falling

Posted on Posted in Bare Naked Wools, designing, food and garden, lace/shawls, projects

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oh boy. somewhere along the way i got lost and october just slipped through my hands, blog speaking. but i have photos to prove that it existed . . .

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we went to rhinebeck!

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and we had the best time; kim3 traveled from utah to go with us and erica betz came along for her first RB experience. and we couldn’t have had a better weekend.

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after an incredible evening in our booth at the indie untangled trunk show on friday night, we got up early to a frosty saturday morning and headed for the show. the river crossing did not disappoint; the mists were rising from the water in a spectacular show.

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our very first stop at the show was a visit to the goat barn to say hello to the friends who make our mohair chebris and cabécou yarns possible—the pinxterbloom farm gang.

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we found our producer john enjoying a quiet pre-competition hour, cuddling one of his kids who was spread out blanketing his lap. you never saw such love and affection; it’s no wonder that fleece turns into such gorgeous yarn.

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while shopping in the three bags full booth, we ran into needletime, wearing a gorgeous glentrekker cardigan knit in better breakfast DK.

i’m not sure where the next couple of hours disappeared to (i know i bought some things at stacey stanhope pottery), but before we knew it was noon and time to meet up at the annual knitspot picnic.

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beautiful hattie in her brand new bloch ness cardigan, hot off the needles. she is working the shape of that neckline; i don’t think i’ve ever seen it look more sexy.

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and with it her new design, the lady rose mitts, knit in ginny sport, color texas. we are so honored the hattie chose our yarn for her new design; aren’t they pretty? she loves that ginny sport, too; so soft and luxurious. think you hattie!

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daughter of voracious knitter brought her snow tire scarf in progress to show off at the picnic; what a terrific project she’s working up; beautiful stitchwork and promising knitting future for her.

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katharine was wearing her newly-completed empreinte crescent shawl knit in blacker farms yarn (cotswold, maybe? i keep forgetting), which absolutely glowed in the autumn sunshine. this, on top of her illas ciés pullover in ginny sport—gorgeous, both of them.

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after lunch we strolled around, running into lots of friends here and there, like eric lutz who hosted a movie night sock KAL on his podcast, sticks and twine and is working on a new men’s knitting publication. can’t wait to see it.

i made a visit to marilyn magnus‘s booth and bought a couple of small rugs for our home; marilyn is one of my favorite rhinebeck people and a wonderful weaver. her rugs are a highlight of our guest room. there were so many vendors and knitters i did not get to see this year for some reason; there just wasn’t time to see everything in one day. next year i will try to be more diligent . . .

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whew, long day at the show but we left happy, ending the day with dinner and dessert in town.

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seriously we DID eat real food beforehand.

after dinner we went to hang out with our friends and knit for the evening. they had a great rental house near the fairgrounds and once we got past the traffic to get there it was a really fun evening.

so much so that i didn’t snap even one photo all night. i brought just two projects (and a third emergency one) on this trip because i really wanted to return home with something finished. one was a mindless knitting project (because it is my third or fourth one), his silk kerchief, which i cast on for at the athens festival in ecobutterfly organic cotton sport, color forest mist.

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i did very well with my mindless knitting project and returned home with a finished kerchief. with two skeins (300 yards) of the cotton sport, i was able to complete the medium size shawlette, which is a generous kerchief or a nice shoulder warmer.

my first day home is usually full of confusion as i settle in, so i like to have a task such as blocking to ease into things.

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i love these little triangles for traveling; they serve a variety of purposes in all seasons and fold up small enough to tuck away where they can be easily reached any time.

but i’m getting ahead of myself—i wasn’t home yet; not even close!

the other project i brought was a little vest version of that violet lace cardigan i showed you last week

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which i’ve finally managed to get buttons sewn on—little glass ones that look like ice chips all the way down the front; so cute.

anyway, i thought this design would be adorable as a little vest in stone soup fingering, so i brought everything with me and cast on as soon as we got to our house in the river rock shade. lovelovelove this deep dark color with bright white news; they look like snow or stars in the night sky. this design works up so fast that even i can’t believe it.

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started on 10/12 and the pieces were all done by the 10/25, including all that travel time (i drove a lot so not much car knitting on this trip). the edgings are all narrow and worked in garter stitch so finishing is about as easy as it gets. ten simple shell buttons down the front reinforce the contrast of such a feminine design knit in classic tweed.

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it turned out exactly as i’d pictured it; i’m in love (and i don’t even wear vests as a rule, except fleece ones for running). excuse the bad lighting; the days are getting very short now, sigh.

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i love it a tad shorter and with a bit more waist nipping—still not extreme, but now it is truly curvy for a sexy look. i can just imagine this knit in the hempshaugh lace yarn for a cool, super cute summer top over a little cami or bra—so darn sexy. i just might have to knit that next.

i really enjoyed my knitting time on this trip; after the lace lessons book was published, my brain was quite fried and i was SO over working at the computer (well, still  struggling there, haha). it felt SO good to knit a lot, get outside and see people, laugh a lot. just what the doctor ordered.

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and we get so much help in that department, haha! don’t they look like trouble fun? this photo was taken on sunday after everyone had been to the show and stopped in to our popup shop at the marriott hotel.

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this is the event where we can really spread out and show off LOTS of samples and yarn. it’s a great chance for friends from far away to see everything up close, cuddle the yarn, feel the fabrics, and shop at their leisure.

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we always have an excellent day here and we so enjoy visiting with everyone who comes. so many knitters with projects in tow—either completed or in progress.

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look at cherie’s beautiful janet guthrie top that she finished just before leaving home, worn under her costa figueira vest. she is admiring a triticum cardigan back knit by another friend (i knew i should write down her name!).

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that evening just about wrapped up our rhinebeck weekend for the most part; the next day kim and i waved goodbye to erica and barb (twice, haha!) but stayed on and took a trip with katharine to crafts people, that wonderful collection of craft galleries in the woods.

it’s worth it for the driver there alone, along the back roads, deeply wooded and devoid of cell phone service. when you get there you are treated to the loveliest visit by the owners and gallerists.

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seriously, be sure to visit them all—you won’t want to miss any of it.

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a little more damage to my credit card early christmas shopping in the jewelry and woodwork gallery, then a bit more in the pottery gallery, which always weakens my resolve—there is just so much wonderful clay work there. and i am pottery ho, so there you go.

that afternoon i drove kim to the airport in albany, which gave me a chance to look in on my mom and spend a couple of night with her before heading back to ohio.

she had a bunch of things to figure out on her phone since updating to the new iOS, so after dinner with friends, we took care of that. now everyone gets balloons with their texts, haha, whereas before, it was purely accidental.

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the next morning was spectacularly warm and while she was off making visits at the nursing home, i treated myself to a hike in the nearby pine bush, where autumn was putting on her fancy clothes.

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they have really cleaned up and developed this trail—not so far as to pave it with wood chips or anything but it’s a little less muddy and you have to wade through a lot less brush now.

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it’s still quite hilly in a good way; more challenging than a mere walk in the woods. in fact a couple of those hills would be difficult if there was mud or ice.

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but that makes for some nice views inside the bush and lots of peace and quiet—it’s also much cleaner than a lot of flat trails i’ve been on in other parks.

after lunch we got her christmas gift ordered and then i got her started knitting her first triangle shawl with some briar rose sundance i’d bought for her in the summer (the purple on the left below; the other one is for me).

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she decided on double happiness; by the time i left she was knitting away and has had only one question since i left her on her own. i should have an update over thanksgiving when we see her again; she might need help getting started with the hem pattern. but then, she’s really looking forward to wearing it, so she’s pretty motivated to keep going and good at figuring things out on her own.

the next day was the long drive home, always a little grueling when doing it alone, especially in the haul full of booth stuff. but it was nice to have some alone time for thinking too; i try not to waste any opportunity, haha.

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back home, erica and i took an afternoon to get the shop back in order, with all new fall outfits and accessories to prepare for deep knitting season. since the holidays are not to far off, people like to come and shop now for special accessory projects. we love this big, cozy slow dog noodle wrap, which can be knit in a scarf size as well (in fact it was last year’s red scarf pattern).

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i’m noticing a lot of hat patterns flying out the door of our pattern shop; we have a lot to choose from and most of them are multi-sized which makes things easy for holiday knitting.

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knitters are also fingering samples for bigger projects that they plan to knit after the holidays during selfish knitting month and beyond—sweaters, blankets, and big shawls.

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and so nice to get the shop looking tidy and put together. it’s becomes a little disordered over the summer when we are constantly taking things out to shows and returning them not quite as neatly.

since i’ve been back i’ve been knitting a lot, mostly on secret projects, but i do have some things to show you as well—next time—i just realized how late it is and how long i’ve been running on. i promise i make it soon.

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8 thoughts on “falling

  1. Oh that little lace cardigan is calling my name! I swear next year I’m making it to your pop up!

  2. It’s lovely to see everyone you know on Ravelry! It looks like you all had fun at Rhinebeck!

  3. Lovely post! Thanks for sharing all your Rhinebeck fun. I haven’t been for a couple of years. The Saturday morning traffic is, well, daunting. Love the look of that new vest. Seeing photos of the pop-up shop remind me of several unfinished projects….

  4. Hi Anne – what fun reading about Rhinebeck after being there! I am so happy for you that it, and your popup shop on Sunday worked out well! What fun to scroll through the pictures and see pictures of me with my 3 friends at your popup, Andrea, Lynn and Cindy! Thanks for giving us a thrill, along with gorgeous yarns and patterns!

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