cosmicpluto knits!

rhinebeck wrap-up, vol. 1

Well. What’s there to say about Rhinebeck that hasn’t been said already – great weather, cute sheep, lots of people, lots of yummy yarn and fibre, etc. etc. I really needed the weekend away following a pretty shitty week (breakup), and my buds Jaya and rachel m. were just the ticket (along with some retail therapy).

They’s so cute!

So, my Rhinebeck story – rachel had a wedding to go to on Friday afternoon, so I took the train to St. Catherines and she picked me up there (after some getting lost trying to find the station). We hit the border (and a very surly border guard) around nine pm, then had the longest drive ever into oblivion, in the rain – we got to Jaya’s in Catskill at three am!

Up at a reasonable hour on Saturday, we left at nine and headed for the fairgrounds. It was nice to get in before the crowds really started building, although that didn’t last long! I was a bit overwhelmed at first, and it took a bit for me to hit my buying stride…heh.

I was glad I brought 2 big shopping totes with me so that I didn’t really have to get any plastic bags! I was also glad to see other people toting around reuseable totes rather than getting shopping bags everywhere (although there were lots of people doing that, too). More than one person asked me where I got my bag – we’ve got them at lettuce knit, and yes, we do mail order!

I did most of my buying on Saturday amidst the crazy crowds, and we headed out pretty early, around four thirty or so? Went back to jaya’s comfy, comfy home and had pizza in before heading out the Ravelry party. Sadly, saturday was a day of camnesia for me and I didn’t really take any photos at all that day. The party was nuts, but it was nice to say hi to a few more people that I’d missed at the fairgrounds.

Sunday we slept in until almost ten, and jaya made fabulous waffles with strawberries (and sausage for the meat-eaters) and then we headed out. We caught the tail end of the noon meetup, and I remembered to take photos this time…

Mama rav herself!

Sunday was a nice low-key day – the crowds were way smaller and everything was quite a bit more chill. We hit the food building and bought stuff (olive oil, wine, cheese, mustard for me), sampled a lot, and then wandered around some more, including checking out the author’s tent. We left around four, and that was Rhinebeck!

Jacquie and Stephannie leaning oooooover, while Adrian checks out something afar.

Monday jaya and her hubby both had morning things to do, so rachel and I let ourselves out – the drive home was much, much, MUCH more pleasant than the drive down, complete with nice and quick border crossing. The weekend was awesome, of course, but I’m pretty glad to be home (I’m sure my bank account is, too).

Next time…the haul. Yes, it was quite a haul indeed.

rhinebeck sweaters?

Yes, there shall perhaps be two!

Not that exciting as far as pattern goes, but the yarn sure is pretty! This one’s the Knitting Pure and Simple Neckdown Wrap, in Dream in Color (“dusky aurora”). I think I started this one about two weeks ago, and have mostly been working on it while in the store. I’m actually farther along now – the body is done, one sleeve is done, and the other sleeve is halfway there. So that leaves half a sleeve, the neckband, and ties to go.

Then there’s the Noro Silk Garden wrappy sweater (yes, I *am* into wrap sweaters this year!)…

Just half a sleeve and a good blocking to go. Go go go!

yarn break!

We interrupt your regularly scheduled wip/rip for this important update…don’t worry, I’ve got lots more on that front! I even took some more photos today to share with y’all. But I thought it was time for a wee break.

Rhinebeck is in two weeks, and I’ve been madly trying to spin up some of the stuff I bought last year before I go buy more stuff! I’m actually doing pretty well, and a few different yarns have come off the bobbin recently…

This firey red/orange pink one is 100% bombyx silk, not quite as searing as it appears in the photo (although it is certainly vivd). Checks in at 178 yards of worsted/chunky – it’s pretty uneven.

More bombyx silk – pink/purple/gold, 160 yards of worsted/chunky. I was feeling a little impatient when I spun these skeins, hence the thickness and inconsistency! I was originally going to ply the two colours together, but at the last moment decided to just ply them on themselves – a good idea in terms of the colours, but difficult in execution. I had to wind off the two bobbins (one each of the two colours) into balls, then split the balls by weight since plying from both ends of a centre pull ball is a Very Bad Idea. As it was, it was pretty tricky to ply. But they both turned out okay.

Now, this one I’m particularly proud of (the photo too). It’s four ounces of merino/silk, I think it was 50/50, clocking in at 660 yards of a fine fingering weight or heavy laceweight. Enough to do a shawl! And it’s pretty consistent as well. Did I mention soft?

All these fibres were purchased from the Carolina Homespun booth at Rhinebeck last year – I dropped a lot of money at that booth! There’s another two ounces of tussah silk that I’ve been working on from them, spun much finer. I’ve been spinning up some batts and trying to sit down at the wheel for at least a few minutes each day (in all my abundant leisure time!). I’m definitely seeing the difference from more practice these days!

goodies

Preface: I was pretty darn good on my pre-Rhinebeck yarn/fibre diet. I can’t really remember the last time I bought yarn before the KW fair, but it was at least a month before. And then there was KW, and nothing between that and Rhinebeck. So….I may have gone a little crazynuts.

There was so much to look at! I felt really rushed (and poor). I wanted to be able to look at everything closely, and doesn’t everyone just want to buy everything they like? At any rate I ended up with a lot of great stuff (but there was more I missed that I wanted! ah, well, that’s what internet shopping is for I suppose). Onward!

Two skeins of super soft merino/alpaca from Still River Mill. They also had CVM yarn that was awesome! I wanted to buy more but they didn’t take credit cards. Each skein is 200 yards, so it’s enough to do something nice with.

Five skeins from Briar Rose. Chunky weight, wool and flax. Awesome colours and flecks! I’m thinking a fast and easy top-down pulli.

“Hawthorn” is the name of the sheep! This Romney was a steal, and I bought a sweater’s worth. One bag is different, a bit darker, because there weren’t three bags of Hawthorn – I’m going to do a three ply with one of the plies being darker.

From Spirit Trail, 2 oz of the softest Polwarth/Alpaca/Angora, some merino/tencel, and some silk/camel. Yum.

From Carolina Homespun, 2 x bombyx silk, the blue/gren is tussh, and the skein on the right is merino/tussah. The braid on the left is merino/silk from a vendor in building 22 called Abi’s Web.

Oooh, shiny.

Batts from Grafton.

I also bought (but didn’t take a photo of, for some reason) some red “merino multi” and a Blue Moon sheep 2 shoe kit from The Fold.

And a jar of awesome champagne-honey mustard, but it has gotten lost! I remember having it at the hotel and packing it into one of my fibre bags, but it’s gone AWOL. No one else from the car has it so…I guess I’m outta luck. I’m lucky it wasn’t a more expensive item!

rhinebeck in photos

Can’t talk. Too busy with schoolwork. : (

I wish I’d taken more (well, I do have more than are here, but not so interesting). Haul to come, a little later today!