Going to Rhinebeck! STAG!!

Most fiber enthusiasts will know why this is exciting to announce. The fiber festival in Rhinebeck, NY is a very large, well known, and well talked-about event. Most of the fibery podcasts I listen to and watch make reference to it and sometimes attend, so I think it might actually be a place where I can do some "knitting celebrity" spotting. So this all came about rather quickly and without much planning (my going, that is - the festival itself probably had lots of planning).

I was recently browsing the Rhinebeck website after going on a podcast binge, and I happened to notice that the festival takes place on my weekend off. At first I brushed the idea aside. I can't go to New York. I have nobody to go with! It's New York and that's not where I am!! CRAZY! The idea fermented however, and eventually I convinced myself that I should go. At first, the idea of going alone really bothered me and gave me second thoughts, but some other Ravellers gave me courage and I am 33 years old, after all. I don't know why, but I feel as though 33 is the age at which a person really ought to be able to do anything she sets her mind to. In the past several years I've bought a house by myself, moved to Calgary by myself, then moved back, and I resuscitate small people for a living. That has very little to do with solo travel, but I feel that if I'm incapable of going to New York, then I'm hardly capable enough to take care of the critically ill. Maybe that's too much of a leap, but still... I can do this! Right???

Well, I'm going to. My plane ticket is booked (I fly out a few hours after a night shift - Yikes!), my rental car is booked, my hotel is booked, my festival ticket is bought, printed, and sitting on my coffee table, and my excitement level is HIGH!

I'll be getting in rather late on Friday, so I won't get to check out the grounds at all on Friday, but I'm staying a short drive away (in Poughkeepsie) so I can be there bright and early in the morning on Saturday. There are a few interesting demos on Saturday - including a talk about cashmere goats and later a cashmere spinning demonstration, so I'll need to see those. The vendor list is huge, so that's also going to take a long time to fully explore. Plus I need to eat at some point, so Saturday looks pretty full. Is it perverse that I'll be keeping my eyes peeled for interesting lamb dishes? It probably is, but oh-my-God... Sunday has a bit more structure to it, which I hope won't feel too confining. I would love to wander about and take it all in, but there are a couple of classes that really interest me. There's one about spinning cotton, which I've tried without success to do before, so instruction would be nice. And there's another (related) class about spindle long draw, which is really neat since it's something I've been trying to get the feel of recently.

From browsing the Ravelry boards, I get the impression that there are a lot of other women going stag, so I don't feel quite as awkward about that now. These people are, after all, members of my tribe :) Apparently, since most of the hotels are filled with Rhinebeck attendees, the common rooms tend to be full of us in the evenings, so it's a great place to go and relax and make super-cool knitting connections.

The biggest fear-inducer now is just the drive. I'm landing in Laguardia, so I'm going to need to pick up my rental there and then drive out of New York City on a Friday night, THEN brave the interstate in the dark. I live in Prince Edward Island. I have driven here, and in New Brunswick, and (with the exception of a few hours across the prairies) NOWHERE ELSE. But, as I mentioned before, I am a reasonable intelligent 33 year old woman. I have traveled. I have driven cars. Plus I'm pretty sure that in the U.S. they drive on the right-hand side of the road, most signage will be in English, and red means "stop". I can do this. Plus I paid extra for a GPS. As an extra bonus, I just (moments prior to publishing this post) SPOKE WITH THE SAVVY GIRLS regarding this very topic. I was a bit more nervous after speaking about it with the family, but Deborah and Melanie really put my mind at ease. Unfortunately I think I may have gone a bit "fan girl" on the phone, but they were pretty cool about it :) I'll write more about that another time because I feel like I need to stress how cool it was of them to call me in Canada from New York to help put my mind at ease with regards to driving in NY. 

Weeks in Review

It hasn't been that long since my last post, and the main thing that happened was my Rhinebeck planning, so there isn't a whole lot to share here.

My brother and his family were here visiting from Seattle and that was great fun. His kids are 3 years and 18 months, so they're at the super-cute learning machines stage. And MAN are they busy! I was off work almost the whole time they were here and it was the most exhausting vacation I've ever taken. Very much worth it, though. Plus they stayed with my parents so I had some downtime at night. I think they had a pretty good trip. My sister-in-law is from Seattle, so it's nice for her to get to do some touristy stuff when she's here. They went to the beach a couple of times; visited Victoria by The Sea; had lobster at New Glasgow Lobster Suppers; and I got to spend some fun time getting to know the babies :)

I haven't been doing much gardening, but we've had a few frost warnings at night, so it will soon be time to clean up the garden for the season and plant fall bulbs. It makes me feel a bit less sad about summer ending.

I've done a bit of dyeing this week, but I'm going to save that discussion for another time. There was more to share than I realized!

F.O.s

Nothing is finished! BUT I did get 2 of 7 skeins of merino done. Does that count as an F.O.? They're about 100 grams each and a true 3-ply. They turned out to be more of a DK than a sport weight at 14 W.P.I., which is a big relief since I'm seeing a lot more sweater patterns I like in DK. I haven't soaked them yet either, so I imagine when they're all done they'll fluff up to a pretty solid DK. I'm not going to measure yardage until all the skeins are finished and dyed.

W.I.P.s

Is it cheating to consider my merino both a W.I.P. and an F.O.? I consider it to be both. I'm still picking away at my fuchsia superwash merino too.

I haven't done much with Jeff's sweater, but I look forward to working a couple of rounds tonight :)
And - since I didn't have anything portable to take to knitting group on Sunday, I cast-on a hat for Jeff. He's still wearing the hat I knit him 4-5 years ago and it's looking a bit tired, so I think he needs an upgrade. I'm knitting him a Jacques-Cousteau out of my Hot Fuzz handspun. It's a pretty rustic single ply that's more thick-and-thin than is optimal, but it's one of my first usable handspun projects and it has a special place in my heart.

Show and Tell

It's been getting frosty early this year and I've already had a couple of fires in the wood stove.
This is some red that I got from my Mum for my birthday in one of the glasses Jeff's parents gave me.
It was a happy, warm, toast evening- spinning by the fire :)

This is my first of two finished skeins of yarn from the 2 pounds of roving I got from Belfast Mini Mills.
I've got a long way to go, but the merino is so soft I think I could spin it forever.
It's good that I feel that way, because that's how it's shaping up. 

This is the somewhat scratchy hat I started for Jeff.
It should be warm and rugged. He's going to know he's wearing wool!

That's all for now!