Rhinebeck Hangover

Rhinebeck 2011 has come and gone, and I have to say it was an overwhelming experience. I laughed, I almost cried (more on that later), and I spent way more than I should have.

On the way up to our hotel in Saugerties, we couldn't help stopping at Webs, the largest yarn store in America. What's an hour or two out of the way (and out of the state) when it comes to yarn, right?

Needless to say, we were all very excited. The plan was for us to buy sweater quantities here to avoid temptation at Rhinebeck. I went in with a very specific idea of what I wanted: worsted weight gray yarn with a nice tweed to it. That should narrow it down, right? So very wrong. Webs has an incredible selection, and with great selection comes great confusion. I kept placing more and more yarn in my basket, and it became a blur of gray tweed fiber. It got to the point where I couldn't differentiate between yarns anymore, and I began to truly panic. I made a rash decision to abandon the tweed and go with a cheap heather, which Kendra and Claire assured me was a solid decision. Of course, after 2.5 hours in Webs, they probably could have convinced me of anything. I purchased my sweater quantity, a bit of sock yarn (for my Beekeeper's Quilt), and a pair of circular needles. My brain was absolute mush (but in a good way).

The next day we were off Rhinebeck! We all had an incredible time playing Rhinebeck Bingo, making new friends, chatting with designers, and eating too much food. I received so many generous comments on my Acorns sweater, including from Ravelry's own Mary-Heather. At the Ravelry meetup, we had the wonderful opportunity to say hello to Ysolda herself! It was so wonderful to thank her in person for permitting our knit-along blog.

Of course, it would have been better if she had seen us the second day -- we were all wearing our Damsons and Snapdragon Tams!

As for the festival itself, it's difficult to put into words. It's so great to be surrounded by people who are passionate about the same things you are, and Rhinebeck is the epitome of that. I walked a llama, pet lots of animals, ate some ghost pepper sauce (I'm addicted to spice), attended a hard cider tasting, sampled lots of food, ate pickles, drank too little coffee, walked until my feet hurt, and snuggled lots of yarn.

While I did go over my intended budget, I certainly got a lot of bang for my buck! Here's a catalog of my bounty:

• 1 skein Sanguine Gryphon Little Traveler in Rojas (probably for a shawl)
• 2 skeins Sanguine Gryphon Mithril in a point mutation, not sure on the intended colorway -- maybe either Little Caesar or the Shepherd at the Fold by Midnight (for a sweater)
• 1 skein Sanguine Gryphon Mithril in Starry Night over the Rhone (for a shawl)
• 1 skein Jellyfish Knits Intergalactic in Emerald City (for some sparkly hexipuffs!)
• 1 skein Jellyfish Knits Ephyna in Iron (more hexipuffs)
• 2 skeins Sliver Moon DK Superwash in Antique Brass (for Levenwick sweater)
• Owl buttons from Jennie the Potter (for Levenwick sweater)
• 5 skeins Valley Yarns Northampton in Dark Grey (sweater)
• 1 skein Valley Yarns Huntington in Deep Pine (for even more hexipuff action)
• A block of spicy cheese
• A packet of spicy pepper jack dip mix

And that, dear friends, is my incredibly brief wrap-up of Rhinebeck. I'm still exhausted and way too obsessed with cuddling the yarn that I bought, but I think I'll recover in a few more days.

Hexipuffing Along

Jess here again. There's less than a week until Rhinebeck, so things are getting a bit hectic at WLKA headquarters. Claire and Kendra are working hard to finish their Snapdragon Tams and some sweaters before the big day. I'm an obsessive planner, so I'm already finished. As I mentioned in my previous post, I'm trying to avoid a new project before our trip. Thus, I have continued my hexipuff adventures! So far, I'm really happy with my color palette. I guess I just have a well-curated stash of sock yarn! These are the yarns that I've used thus far:

• Green gradient: Schoppel-Wolle Zauberball in Summer Meadow
• Dark gray: Dream in Color Smooshy in Gray Tabby
• Light gray: Madelinetosh Tosh Merino Light in Smokestack
• Black and white stripes: Crystal Palace Panda Silk in Granite Tones (a gift from Claire!)
• Navy: Madelinetosh Tosh Merino Light in Ink
• Gray/lime/purple stripes: Studio Avenue Six Self-Striping in Purple/Gray/Green
• Teal: Shibui Sock in Peacock
• Burgundy sparkles: Dream in Color Starry in Gothic Rose
• Pink: Noro Kureyon Sock in 188
• Black/purple/teal: Alchemy Juniper in Underwater Moonlight

I made the chart for the key, but I found the fox and raven (as well as tons of other great charts) in this Ravelry thread. I'm going for a woodland/Alice in Wonderland/whimsical theme for my charted puffs, so we'll see how many different designs I can incorporate. I plan on doing a heart, bowtie, glasses, watch, hat, mice, rabbits...you get the idea.

While I'd love to just hexipuff (it's a verb, too!) forever, my Lanesplitter skirt is starring at me from the corner. All I need to do to finish it is whip up the waistband, a task that should be quickly completed. For some reason, I just can't bring myself to do it. I'll probably force myself to pick it up tomorrow and power through so that I can wear it to Rhinebeck as originally intended. Sometimes I like to press deadlines to increase my motivation, and that's exactly what I'm doing here.

Now, it's important for every knitter to have a plan for the next project. I like to have one large and one small project going at the same time. My next sweater will certainly be Levenwick by the brilliant Gundrun Johnston. I want to go with a soft tweed yarn, which I will purchase at Webs on the way to Rhinebeck. I rarely buy sweater quantities of yarn in person (shocking!), so I'm incredibly excited for this adventure. At Rhinebeck itself there will be ample opportunity to sit and knit, preferably with a portable project. I need to decide if I want to make my matching Snapdragon Flip Tops or if I want to begin the ever-popular Ishbel (in the Scarlet shade of Tosh Merino Light). The weather might dictate which yarn weight I go with, but I'd love to hear your opinions!

ETA: Immediately after publishing this post, I picked up my Lanesplitter. It only took two hours to finish! Expect a post on it in the near future.

Color Inspiration

Let's talk about color. Since I'm skipping Veyla, I've been able to focus on some autumn (read: Rhinebeck!) knitting. As a New Yorker, I wear a lot of black clothes, so I look at my knitting as a way to add much-needed color to my wardrobe. My favorite shades are rich jewel tones: ruby reds, emerald greens, amethyst purples, and so on. This year, I'm trying out a new color: gold. It turns out that Claire is also making a gold sweater, so we'll match! For the pattern, I've selected Acorns by Carol Sunday in the gorgeous Candlewick Madelinetosh Tosh DK. Who could resist this color?

While gold is exciting, my must-have color for fall is red. This powerful color gives me a surge of confidence whenever I wear it. I've decided to combine this fabulous color with a project I've never knit: a skirt. Claire and I chose to make the Lanesplitter Skirt from Knitty in Amazing yarn. While she's making a more neutral Cobblestone skirt, mine is the vivid red/pink/burgundy colorway Roses.

With all of these bright garments, I'm going to need some neutral accessories. The matching Snapdragon tam and flip-tops will be perfect for Rhinebeck, so I'm going to make them from French Grey Madelinetosh Tosh DK. Some skeins of this colorway have more of a brown or rosy hue, but mine is a serene neutral gray.

So those are the colors I'm going to be using for my next 4 projects (2 of which are already started). What colors are you using, ladies?