It was awesome!!
I saw lots of sheep,
llamas,
and goats,
as well as rabbits, alpacas, and other knit bloggers, including Ann Hansen, Amy Singer (of Knitty), MintyFresh, Laura Chau, and possibly even Franklin Habit. I know that he was there ...
I fan-girled out in front of Ann and Amy. They're both totally cute -- Ann was decked out in this gorgeous sweater, and I almost did the equivalent of reading poetry you've written to your favorite poet ... I told her that her work had inspired a project of mine, and nearly pulled this out of my project bag to show her:
This will be a cowl in the "Gingerbread Rib" pattern from Vogue Sock Knitting, in Fleece Artist Merino 2/6 (the sockweight merino yarn by FA) in the Nova Scotia Colorway. (The yarn is amazing in terms of how silky it feels, and how jewel-like the color tone is. It's like kelp, and pine, and ponds, and blue skies ... when my family was in Maine this summer, I saw all of the colors in effect!)
I've tended to shy away from texture rich patterns with variegated yarn, but this seems to work so well!
Ann's sweater, on the other hand, is an amazing interplay of color variation and texture, and totally makes me want to cabley sweater out of Briar Rose yarn.
(Read Ann's blog, wouldja? Not only is her work great, she's got a fabulous garden, cooks gorgeous looking food, and made me want to knit stoles. Stoles, people! Also, she was terribly nice to me, even though I felt as though I'd totally accosted her.)
As mentioned, I also fan-girled out in front of Amy Singer. Knitty is awesome -- I remember when I first stumbled upon the link to it on Eunny Jang's blog when she knit "Shedir" -- and Amy's books are fun, colorful and inviting.
Interestingly, I did not approach Laura or Minty, or the guy that I thought might be Franklin ... the possible-Franklin because he might not have been the man behind the Panopticon blog, but the younger women ... I don't know! I was hit by shyness, and a worry that I'm bothering "celebrities" who just want to have a good time with their friends, in other words, the same feelings that kept me from pulling out my work in front of Ann Hanson. All of which left/leaves me feeling very meta...
Anyways. I also got this done:
The beginnings of the two-color brioche hat in Weekend Knitting -- I cast on on the bus ride to Rhinebeck, and completed this much as of this afternoon.
Lamb's Pride by Brown Sheep, in the Wild Mustard and Oregano colorways, picked out by the boyfriend, because I kept mis-interpreting UVM colors.
But for the LARGE KNOT I encountered unexpectedly in the Wild Mustard Colorway, I love the yarn! It's perfect for a hat, and mohair halo is so dang purty.
Dig the two-color brioche detail ... Unfortunately, I will be frogging this, since, one, it is way too big, and two, the newbie errors I made are pissing me off. Expect more brioche in the round from me.
But first, expect more gifts for others from me ... my backlog of promised projects in mortifyingly long, right now, and with the holiday season starting and all ...
Best of all about Rhinebeck, though, was that I made a friend. And I neglected to take a picture of her. No matter. Cora is awesome, and was the best person to walk around a strange, beautiful new place with. Also, she drives a moped.
A successful day, all around.
PS: I would show pictures of what I bought, but then I would immediately start in on thrummed mittens, neck gaiters for Dad, or holy-frickin'-jeez pretty socks ... when what I need to do is finish two papers. Stupid grad school.
