RHINEBECK Recap

I have quite a bit of work to do, don't I? God, what happened to October!? I think I'm so swept up in my BOSOX playing in the world series and RHINEBECK.

So I fixed the Berkshire pullover, but I don't have any new photos of it. I assure you it's done though. I started it three times in three different sizes. I did each sleeve twice - one because I cast on too few stitches the first time, and the other because my row gauge was a bit off. And I undid the neck and re-did it so it was in the middle of the sweater instead of off to the side.

The monkey socks are pretty much the same as they were when I showed them to you in the beginning of the month. I haven't done anything with them because I've been working on placemats for friends who got married in May. I realize I have a year after the wedding to get them done, but I'd really rather get them done sooner rather than later. My conscience was getting to me, so I started them.


I'm knitting four of them out of King Tut Cotton on size five Denises. One's done, one's almost done, and then I'll only have two more to knit. They're taking me about a week each to complete, which means I knit faster than I thought I did. :)

But what you really want is a RHINEBECK recap right?
Our NYC SNB gals holed up at Blogless Jill's parents' summer home for the weekend where we battled fruit flies, watched Hitchcock movies and knit our hearts out. THANKS TO JILL'S MOM FOR LETTING US STAY THERE!!!!

I did most of my buying the first day. I fought my way in and found some appropriate STR, then I stood in a line about three booths long to pay. This is what I came out with:


STR Medium weight yarn in Carbon Dating color-way.

After wandering around a bit, I also found some nice roving. I looked at it. I felt it. I coveted it. I bought it.


I'm not sure what it is, but I suspect it's some sort of silk/merino blend. It was way cheaper than buying yarn! I was surprised. After that, Michelle was kind enough to wander around with me a bit to find a nice drop spindle.

I met up with a lot of awesome bloggers and folks on Ravelry. Met a bunch of people I probably wouldn't have been able to if I hadn't done the Rhinebeck Blogger Bingo.

Later on that day, I found some fabulous wool to knit the Spiral Pullover in.


Doesn't look like much does it? It's only about 1500 yards of Falkland Wool I got from Ellen's 1/2 Pint farm!

That evening, Blogless Johanna taught some of us how to crochet!


I think I actually got it!

So we went to bed, and woke up the next day ready to head back to the Sheep and Wool Festival. This time, I decided I wanted to focus on the animals. After buying a few buttons from Briar Rose Fibers



I managed to find a bit more roving that struck my fancy


This stuff isn't as slippery as the other roving I bought, so I'm hoping it will be easier to learn with.

We went to the Alpaca and Llama jumping contest, then pet some of the sheep



And I saw a really elaborate Mohair Throw:


psst! That's a real mohair goat!

We wandered on over to the author tent to see if I could get the Yarn Harlot to sign Claudine's copy of her newest book. I had a moment of weakness. I don't have much more room for books on my Knitting shelf. In fact, I would say I have NO MORE room for books anywhere in my apartment. I still collect them though, and so, obviously, I had to buy Clara Parkes' new book The Knitter's Book of Yarn. I also had to have her sign this book.

All in all, I'd say it was a pretty successful trip. there was apple crisp and apple ceider consumed. Famous bloggers like Kate Gilbert and January One were noticed. People seemed to have a fun time, and I walked away with some awesome yarn. For a weekend in which i probably had about the the maturity of a six year old, I'd like to thank my fellow SNBers for letting me be the goofy comic relief of the weekend! <3 you gals!!!

Thank You Kings County Supreme Court

Were it not for you, I would not have finished the Uptown Boot Socks out of Fleece Artist Merino Sock quite so quickly. Yesterday started around 8:30 AM just past where I picked up stitches for the gussets. I finished jury duty today with a pair of socks!


Alright, so I finished them at The Point last night - but I got most of the sock done at jury duty, so I still think it counts for the court (much in the same way that the starting pitcher get the win or loss of a game even if they bring in a releiver).

I'm wearing them today, and they're making my feet quite comfortable. Check out these heels too:


They were knit with the aforementioned Fleece Artist superwash yarn on size 1 addis. It took a rediculously short amount of time to knit these. I cast on for these on March 24th making the time it took to knit these a little longer than two weeks.

I'm on a finishing roll! I think I'm going to bring those slippers from Weekend Knitting I started in my pre-blog days to The Point to see if Josh can help me decipher the instructions. They're all knitted, they just need to be assembled and sewed together. I couldn't figure out the finishing instructions about a year ago, so I'm hoping that betwen Josh and I we can figure it out. They were supposed to be a Christmas gift to my mother about three years ago. They're a bit late.

I've only got about thirty rows left to do on Icarus! That makes it sound like less than 15,120 stitches right?

But I'm all ready to cast on for a new pair of socks out of my Socks that Rock in colorway Rhode Island Red! I think I'm going to do a relatively simple ribbed sock with just a cable down the sides. Easy, quick and hopefully it'll let the yarn show itself off!