We (boyfriend and I) flew down to NYC on Friday, and took the train out to Rhinebeck with Ysolda. The house we rented this year with friends was amazing! So huge, with a great kitchen, awesome view and comfy couches. Saturday morning was a bit of a rush as we had to get the Ravelry buttons to the meetup and were a bit stuck in traffic. It all worked out though, and I had a lovely day checking out all the barns and navigating through the crowds. I picked up a bowl from jennie the potter, and a fun sheepy mug.

And I saw kits for my Sweet Bunting Cardi! Super cute.

Sunday morning we decided to go to the farmer’s market – this is the sixth time I’ve been to Rhinebeck and I’d pretty much never been able to explore the town! The farmer’s market is held in a parking lot, and is quite small but really cool.

Managed to actually get a good coffee in town (as opposed to the fairgrounds coffee) and had a nice walk to town. The day was pretty long, and a bit warmer than Saturday – definitely calmer as well, in terms of the crowds. Sunday night was spent relaxing, eating, and doing a swap with my housemates! I actually didn’t buy any yarn at Rhinebeck this year, but I did come home with some from Wild Apple Hill Farms, thanks to Sarah!

Monday we took the train back to NYC, and spent the rest of the week walking, seeing the sights, and eating ever so many delicious foods. It was the type of vacation where you need a rest afterwards!

I’ve made pretty good progress on that second Rhinebeck sweater, though -

I’m past the yoke divide and I’m about halfway through the waist decreases. I’m pretty happy with how it’s turning out – the yarn is so pretty, and it knits up fast because it’s aran weight! The other one, well, it’s still quite a blob. We shall see how much knitting I get in the next 2 weeks…there’s so much else I have to do!

I’m also working on a pair of Rhinebeck socks, not for me but for my fella – they’re out of Dream in Color Classy, so they’ll be cozy and warm for wearing while hanging out at the house we’re renting.

They’re really, really long too. How long?

13″ from the top of the cuff to the bottom of the heel flap. It’s a good thing these are worsted weight, they’re still going pretty quickly! I might need to use a bit of a second skein of yarn though, because they’re so long.

Also! I’m having a destash sale to make room for Rhinebeck purchases, so if you’re in the market for some awesome yarn, take a look and email me at cosmicpluto at cosmicpluto dot com if you’re interested in taking anything off my hands.

It’s fingering weight, but I’m up to the yoke and pretty optimistic about it!

And then there’s this swatch, which I just knit today. I bought the yarn at my very first Rhinebeck, and it would be awfully nice to wear a sweater out of it this year (provided it’s cool enough).

I guess I have a lot of work to do, though.

That said I did pick up a few pretty things! I had some friends to shop for too, so that gave me a bit of a mission.

Cormo! These skeins are from Buckwheat Bridge Angoras, one skein of DK weight in natural and three little laceweight skeins in the mustardy-pumpkiny-golden yellow I love so much these days. Enough for a little shawlette, I think!

More Cormo! These are 50% cormo, 50% yak down from the ever so lovely Bijou Basin Ranch. I love their yarns so much, and now they’re getting stuff dyed by Lorna’s Laces! I think these are destined for a couple of smaller projects, maybe some mittens and a hat.

This one was just for the squish. A couple skeins of merino from Greenwood Hill Farm – they have some of the nicest merino I’ve ever felt! Maybe a little something cabley for these.

I had actually wanted to buy some dyed fibre this year but just didn’t quite get to it. I did, however, buy a bit of cashmere fibre! Mmmmmm.

I can’t wait to spin this up – and I’m already plotting how to get more shopping time next year!

And now for some photos from my vacation. I haven’t uploaded the photos from Rhinebeck yet, so this is part 1: Boston and Cambridge (both before and after Rhinebeck weekend!).

I met up randomly with Danielle at Porter Square – I had my hair cut at a salon there and had a wee bit of time, so we used Twitter to find each other! Super fun.

Explored the Frank Gehry building at MIT.

Ate pizza at Regina in the North End…

…and got cannoli too! NOM.

Ate about half a HUGE portion at Mike’s Diner (notice the food theme here? This is what I mainly take photos of, ha.)

Did a bit of Boston exploring and photo-taking with Ysolda.

Went to a great David Berkeley show at Club Passim in Harvard Square! I hadn’t heard his music before but it was great.

I had a really great time. Re-entry to reality is gonna be hard, but I’m not quite there yet since Ysolda is here in Toronto visiting with me for a bit!