Rhinebeck

We made it! Melanie and I went to Rhinebeck together. For a while there I thought I would not make it but dreaming of fall weather and fiber kept me going during some of the rough spots of the last year. Melanie did almost all of the driving and organising. I appreciated it very much.

We left on Friday morning and drove to her parents house because they were kind enough to babysit for the weekend. then we headed off to upstate NY to our B & B. Melanie found this place and wow! the food was deliscsious! We ate at Terrapin and celebrated with wine and an ale to accompany our meal. We walked aroudn town a bit and stopped in a patisserie, bought desserts to share. We were meeting Ravelry friends later at the B&B and we all enjoyed the tasty desserts.

Right after fresh fruit, baked goods and omelets, off we headed to the fairgrounds. The traffic was light and we didn't have to park far from the entrance. It was a bit chilly - I am glad I wore a jacket over my sweater (not a rhinebeck sweater). We shopped and wandered and soaked in the wooll fumes for hours. We went to the Ravelry gathering, then did lunch at the festival. Lunch was followed by more shopping, but the booths were rather crowded so we didn't even try ot get into some of them. We were too tired to go to the place we had planned on for dinner so just stopped for sandwishes on the way back and ate at the B&B. There is a lovely fireplace there and we sat by the fire and knitted and chatted for a while. It was an early night to bed, though, so we could enjoy the next day.

Sunday dawned crisp and dry after the rain overnight. A Waffle breakfast was enjoyed before we packed up and checked out to head for the festival again. Our Ravelry friends decided to head home so Melanie and I were on our own. We had specific things to look for first thing and got those taken care of, then hit the vendors we had missed the first day. We meandered just a little but saw everything we wanted to see, spent the remainder of our money on wine and headed for the gate about 2:30. We hit traffic on the way back so that slowed things down a bit but I was home by 9PM.

Over all I had a wonderful time. I do not regret buying or not buying anything. I loved the fall weather for the fiber festival. That's one thing that Maryland sheep and wool does not have. There are some different vendors at Rhinebeck, too. I liked that we saw knitting personalities while walking around the festival. I really loved looking at the wonderful knitted garments people were wearing. I only added one pattern to my queue, though, because it was just impossible to stop everyone wearing something that I liked. ;-)

If I can figure out how to get photos from my phone to the blog I will post photos of my stash enhancement. I bought sock yarn in 4 colors from different vendors, someo lovely, soft yarn to make a hat (my hair is growing back but not fast and winter is coming), some fiber to spin and some buttons for a sweater. I almost bought a Rambouillette fleece. But not quite. The 10 lbs. 10 oz. made me hesitant. I have emailed, though, to see if the vendor will consider splitting the fleece. We'll see.