D'NALI

It’s hard to describe the Rhinebeck atomosphere to someone who’s never been there … or at least it is in my opinion.  For the yarnophite (yes, my own made up word :P) simply put, Rhinebeck is yarn heaven.  Figuratively put, a yarn junkie’s crackhouse.  

There were miles and miles and miles ANNNNNNND miles of delicious yarn.  Every weight, every content, every price.  From the spun to the un-spun, you name it, some vendor had it. 

It would have been easy to go crazy without a budget and a plan.  I knew what I wanted and although I had a few moments of “ooooohhhhh, lovely … let me take you home” :), I really did end up leaving with yarn for the projects I wanted to purchase for.

A few hours after my arrival, after lots of talking, giggling, laughing and connecting with other knitters, I left with these beauties below:

For my project list in this post, my new yarn babies (plus the extras :oops:) are:

(from upper left) going clockwise:

• Fessler Spinning and Weaving in PA: 575 yds hand-dyed aquamarine in worsted weight.  Might use this for my Multnomah Shawl — I’m still deciding.
  
• Pollywags had a sale on Lamb’s Pride worsted (a wool and mohair mix) Colour: VM 220 Ocean Waves.  I got four balls at $4.50 a piece.  The price is typically between $7.50 – $9.00 per ball.  I’m using two of these for my Saroyan shawl.  :D.  
• Lorna’s Laces: Colourway: 18 Watercolour.  Dye Lot 4053.  500 yds of delicious wool.  I got this beauty from Seaport Yarns.  It’s not lace like I wanted for my Citron, but I actually found lace in a similar colourway in my stash.  This yarn is a DK weight and I’m debating if I should still use it or the lace in my stash for the Citron project. 💡  I paid $36 for this.
• Spinning Mule Fibers: Colourway Bramble Sock.  Dye Lot SMF07.  I got two of these skeins at $18.00 each but the seller gave me a small discount since I was getting two skeins so I paid $34.00 for the two of them.  Each skein has 400 yds of super-wash merino.  Another option for my Multnomah shawl.
• The next photo shows the babies waiting to be caked.  😀
• From Seaport Yarns, I got two skeins of Malabrigo Rios in merino super-wash.  Each skein has 210 yds of yarn.  I’m using this for my drop stitch scarf project.
• The middle photo shows some needles that I bought.  The ones on the left and right I got from Fessler Spinning and Weaving,   They came from a stash that belonged to a local wood artist who recently passed away.  The very friendly lady from Fesslers said she didn’t know what to do with all the needles his family gifted to her, so she was selling them, hoping that they’d go to good homes.  Each cost $2.00 per set.  Yes … I do mean $2.00.  These would be perfect for thinner chunky scarves — the kind I like to do.  😛  The set in the middle are some fancy, schmancy ebony wood needles with some bone inlays at the top.  These were on sale for $8.00 from Blue Ridge Yarns.  Not exactly a need but I appreciate the craftsmanship.  They are smooth and sturdy … I’m sure I’ll get good usage from them.

I wanted to get to one of my favourite yarn suppliers, Sanguine Gryphon, but the line was too long; the booth too crowded.  The massive crowds at the festival were unexpected.  By 11:00 am, it got to the point where taking pictures in the vendor areas was a no go.  That was super crazy to me since the fair started at 9:00 am!!!!! There were so many people in EVERY stall, booth, walking area, it made it almost impossible at times to look, compare, decide then come back to purchase what I liked.  My friend Sudana said it best, “with this huge crowd, this is not the time to think about things too long, if you see yarn you like, get it.  This is a “you snooze, you lose” type situation.”  In my opinion, this festival needs at least a four-day weekend. 

All in all, I’m happy with my purchases and can’t wait to begin my projects.  If you went to Rhinebeck, hope you got what you wanted.  If you couldn’t make it this year, hope you’ll be able to go in 2012.

Off to cake my pretties and I’m heading over to Squee Sunday with Rip It Good for my first Squee entry to squeal about my goodies!!!!!  😀