Happy Halloween!

I have no idea if this will work or not... I'm trying to email a post
with a photo from my phone. If it works you'll see a jack o' lantern
below!

Either way, Happy Halloween!

Guess where I went?

Yeah, I know, I've been absent from the blog again. But no...really, guess where I actually went?



Can you see it? Here's a close-up:



Now can you tell? Yup! That's right. I went to RHINEBECK!! (aka, the New York State Sheep and Wool Festival.) I was so excited to get the chance to go since I've never been before...it just all worked out so well. We were heading north to visit the in-laws for the weekend and it just so happened that the two weekends coincided, and we didn't have to be at our destination until later, so we had plenty of time to stop there. And I have a WONDERFUL husband who not only willingly agreed to go there on the way, but also followed me around patiently for a few hours while I petted the yarn. :)  (He mostly played solitaire on his iPhone while I wandered, and I think he was honestly quite content with that.)

Rhinebeck was a lot of fun. I had no idea really what to expect, but it was such a thrill to be around that many people who love yarn and knitting as much as I do! We didn't see any of the famous people who were supposed to be there, but that's okay by me. I am too shy anyway; I'd have just been mad at myself for not going up to say hello if I did see someone anyway.

It was a wonderful day! The weather was absolutely perfect, the fall colors at their peak. I wore my handknit gray sweater in honor of the trip to Rhinebeck, and loved wandering around seeing all of the handknits people were wearing. So fun!

Wanna see my haul? I got a few fun things. ;)

The very first building we went into had the booth for The Fold which apparently is "the" place to get BMFA yarns at Rhinebeck. I noticed a long line to pay but started browsing anyway. I spent some time looking at the rack that was sort of on the outside of their booth...as it turns out I never went into the booth at all! But that was probably for the best...any more choices and I'd have had even more trouble choosing! Then I turned around and noticed that My Very Sweet Husband had decided to get in line while I browsed...smart man! Even after the time spent by my indecisiveness we still had to wait a bit to pay.  I promised my patient husband that we'd go find lunch after that.  :)

So I looked at the mill ends which were discounted but in the end I decided on this "Rare Gems" color of STR in mediumweight:

The colors are totally "me" and will be very wearable.

Then I decided that a special day deserved at least one really special yarn purchase, so I chose this Silk Thread yarn in a lovely, nearly solid, lavendery gray color that will make a beautiful shawl or wrap someday:

The silk is so shiny!

Then we wandered onward and I purchased a little something I've had my eye on on the web for some time...a little mini sock blocker keychain:

The lady I purchased it from told me if I make a sock with it I can send her a photo and she'll put it on her website!

We wandered around some more and I decided that I wanted to find some yarn to make a Clapotis. (By the way, I saw countless of those being worn around the festival!) I found a place that had this sport weight silk bamboo yarn that had just the most wonderful drape and sheen and decided that was what I wanted. It took me forever to choose a color (my husband was again extremely patient) and I finally decided on this:

I got two skeins of 300 yards each, figuring I'll make the wrap a little narrower or shorter than the pattern is designed, since that calls for 800 yds.  The two skeins are ever so slightly different enough that I'll have to knit with both skeins at the same time, alternating every other row.  I'd rather not have to do that but the one skein appears to have more pink in it.

Then as our day was drawing to a close, I had sort of had it in my head that I wanted some sort of sparkly yarn, and we happened upon this stuff:

See the sparkles?  I had a tough time deciding among the colors they had...there was a this pink, a black, lavender, and an off-white...I of course love pink so was tempted by that, but the lavender looked really nice with the silver and I really like lavender too! I kept picking them up and setting them down, completely indecisive. The black really showed off the silver, and the white reminded me of snow. Such a touch decision! Then a nice lady passing by noticed me struggling with my decision (do you sense a theme with me here?) and helped me out...she asked if I was planning on making something for myself...I said yes, a scarf. So she told me to hold my hand out, palm facing down (because apparently the skin on the back of the hand is closer to what your face is), and lay the yarn on top. The pink, she said, went well with my skin tone. The black or white would wash me out, and the lavender wasn't so great either. So it was decided! I got the pink. And I knew in my heart that couldn't be the wrong choice since I love that color anyway. So there! I learned something new from a friendly passer-by.

After that we were both about done with the festival, and we headed to get some cider and kettle corn before departing. What a wonderful day! All of the stars aligned and it was amazing...the timing of the trip and the festival, having time to stop, the weather, the fall colors...so amazing!  We had a really great rest of the weekend as well, a day trip to Vermont to enjoy the leaves and a great family weekend.

Here's some of the gorgeous color we saw:

Right now I am watching the Philadelphia Phillies play in game 4 of the World Series.  I'm not a huge baseball fan but it is the one pro sport that I'll watch now and then, and if I get the chance to go to a game that is certainly fun.  And of course the World Series is pretty fun to watch, too! Even better when the home team is in it!  Philadelphia is a city of crazy sports fans...I'm not an Eagles football fan and could do without the crazed fans myself, but Phillies fans are a little tamer and easier to handle, heh.  Anyway, I think this city deserves a winning team so I hope the Phils take it all the way.

Okay, back to my knitting.  I'll share my WIPs soon...I wish I could dig into my Rhinebeck stash projects but I'm working on some Christmas gifts first.  

Go Phillies!  ;)