If You Were Any Closer The Wool Would Bite You

*Note: This may only be funny if you have been to a large fiber festival, the kind where you are overwhelmed by the number of vendors and the amount of roving and yarn and all that goes with it. The kind where you are virtually surrounded by wool.

The Scene: NY Sheep & Wool Festival. Saturday, 11:30 a.m. There are crowds everywhere, with people carrying large shopping bags. I have just purchased lunch and am making my way to a picnic table with friends. A woman comes up and points at the clear plastic bag of yarn that I am carrying.

Woman: (pointing to yarn) Excuse me, could you tell me where you bought that?
Me: Sure--it's from Brooks Farms.
Woman: (confused) No--I mean where did you find it? Where is the wool?
Me: (blinks)
Me: (blinks)
Woman: That is wool, right?
Me: (blinks)
Me: (confused) ummm...yes?
Woman: You see, I'm walking around and all I see is food vendors and some other exhibits, so I was wondering if you could tell me where to find the yarn.
Me: Umm...you could go in that building right there? Or maybe go up that hill? There are some vendor barns there as well.
Woman: Okay, thanks!
Me: (blinks)


Rhinebeck was awesome.

My Eris sweater is finished.

My life has been crazy.

Back soon.

Rhinebeck Overload

Saturday at Rhinebeck went by too quickly. I had a great time but felt a little overwhelmed and fuzzy this year: a combination of lack of sleep, the crazy crowds, and trying to look at EVERYTHING. I was disappointed in the weather, too; although it was sunny and gorgeous, I missed seeing everyone in handknit/felted sweaters and vests and hats! I did see quite a few shawls, but I wanted more.

Nonetheless--I really enjoyed spending the day with Kelly and Jess and some non-blogging friends, and it was cool to see folks wearing Ravelry buttons at every turn. I petted lots and lots of roving and yarn, but I was very well-behaved and stuck to my budget. My small haul inlcuded a needle felting kit from Black Sheep Designs; some rainbow roving from Ancient Threads; and four ounces of cormo/silk blend roving from Foxfire Fiber.

I also allowed myself one skein of yarn--and I found the winning skein at Autumn House Farm. The colorway is Fox Grape.
And now I have a fiber hangover and I have to get back to reality. Ugh!

The Good, The Bad, and The Sheepy

The Sheepy
I made it to the MA Sheep and Woolfair in Cummington on Saturday. Unfortunately, I was herding some hot and unruly children, so it wasn't the most relaxing day for me. But it was fun to run into some blogging friends and to fondle all the fiber. The girls made some felt balls, and--with help--my eldest spun some yarn using a CD drop spindle.
Believe it or not, I bought no fiber. Not a bit. But I picked up a pair of small hand cards because I want to experiment with doing some fiber/color blending for some felting projects.

The Disappointing
I couldn't make it to Cate's blegger because I had to go to Home Depot. On a Saturday night. Why? Because my bathroom looked like this:
Yes, it's phase two of the bathroom renovation, and of course it's taking about twice as long as we planned to get everything done. This picture is actually from Friday. By Saturday DH had ripped out the cabinet and vanity and the rest of the ugly blue tile, and by Monday he had most of the drywall up. Next weekend he'll work on the wainscoting. Good times. (Did I mention that this is our only full bathroom?)

The Fabulous Get-Up-And-Have-A-Dance-Party Day
Anyone recognize the guy in the green jacket?
If you don't, you clearly aren't the hip parent of a child between the ages of two and six. Yep, that's Dan Zanes, and we saw him perform in Burlington, Vermont last week. My kids loved the show, and the new musicians that are performing with him were great. One of my "mom" friends who attended the concert with us noted that his music is the current soundtrack of her family's life, and I must admit that his songs accompany a lot of our activities as well.

The Mouth Watering
I won a copy of Simply in Season Children's Cookbook in a contest on Liz's blog! The girls loved looking through it and they are now so excited about going to the farmer's market this year. I always enjoy reading Liz's blog; not only have I learned a lot about the politics of food from her posts, but I have successfully made yogurt and started tomato plants with her help. Go check out her recent post on making mozzarella cheese, because you'll be reading more about that here soon.

The Bad
Allergy season. Love the flowers, hate the pollen.

The Great
I have arranged to take eight unpaid weeks of leave from my job this summer, with the goal of being home with my kids and taking some time to relax and Just Be. (And maybe knit/spin/play the ukulele.)

The Bad
Part of the reason that I took leave is that my father's health is rapidly failing, and I anticipate many drives to northern NH in the next few months.

The Utterly Overwhelming:
I have been a member of a lovely private pond/swim club for seven years. We have about 160 families that share a fabulous property. It is completely volunteer-run, with lifeguards being the only paid staff. This tiny beach area has been a lovely oasis in my life, both physically and mentally. So last year I joined the board. Which was good. This year I was talked into being vice-president, which has also been good. But then there was an ugly situation and the president of the board quit suddenly in mid-May, two weeks prior to opening weekend. I am now unexpectedly in charge of....well, everything: taxes, audits, insurance, property management, payroll, and about thirty other things that I do not know how to do. I know I have the skills to do all these things, but I do not yet have the knowledge, and I feel completely overwhelmed and anxious. Thankfully the other board members are great and we are all pulling together, but this first month is going to be very difficult. I have lost a lot of sleep over this, and I have spent a great deal of time sorting through the 50 years of files that arrived at my house in a jumble looking like this:
This is so NOT how I planned to spend my summer vacation.

And, Last But Not Least: The Thank-Goodness-I-Get-A-Night-Out-Tonight
Am heading out with a friend to see the Yarn Harlot in Northampton. I'm not the one driving, so look for me near the cash bar.

So, you know, Rhinebeck

I know you're all tired of reading about wonderful Rhinebeck blah blah blah, so I'll try to keep this quick. But it's hard to explain how great it is to be among "our people" for a day. There are so many places in my life where I don't quite fit (and might not want to), so a day with fiber folks who "get it" is a huge gift.

I drove to Rhinebeck on Saturday with my fabulous friend Jean (who is an avid but blogless knitter--she doesn't even have a computer!) and with Kelly. Jean and Kelly had never met, and I was a little nervous about that. But my matchmaking skills must be great because the two of them hit it off right from the start, and we spent most of the two-hour trip laughing and being ridiculously silly. Of course, it helped that we are all mothers of young children who were a bit giddy at the thought of an entire day to ourselves. We now have plans to hit the New England fiber festivals together on a regular basis. (You've been warned.)

Me, Jean, and Kelly--with bags of fiber at our feet

Kelly got stopped about forty times during the day because of her gorgeous Pinwheel Sweater--it was pretty funny by the end of the day. I had a few folks approach me to ask about my Sunrise Circle Jacket, and it was great to actually "model" it for Kate Gilbert. The whole day was just a wonderful blur of bloggers, bingo, and petting every bag of fiber in sight.

The blogger meet-up was overwhelming, and I met lots of folks but had no real conversations. It was hilarious to watch everyone try to find the bloggers on their bingo cards--and even more hilarious to hear the directions that other bloggers gave: "Oh, you're looking for so-and-so? Well, look over there, right behind that Flyingdales--and then you see that red Clapotis? Well, she's the one near that, next to the Klaralund." We certainly have a language and culture all our own.

No pics of my purchases, although there were a few: some neutral wool rovings for needle felting, a batt from Grafton Fibers, a kit for a sheep marionnette, and two skeins of Koigu (which is not what I would usually buy at a festival--but I can't get it locally and I've never tried it, so I grabbed them when I saw them). I kept within my budget and did not succumb to the lovely yarns at Morehouse Merino, but oh, there will be some in my future.

At the end of the day, Jean decided to channel McGyver. We were leaving the fairgrounds and came across poor Teresa, whose keys were locked in the car. (She was quick to explain that it wasn't her car--and that she's never locked the keys in her own car--but listen, if she only knew how many times I've locked the keys in MY car, she would not be the least bit embarrassed.) She had a nice Rhinebeck staffer helping her, and a couple of carloads of bloggers offering moral support, but the metal "snake" that they were feeding through the car window could just not grab on to the tiny lock button. Jean whipped off her ponytail holder, cut it with Kelly's yarn cutter (which she wears as part of a lovely beaded necklace), peeled off the nylon coating, wrapped the rubber band around the end of the metal snake, and voila! Car door opened. There was much cheering.

McGyver, Teresa, and nice Rhinebeck guy

We got home at 10 p.m. and I was exhausted. But there was to be no resting (or knitting) the next day, as I had to host a mermaid-themed birthday party for a very special six-year-old.

All in all, a fabulous weekend.

And next year? I'm totally staying over.

Rhinebeck Lyrics--yes, again

Although I don't think that I can top last year's efforts, which involved far more clever lyrics (and a far more annoying song), here is my lame offering for this year. I am too tired to come up with anything better!

SuperFreak FiberFreak

She's a fiber freakin' girl
The kind who likes to go to Rhinebeck
Likes to head out on a road trip with her girlfriends
In a limousine VW jetta

She likes the fiber in the barns
The merino and alpaca
Loves to fondle all the fleeces and the handspun
It's such a freaky scene

That girl is really geeky wild now
(That girl's a fiber freak)
The kind of girl you read about
In Spin-Off magazine
That girl is really weird crazy
(That girl's a fiber freak)
She loves to hang with knitters
Every time they meet
She's all right
She's all right
That girl's all right with me....yeah
Fiber freak! Fiber freak!
She's fiber freakin', yow

She's a very special girl
Wears all kinds of knitted fibers
From her head down to her toenails
Down to her feet, yeah
And she'll wait in line for sock yarn for a long time...
Has to have a skein

Can't have too many batts to spin
Would like to hang with bloggers all day
At the festival she fits in with the whole gang
Just can't believe the scene

That girl is really geeky wild now
(That girl's a fiber freak)
The kind of girl you read about
In Spin-Off magazine
That girl is really weird crazy
(That girl's a fiber freak)
She loves to hang with spinners
Every time they meet
She's all right
She's all right
That girl's all right with me....yeah
Fiber freak! Fiber freak!
She's fiber freakin', yow

(Knitbloggers, sing!)
Oh oh oh oh, oh oh oh

Fiber freak! Fiber freak!
That girl's a fiber freak
Oh oh oh oh, oh oh oh

She's a fiber freakin' girl
The kind who loves to go to Rhinebeck
The kind who wishes all her fiber friends lived closer
That would really be a scene

Bloggers and Brownies and Fiber, Oh My

I had a great time on Saturday at the MA Sheep and Wool Festival. It's my "local" festival, and I try to go every year. My extended family knows that we no longer travel for Memorial Day Weekend because "Katy can't miss the sheep." It's just such a small, "do-able", laidback, kid-friendly festival.

With that in mind, this year my friend Jean and I brought our daughters along. Mine are five and two years old; hers are two years and seven months, respectively. And the kids thoroughly enjoyed petting bunnies and gazing at sheep and munching on goodies. They did not enjoy so much the attempts at shopping. So I bought....nothing. (Yeah, I couldn't quite believe it either. DH says I should now take the children with me to all festivals. I reminded him that I am traveling to Rhinebeck without little people even if I have to pay a sitter exorbitant amounts of money to do so.)

But! The weather was great! And the sheep were woolly! And lots of bloggers brought edible goodies and we gathered in the sun and fondled fiber together. (Heh heh heh.) I enjoyed seeing some familiar faces and also meeting some new folks. The Official Paper Plate Sign-In included the authors of the following:


Bag-n-Trash
Caflygrl
CaroleKnits (along with Blogless Sharon, of course)
Claudia'sBlog
EnchantingJuno
Etherknitter
Fidoknits
IndigoDi
Jessalu




Mamacate
MedStudentWhoKnits
PatricksKnitting
Roseread
Smatterings
SpiderwomanKnits
Stariel
TooMuchWool
YearnForYarn

If I missed anyone, please let me know. I was a bit distracted by the hair-raising escapades of my toddler and I did not get to have any conversations lasting longer than 17.5 seconds. Sadly, this means that I also got very few pictures of the gathering.

It was particularly nice to finally meet Kristen, who is so thoughtful that she brought a new card game for my girls in an attempt to keep them occupied. And Liz brought her very cute girls, who quickly bonded with my eldest.

I had to leave shortly after the meet-up, as the kids were melting down. But at 8:00 p.m. I abandoned left my children in the competent hands of their father and I drove north once again in order to spend an hour at mamacate's gathering. While I missed some of the earlier merriment, I still had the pleasure of meeting the authors of ObsessionDuJour, ConcateKnit, and GoldfinchesAndFiber (who might have been at the meet-up but I had missed them), along with blogless Marcy and various friends and partners and pets and such. How enjoyable to sit and spin in a room full of fiber freaks lovers.

I so can't wait until we take over the world.

One last picture taken during the meet-up:
my toddler sits still for 30 seconds to gaze at a caterpillar.

A Whack Of Knitters

A day full of yarn and knitters and laughter--is there any better way to end a crazy week?


On Saturday I headed up to Northampton, MA, to hear the Yarn Harlot give a talk. Since it's always nice to have company in the car, I offered to give Kelly a ride. We had a great time getting to know each other, and--bonus!--she brought gifts: two balls of BFL that she dyed herself. The colors are just perfect, and I can't wait to spin them up.




Stephanie was hilarious, and everywhere you looked there was knitting.

For once, I didn't feel like a geek.

I was having so much fun that I totally forgot to take more pictures. But I got to chat with Jessica and Lauren, and Cate, and also the blogless Katy W. and her friend Kristen; and I met Di in person; and I ran into other locals that I know; and so Hi to everyone! It was fun to see you.

Jessica and I were both wearing our Good Bias shrugs. But, you know, at a knitting gathering, this is seen as sort of a cool thing instead of a fashion faux pas.






Webs was a zoo afterwards, and I didn't find the one thing I was looking for: buttons for my Sunrise Circle Jacket. But I finally plunked down the cash for this book, which I have been wanting for a while. If you haven't read it yet, and you like trying to wrap your mind around new concepts, then try to get your hands on a copy. The saleswoman at Webs told me that it is now out of print, so get it while you can!

I also bought some cotton/tencel yarn to make the Convertible shrug from the latest Knitty (link here).


And, oh yes--one of these followed me home, where I handed it off to my DH to put away until Mother's Day. (He loves it when I "help" him with his shopping.) Its twin went home with Kelly, so now we are bonded forever.

Lastly--Stephanie? If you ever decide to organize a MacGyver Arts Conference, I am so there.

"I Happy"

It's amazing what a difference a year makes. Last year when I went to Rhinebeck, I did not know a soul, although I recognized one or two bloggers in passing. This year I saw familiar faces everywhere! Although I did not have as much time to socialize with other folks as I would have liked, it was great to finally meet a few more bloggers in person.


The blogger meet-up was fun. I was feeling too shy to introduce myself to everyone, but I did meet these great knitters from the Berkshires.







Cate was a bit late to the meet-up, because she had to hit the fleece sale along the way. As you can see, in addition to enabling others, she picked up two of them for herself. (Because, you know, she doesn't have enough fiber at home. Heh heh.)










Cate and Risa had gorgeous matching shawls.












And here I am, in action: the blogger being blogged! (Thanks to Chris at Woolybuns for permission to use this pic.)









And here are my purchases. I could have bought much, much more, but I managed to stick to my budget. I did note a few places that I want to hit next year, though!
In the front is a skein of Socks That Rock, in the Lagoon colorway. (Unlike Cara, I managed to buy only one.) On the right is the pattern for the Melody Shawl from Morehouse Merino (the shawl that Alison recently completed), with yarn in the Aquarius (?) colorway. I also picked up a kit to make needle-felted snowmen (for holiday gifts), a little kit to make fleece angels (more gifts), and new felting needles in a wooden holder.

I must admit that I was a little sad that I couldn't stay overnight and eat pizza and cavort with all the other folks, but I needed to get home to my kids. My disappointment lessened significantly after being greeted enthusiastically by my 22 month old, who beamed upon seeing me, hugged me over and over again, and then sighed and said, "Mama home. I happy."

And, you know, there's always next year.

With Apologies To Billy Joel

We Have To Knit The Fiber
(to the tune of "We Didn't Start The Fire")

Fleeces full of curly locks, plethora of hand-knit socks,
Sheep-to-shawl, vendors' stalls, Rhinebeck in the fall.
Spirit Trail, Maple Creek, Jager Farm, Merlin Tree,
Morehouse, Rams Horn, frenzied swarms at Brooks Farms.

Llamas, bunnies, baby goats, merinos wearing stylish coats,
Sheep dogs, muddy clogs, long drives in the fog.
Felting needles, spinning wheels, looms, combs, special deals,
Felting batts, funky hats, locker-hooking woolen mats.

We came to see the fiber
And we just can't fight it, there's no way to hide it
We need to knit the fiber
And we just can't stop it, go on, try to top it

Bloggers in a happy drove, looking at the treasure trove,
Awkward greetings, random meetings, missing Stephanie.
Talk of stash, spending cash, buying fleeces in a flash,
Drop spindles, new tricks, gotta love those pointy sticks.

Stitchy, Lauren, Jessalu, Norma, Risa, Deb too,
Teresa C., Stephanie, Mamacate and Wendy,
Too many in one place, fiber passions interlaced,
Systems are on overload, hey there goes another face!

We have to spin the fiber
While the wheels are turning we will just keep yearning,
We want to knit the fiber, and we have to buy it,
Break that fiber diet

Coffee, donut, Diet Coke, yummy French artichoke,
Cotton candy, fried dough, stuff it in your mouth and go.

Cables, bobbles, steeks galore, Fassett, Bliss, and Starmore,
Clapotis, calling me, I can't take it anymore! .....

Niddy-noddies, lazy kates, traffic jams, woven capes,
Wet weather, rainbow sky, give that wheel another try.
Handspun, weavettes, felted figures, no regrets,
Came to play! What a day! What else do I have to say!

We came to see the fiber
And we just can't fight it, there's no way to hide it
We need to knit the fiber
See the stitches building, and they'll just keep building
On and on and on....

Fun In The Sun

At long last, a fabulous sunny day--just in time for the MA Sheep and Woolcraft Fair! My plans for the day were almost derailed by a sick toddler who refused to sleep last night. However, I managed to sneak her in to the pediatrician as soon as the office opened this morning. After picking up the antibiotics for her ear infection, I promptly handed her to DH and set off in the car, alone with coffee and my audio book. I missed breakfast at Cate's house, but arrived at the festival in plenty of time to check everything out. I spent much of my day just wandering aimlessly around the small fairgrounds, soaking in the sun and the sheepy smells and the friendly atmosphere.

At the first booth I visited, I ran into Teresa. I had never met her before, but I thought she looked familiar...and then when I saw her beautiful blue shawl I realized who she was. I think she was a little freaked out that I recognized her. But, thankfully, she didn't run away. In fact, she and her friend were quite pleasant. I met up with them several times during the day, but I never did get to check out their purchases, so I'm anxious to see what appears on her blog in the next few days.

The next person I ran into was "the other Katy", a local knitter who I met at Stephanie's booksigning in early May. Katy is (as of yet) blogless, and when she introduced herself to someone that night, she was asked, "Oh, are you the Katy with the blog?" And she replied, "No, I'm the other Katy." However, lest you think that "other" denotes "lesser", Katy is actually a much more creative knitter than I am, as you can tell by the felted bag that she designed. And today she was using a very cool bag that she knit using strips from colored plastic bags.

The very cool thing about this picture is that if you click here for a larger version, and you look right between our heads, you can just see the eye of the camel--yes, camel--who is staring through the fence. It's a bit freaky.

Throughout the day I kept bumping into Cate, her two adorable children, and her entourage of knitting friends. Instead of buying lots of yarn, I stalked Cate with my camera.

Here she is looking at fleeces. (Hey Cate, do you really need another fleece???)

Part of the fun of fiber festivals is watching other people walk around with huge bags full of fleeces and rovings and yarn. I mean, it sort of normalizes the whole fiber obsession thing. So, just in case my purchases were not enough to satiate you, check out Risa's stroller, complete with attached spinning wheel:

Mind you, there are also twin toddlers in the front of the stroller. This woman knows how to work a fiber festival.

I also spent some time with some blogless friends, patted some angora bunnies, ignored the call of sock yarns, and bought some maple syrup.

It was a very good day.

I should mention that I have attended this wool festival twice in the past, and both times I did not recognize a single person. This time I felt like a social butterfly, thanks to blogging. I can't wait to meet more folks at Rhinebeck in the fall!

Baa Baa Knitting Blogger, Have You Any Wool?*

Yes indeed, yes indeed, two bags full.

The spoils from Cummington: on the left, a bag of wool roving in a rainbow blend from Ancient Threads Farm, which will eventually be something fun for one of my daughters; on the right, six ounces of merino/tencel roving from The Sheep Shed in the Summer Fields colorway. (I had to get some of this because Cate raved about it so much. She's such an enabler.) As you can see, I hope to do some spinning soon, after a five year hiatus. We'll see if I actually remember how to do it.

*Notice that I did not ask, " Have you any yarn?" Indeed, I did not buy any yarn. Not a single skein. Not even the gorgeous sock yarn that I visited seven times during the day. So there.

Fun stuff from Rhinebeck: a froggy hat for Zoe, yarn in autumnal and spring-like colors for moebius scarves, a partially completed knitted wire necklace (still on the needle, lol), and a large piece of felt so that I can make a funky poncho. 

Ode To Rhinebeck

Saturday at Rhinebeck was perfect as can be;
Yarn and roving everywhere, far as the eye could see.
To top it off, no preschooler or nursling came along--
This mommy had the whole day off, after far too long!

I spent the morning learning to knit wire strung with beads
From Annie Modesitt, who is a creative soul indeed.
And though for moments here and there I thought about defeat,
When the time was done, a necklace almost was complete.

The animals were great to see, the exhibitions great;
The artichokes were yummy, and the vendors were first-rate.
And, oh! The people watching: such fab sweaters, scarves, and shawls,
Plus funky hats and ponchos that you'd never find in malls.

I don't read many knitblogs, so imagine my surprise
When I turned and there was Claudia, right before my eyes!
She had no clue who I was, though she was very nice,
And drooling over roving briefly helped to break the ice.

(How strange to be a blogger, sending thoughts to cyberspace,
Then later meeting strangers who are familiar with your face.
Did all you famous bloggers get accosted left and right?
Do you now fear that crazed knitfans will trail you home at night?)

DH is glad, I spent my cash but left my cards alone;
No fiber animals joined me for that gorgeous ride back home.
I did get yarn for mobii, and felt needles joined my take,
Plus a gorgeous piece of dark green felt, a poncho for to make.

And now it all is over. Sigh. Another year to wait.
But all those happy memories will aid as I create!