Sunday, October 26, 2008

But Ma, all the bloggers are doing it...

A Rhinebeck update, that is!


Actually, I think it's more like "all the blogger have done it," 'cause I'm pretty late here with my Rhinebeck report. But I guess better late than never, so here's my official update, complete with some pictures (although not as many as I should have taken because I was stricken with camnesia). It's a whole week later and I'm still on a bit of a woolly high from the whole experience...


I left Long Island at the crack of dawn and met Punkin and her family at about 9:30ish at The Fold's booth. I wasn't going to buy anything from them because I didn't want to deal with the lines, but Punkin was already on line and I saw all those STR mill ends.



And thus began my trip down the rabbit hole.

After she made our purchases, we wandered around that first building. I decided that I needed some rules and a plan of attack, so here were my guidelines for the rest of the day:

  • Make notes of things that I'm interested in buying (vendors, yarns, prices, and locations) and then review my notes before my actual purchases begin, and
  • Don't buy anything at can generally be found at most yarn shops.

Punkin trying out a gorgeous Golding spinning wheel


So once we covered Building A and had an early lunch, I took off on my own to explore the fairgrounds...


The cutest miniature sheep!


...and start identifying purchases.


Merino/Bamboo/Nylon sock yarn Merino/Tencel sock yarn
Merino/Bamboo/Nylon and Merino/Tencel sock yarns from Ellen's Half Pint Farm


FlockSock Yarn from Holiday Yarns



Alpaca Blend sock yarn from Snowshoe Farm




Shelridge Farm Soft Touch Ultra Fingering weight yarn



Hebrides scarf kit from Autumn House Farm


Supersock from Creatively Dyed Yarn (Dianne was such a sweetheart!)

At the end of the day then I wound up revisiting The Fold and just had to have this...



Luscious Single Silk in Typhoon Tina from Blue Moon Fiber Arts


And then there were a few non-fiberous purchases...

DPN/Circular needle case from CrippenWorks


An irresistible sheep mug.

And finally, my biggest purchase--a Golding "Learn to Spin" kit!



Ooooooo...



There were several roving purchases, but those pictures didn't come out so great. I'll retake and show you those in a future post.

So how did I do sticking to my plan? Not bad really. Since I didn't hotel it as I had originally planned, I added that money to my budgeted amount and, ultimately, I only went about $35 over what I had planned to spend.

All in all, it was a wonderful day. The one big regret I did have was not seeing more people. I missed seeing a ton of people. I got wrapped up exploring the whole place and totally lost track of time--including the afternoon Ravelry meet up. Next year (if I get to go next year, that is) I'm gonna focus more on the people.

Friday, October 24, 2008

Eye Candy Friday -- Rhinebeck Foliage Edition

I think this was probably the most photographed maple tree at Rhinebeck last weekend...



Simply beautiful!

Coming soon--my Rhinebeck stash report...

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Look what I'm making...

...from a couple of my Rhinebeck toys.

It's pretty lumpy, but I think I'm getting the hang of it.

And I keep picking it up to play with it. Looks like the beginnings of a new obsession hobby, yes?

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Rhinebeck afterglow

Wow! What can I say? My first Rhinebeck was an amazing experience! I was there pretty much for the entire day on Saturday and I'm still processing everything I saw and did there. The animals, the vendors, the people--it was all wonderful. (Well, maybe not some of the crowding, but it was still pretty good.) I got to meet some fellow Ravelers as well as friends from home. I also missed a whole bunch of people that I thought I would see. (Carole? Jess? Lars? Where were you guys???)

I came up to Vermont after Rhinebeck to do some work on the house and now I'm getting ready to head back to reality Long Island. (I start two paralegal classes tonight.) I'll upload some pictures once I have a high speed internet connection instead of this here dial-up thing.


By the way--DSL service will be activated here at Moose Manor by November 1. Woo-hoo!!!

Friday, October 17, 2008

Eye Candy Friday -- Foliage Edition

Pictures from last weekend in southern Vermont...


Wow!


Thursday, October 16, 2008

Rhinebeck bound!

After having my plans cancelled at the last minute for what feels like an eternity the last 3 years, I am finally going to to Rhinebeck! Of course, this year's plans were not without a certain element of drama. I was supposed to be spending the whole weekend there with one of my paralegal classmates, but our wires got crossed and now I'm just going to be day tripping it on Saturday. But that's OK, because...

I'M STILL GOING TO RHINEBECK!!!


I will definitely be wearing my hand paint socks and maybe my 4-year-old green sweater if I can finish the turtleneck before Saturday morning. Sadly, there won't be enough time to block it, which would have brought out the true loveliness of the yarn. But that's OK, because...

I'M STILL GOING TO RHINEBECK!!!

I'm not sure what my plan of attack will be for the vendors. I'm planning to curtail my fiber spending this year due to that heating oil pre-buy, two vinyl replacement windows for the attic, and tuition for 2 classes that start Monday night but I've yet to register for (but tomorrow is payday). Can a get a group ka-ching?. But that's OK, because...

I'M STILL GOING TO RHINEBECK!!!


So leave me a comment if you're going to be at Rhinebeck on Saturday. I'll be hangin' with Punkin and my Sunday West Babylon Panera knitting/spinning group, and hopefully I'll see lots of my blog friends--and even meet some new ones. It's gonna be a great weekend, because...


WE'RE GOING TO RHINEBECK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Not much knitting...

... but there was some home decorating over the weekend.

Presenting the bathroom insulated roman shade (a.k.a. the Test Shade)....


...and the gigunda big ass insulated body sack staircase shade.


The staircase one still requires a bit of repositioning, but that's nothing compared to the construction of this giant shade (86").

Now I just have to get started on the shades for the other windows on the second floor--all 9 of them. YIKES!!!
Just one at a time...

Wednesday, October 08, 2008

Matchy, Matchy!

I'm soooooooooooo happy!!! It matches! It matches!



Lookie there!!!

I was really concerned about getting these stripes to match. Before I started the first sock, I measured out nine arm's lengths of pink yarn to the first white stripe (so scientific, yes?) and just hoped that I'd come somewhat close to matching it on the second sock. Well, I got it on the first try!!!

Boy, I'm so looking forward to wearing these!

Tuesday, October 07, 2008

10 Great/Awful Things About Television Today

I'll leave it to you to decide if it's great or awful...
  1. Project Runway

  2. Fox News

  3. Dancing with the Stars

  4. Geraldo Rivera

  5. The Weather Channel

  6. Flavor Flav

  7. Spongebob

  8. Everything Lohan

  9. Everything Ken Burns

  10. Those damn crawls at the bottom of the screen--especially when they contain typos!
    Oops--I guess I gave that one away!

Monday, October 06, 2008

Weekend updates

After all that traveling, I got to spend the last two weekends in a row on Long Island. What do I have to show for it?


  • A four-year old sweater is nearly completed. Just have to knit the neck and weave in thousands a whole bunch of ends.


  • The mate to this sock...



...has been started--and the striping pattern matches!


Feels much better--and blonder.

  • Placed an order at Lowes for two vinyl windows for the attic at Moose Manor. Had to be custom ordered because, of course, nothing in the house is straight or level.
  • Only 12 more days to Rhinebeck!!!

Friday, October 03, 2008

Eye Candy Friday

A different kind of landscape...



Merino Meadows...