Getting Fleeced

On a scale of 1 - 10, Rhinebeck was a 55. Where do I begin? The best part was being with my knitting and spinning buddies. Left to right from front row; Adrienne, Vanessa (in her amazing Firebirds), Hopealope. (Back row right to left) Stephanie, Anmiryam and Regan. Veni, Vidi, Vitaculture. We came we saw, we drank wine.

It rained when it didn't matter and the sun shone when it mattered. Rhinebeck is like a Mid Eastern bazaar or maybe it was just the camelids that made me think of this analogy. Here are a couple of cute little Alpaca just passing through. The chocolate brown one is darling. It was so much fun to wear the sweaters that actually made it to the FO pile and have people recognize what book or designer it came from.

The festival is made of many outdoor buildings which are often barns. Vendors set up their wares and let the games begin. We really enjoyed checking out the unusual rovings and yarns. Here is a great shot of Stephanie fondling some colourful yarn. Her Koigu sweater garnered many admiring comments and longing glances.




I'm pretty sure this was the booth belonging to "The Fold". Talk about a feeding frenzy - Socks that Rock continue to be a big draw and the inventory was depleted pretty much the first day. Chalk me up for one skein of "Olive Garden" colourway. I also got a pair of the new Sheila Ernst Pyrex glass circular needles in a bright cobalt blue colour. They're a different feel to knit with and I think with a silky yarn they'd be perfect.

The other highlight for me was actually getting to try out both a Robin Wheel and an Wee Robin Wheel. I put a deposit on the Wee Robin wheel last March without having tried it. I figured if I tried one at Rhinebeck and I didn't like it I could cancel - no harm done. If I did like it though, then I'm through 6 months of the wait. The vendor was there and I did try one - I truly LOVED it. I'm so happy to have this reassurance. Thanks to Vanessa for enabling me on this one. Here she is spinning on the Wee Robin (she's ahead of me on the list). By the way, that's her Marina by VY Yarns that she's wearing. Seeing all of Vanessa's Starmore creations was another high point of the trip.

I did buy some Mostly Merino in a lovely Periwinkle colour to make Ariann by Bonne Marie. I had to guesstimate the amount needed when I bought my 9 skeins and after checking Hope's handy laptop at the hotel, decided to go back and get an insurance skein. DRAT - Murphy's Law. All the periwinkle was gonzo. I guess I'll just have to live on the edge. I think I have enough but it'll be close.

The objective of the trip was to beef up my roving stash and I was successful in doing so. Here's a shot of all the lovely colours. It's now packed away in a box so, I'll need this to remind myself of what's tucked away.

I tried to get a variety of breeds to try the different fibres. I got Blue Faced Leicester (Biffle as Hope calls it), Polworth and Corriedale from Grafton Fibers. It'll be interesting to see the difference in how the various breeds spin up.

I also nabbed some bright red merino made by Ashland Bay. This was to christen my lace weight Golding spindle. I got the tsunami design in purple heart. What is that next to it????

It's a long discontinued Lollipop spindle in the ladybug design. I have a sentimental attachment to ladybugs. My late mother collected them so I continue the tradition. Hope has let me be its Foster Mom for a while. If anyone knows where a used ladybug lolli is being sold, let me know.
Doesn't it look nice with the red roving?

It's been a busy stressful week but every now and again I picture the brilliant leaves and all the wonderful yarn and fibre. Better than Prozac baby!