I have in my queue and I totally need to cast on. Also one of our local celebrities Shannon Okey was there. She is a friend of a friend so I walked up t say hi to her. She was really nice and when she heard who our mutual friend was she gave me a big hug and a signed copy of her new book (The Knitgrrl Guide to Professional Knitwear Design). The party was good unfortunately none of us won any of the raffle prizes but we did get to see Jess, Casey, Mary-Heather and Sarah. I am so thankful that they created Ravelry. I have meet friends all over the world because of Ravelry.

We were home by 11:30 and in bed shortly after. Rhinebeck Day 2 and my purchases to follow.