Rhinebeck

Not long after I began knitting in January 2008 and joined Ravelry soon thereafter, I started reading references to something called Rhinebeck. I soon learned that Rhinebeck is shorthand for The New York State Sheep and Wool Festival, which is held at the Duchess County Fairgrounds in Rhinebeck, NY. When we decided to move to New York, one of my first thoughts was that I would be able to attend this mecca for all things fiber-related. Yay!

This past weekend was the glorious event and my friend Jennifer, who lives near Albany, graciously offered to let me and our friend Noelle (who flew in from Chicago) stay with her. On Friday night, Jennifer's daughter and Noelle's daughter decided to give me a new hairdo:


Am I stunning or what? Who knew that many hair clips could fit into one head of short hair. If you look carefully, you can see Jennifer's dog Pippin in the background - I think he might have been thinking "better her than me!" The two girls were very sweet and I enjoyed having them style my hair.

We arrived at the fairgrounds about thirty minutes after the gates opened on Saturday morning. Although I thought I was prepared for what I would see, I was wrong. I think I must have said "wow" over and over. Days later, I am still dazzled by the amazing displays of yarn, both in quantity and in quality. Everywhere I looked there was gorgeous yarn and it was difficult to process it all. It was even more difficult to process that there were thousands of people there, many wearing their hand knit or crochet creations.

The best part of the day was meeting up with friends. I had lunch - delicous lamb chili - with my dear friend Geri, and we wandered around together for a while:


Then we headed over to the Ravelry meetup where I had the pleasure of meeting Andrea in person for the first time:


Attending with Andrea was her youngest, who is a darling and patient little baby boy:


That is the Bobhead on the little tyke's stroller; Bob is the mascot of Ravelry and the furbaby of Ravelry's founders.

We also met up with Jacqui, who was wearing her awesome knitted Viking hat, complete with blond braids. From left to right is Andrea, Noelle, Jennifer, Jacqui and me, acting like the nutjob that I am:


Later on, I met my friend Laura for the first time in person, but for some reason I don't have a photo of that meetup. Laura is the talented fiberista who spoiled me during the last Motherhood Later swap, and she is as warm and beautiful in person as she is in the ML group.

In one of the buildings, I was able to meet a friend from the Over 40 knitting group on Ravelry, Ellen:


In between the yummy yarn and yummy food, we also saw lots of great animals. I saw...

Llamas:


Alpacas:


And goats:


What a day. Although I bought very little - a hank of 50% silk/50% superfine merino yarn from Steam Valley Fiber Farm and a hank of Brooks Farm Duet in a deep rich purple colorway - I had a great time and am very pleased with my purchases.

Only 361 days until next year's event! Not that I am counting or anything...