Rhinebeck 2023 Recap

 

One of the best aspects of moving back to the East Coast is that for the first time since I started attending the NY Sheep and Wool festival, I didn't have to start off the weekend jetlagged, exhausted and stressed out from a red eye flight, followed by having to pick up a rental at the airport at the asscrack of dawn and then try to concentrate on driving through insane traffic.

 

This time I just drove part way to Philly and spent the night at my stamp friend's apartment overlooking Rittenhouse Square.

 

We had a terrific seafood dinner at Devon and breakfast at K'Far, definitely my favorite Israeli cafe in Philly.

 

After retrieving Amber from Astoria, where she now lives, we stopped for the best pizza ever at Aaron Butkus' pizzeria in Craryville.  Some people know Aaron as the lead singer of the CTxHC band, Death Threat.  I just think of him as my ex-BF, Noah's older brother whom I briefly lived with in Canton, CT along with CJ from Hatebreed.  

 

Anyway, we checked into Mirbeau and everything was perfect and exactly as expected.

Already high, the standards were slightly improved with complimentary cookies, champagne, sleep masks, sleep spray and chocolate truffles.

 

The more I reflect upon this trip, the more it feels equally about dining traditions as fiber arts.

 

We hit up Rhinebeck Bagels every single day.  The service always prompt and the quality consistent.

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Despite the rain, Indie Untangled was rad!  I found exactly what I wanted, fancy stitch markers and yarn from 29 Bridges.

The swag bag was overflowing with cute little goodies.

My Ugg transparent rainboots were the smartest thing I packed.

 

As far as the shitshow now universally known as Wool & Folk goes, all I'm gonna say is that although we did have to illegally park, at least Amber and I were totally prepared and our rental wasn't towed.  We had our camper chairs and cooler.  We posted up under the podcast tent as soon as we arrived.  We even bumped into my boss Debbie, co-worker Keyser and friends Angela and Kelly from the weekly DWW morning meet ups.

While the marketplace was a total nightmare, we still thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

I didn't even feel comfortable documenting the Crying Jordan grimaces of all of the vendors so I took photos of these beautiful hydrangeas outside instead.

 

Because the marketplace was so overwhelming, the only thing I purchased was sweater quantity of the Wandering Flock 10th anniversary colorway.

At the actual NY Sheep and Wool festival, the only yarn I purchased was from Periwinkle Sheep.

I also bought some awesome sheep themed letterpressed stationery and ephemera and the Grand Shetland Adventures Knits book by MJ Mucklestone and Gudrun Johnston.

I picked up a book about Bargello a while ago from Cool Chris back in SF and I was very intrigued by this booth at the festival.

 

I've already shared many of my Rhinebeck photos in previous posts and this is all I have left.  The green Drover sweater sample was hanging in the Neighborhood Fibers booth.  I recently purchased a kit for it after winning a $75 CAD gift card to Ancient Arts from the PomPom virtual launch party.

 

Here's Alex and Susan participating in the drop spindle contest.  Amber and I both loved the drape on this Tidal sweater.

 

The final photo is from an incredible sushi and sashimi feast with my penpal, Suzette.  I spent the night at her place in Maplewood, NJ in an effort to break up my drive home.  Her neighborhood has so many impressive Halloween decorations.  We had such a nice time catching up.  Now that I'm back on the East Coast, I really need to visit my friends up north more frequently.

Knit Vervain Socks designed by Sachiko Burgin from Laine Publishing's 52 Weeks of Socks Book

I just realized that although I posted these socks as soon as I finished them back in late September on IG, I forgot to share them here.  

This is the sock pattern that Amber and I agreed to use as our "Rhinebeck socks".  They would've been in the same yarn as would our Rhinebeck sweaters, except for the fact that I still cannot find the box containing all of that yarn that I purchased at Rhinebeck the year before since we moved?! 

 

So, I ended up using one of my favorite sock yarns ever, the now defunct Houndstooth Fibers Painted Ladies from NorCal.

I just love the gentle ombre of this style of dyeing.

The Vervain Socks pattern was designed by Sachiko Burgin.  The pattern is available for purchase individually on Ravelry and also featured as one of many outstanding patterns featured in Laine Publishing's 52 Weeks of Socks book aka one of my favorite sock knitting books ever published.

 

Prior to when I first started knitting socks, it never really crossed my mind that socks could be knit with a pattern design specific to each left and right foot.

This lacey pattern was such a joy to knit and I cannot wait to make another pair...but not until I get started on my Squam 2024 socks for next year. :)

Knit Arcane Beanie pattern designed by James N. Watts featured in the Ritual Dyes Fall Equinox offering

 

My Ritual Dyes Fall Equinox offering arrived only days before Rhinebeck.  But I was so intrigued by the pattern that I cast it on almost immediately.  I set aside the brown colorway it came with and replaced it with leftover Knudsen I bought at the last and now final Stitches SoCal so it would match my Midcoast Sweater, my "official Rhinebeck sweater".

 

On October 1st, I had a delightful visit from my friend and former Atelier co-worker, Catherine.  She's originally from RVA but has been living in SF for decades now.  Her sister still lives in Salisbury, VA and we finally got to hang again for the first time since before I moved back here from CA. She is actually the person responsible to introducing me to DWW in the first place! Our mutual loves of RVA and The Bay binds us together.  The photo above is of our snack spread.  We have a long history of eating, knitting and having the best conversations together.  

 

I knit size 3 of the hat.  I didn't make any modifications.

I love the braided cabled headband and I love that you can just measure it as you go to ensure that you have a perfectly fitted hat.

I promised myself that I would wear this hat at Rhinebeck and on Saturday AM, I was up at 5AM finishing up the last few crown decreases in front of the cozy fire in our hotel lobby.

This hat will always remind me of Rhinebeck and the fabulous friendships I've made over the years.

 

The photos above are from the Asian Makers meet up that Aimée Gille organized on The Hill.  It was the most Asian knitters I've ever seen all in one place in my entire life.  My mind was blown.  

I still haven't even blocked my hat but it fits perfectly.

I'm also considering adding a pompom and I am already anxious to knit another hat ASAP while the charts are still fresh in my memory.

This photo is of Amber and I in our #1 all-time, absolute favorite place at Rhinebeck, the Periwinkle Sheep booth.  I'll post photos of all of my purchases soon.  It's just taking me a while to get back into the groove of things and it probably won't happen until this Sunday at the earliest.