Rhinebeck 2008...Was I dreaming?

We've been home for four and a half days and I am still on a Rhinebeck high. I've always dreamt of going to Rhinebeck but due to my event planning job and early November Board meetings, I never thought I could go. It also just seemed so far away and just logistically impossible. I don't know why I suddenly one morning about two months ago thought "What if Vilde, Shana, and I went to Rhinebeck together?"

Well, we did it. It was incredible. I now know that I have to go back every year. Fall in New England walking through seemingly endless barns of fiber related vendors is definitely my version of heaven.

On Saturday we left Vilde's sister's place in Hunter (thank you Ive and Bob!) and arrive at Rhinebeck just after 9 am. I bound off the turtleneck on my Bonnie sweater in the car and sewed in the tail while walking from the car to the festival gates...talk about making a deadline!



and here is the "finished" sweater, ready to encounter any Twist Collective folks, and maybe anyone else wearing Bonnie? (it turns out I was the only one!)



(notice the asymmetrical cable design...the sleeve on the right has the big cable, the other has the small...it was pretty cool)

Here are Vilde and Shana skipping with glee towards the ticket booth...



Vilde and Shana are spinners and Vilde, as you all know from reading this blog, has her own etsy shop with her handspun and hand dyed skeins...so we spent a lot of time looking at fleeces (literally the wool shorn off the sheep and put in a plastic bag). It was really interesting. Here are a few photos...



Look at all the colors...





One of the many barns



And of course the Needle Lady booth!





Izzy, rockin' it on the register



But, as many of you know, I am an amateur knitwear designer. The most exciting part of this weekend was meeting the celebrities of knitting. I set out on this trek hoping to meet Kate Gilbert, designer extraordinaire of Clapotis, Wisteria, A Cardigan for Arwen, Bird in Hand, Cammelia, Pearl Buck Swing jacket, Sunrise Circle Jacket, and countless others. Well folks, I met her, and I was star struck. I think I said "I love you." ha!



I also met Melanie Falick of Weekend Knitting and Veronik Avery of Knitting Classic Style



And here I am with Veronik and she is wearing her Military Cardigan. Sweet!



Here I am with Irene, the graphic artist of Twist Collective. Seriously, check this online magazine out.



Irene was wearing a design coming out on November 1st in the new issue. How cool to have actual flowers coming off of the cables.



And after these major knitting celeb sightings, suddenly, in the distance, there was...(drum roll please) THE YARN HARLOT.



Vilde is in the blue raincoat actually talking to her. I just waved in my nervous "I dont want to look like a psycho stalker" way. We were so stunned after this encounter we needed a breather. It was a good time for lunch (lamb soup for Vilde, veggie burger for E, apple pie a la mode for Shana).

And here are the Knitty chics...who wrote Big Girl Knits and Big Girl Knits 2. They were so nice and actually took a picture of me wearing my Clapotis before I got a pic of them! Ahhh what a love fest.



And last but not least, here we are with Jess, creator of Ravelry.



Ravelry has changed knitting forever and we are eternally grateful to her and her husband, Casey, here with Vilde.



Honestly, if any of you readers are not on Ravelry, please do so! I will help you if you're confused. I'll be in the shop on Sunday and I can do some Ravelry tutoring. Let's say you have one skein of a random yarn and don't know what to do with it. You can log in to Ravelry and see what other people have done with it and/or sell it to someone who needs it. Ohh thank you knitting gods for giving us Ravelry.

If you want to see all of my pictures, feel free to check out my Picasa album.

And to end this post, a picture of the three of us just before we left the fairgrounds on Sunday. They were literally announcing that the festival was about to close. Tears were shed. It was a memorable weekend for all.