Rhinebeck Reflections

It's taken me awhile to post this, since I cancelled internet at my house, and my iPad has to be connected to work.  I am at my favorite coffee shop, on this rainy Sunday morning, where I came to grade papers, drink delicious coffee, and use their wifi.

Rhinebeck 2017 is in my rear view mirror, alas.  It was my 7th time attending; my first four trips were one day visits with my daughter, Meredith, but the last three have been the full weekend plus some.  My knit girls and I stayed in Saugerties again, in an AirB&B along the Esopus Creek, a little ways outside of the actual town, but still close enough to visit the Perfect Blend Yarn & Tea Shop, and eat at Rock da Casbah.


The weather was way too warm for me, but at least it wasn't raining, so I won't complain.  I thought the Saturday crowd was the biggest one yet, but Sunday was perfect.  I ate apple cider doughnuts, apple crisp, and even had a pumpkin crisp this year, which was amazing.  I had planned to get Artichoke French, but that didn't happen, so I'll get it next year.

I thoroughly enjoyed people watching, as usual, and by people watching, I mean knit wear watching. Even though it was warm, the knit wear did not disappoint.  It's just so much fun to talk to perfect strangers about what they are wearing!

Our group may have overscheduled ourselves a bit, but we enjoyed almost everything we did.  We went to Needles Up and Indie Untangled on Friday, and to the Mason-Dixon Pie Party on Saturday after leaving the fairgrounds.  We had planned to go to Jill Draper's studio as well, but the traffic was so bad going over the Rhinecliff Bridge that we skipped it in favor of hearing the authors of Minnesota 52 speak at Perfect Blend Yarn Shop.  Although we hated to miss Jill Draper, something had to give, and the ladies at Perfect Blend were so lovely, that we were very happy with our decision.

 

We made sure to spend some time sitting on the creek side deck on Sunday after leaving the fairgrounds, especially since the weather was so perfect for it.  You will notice that along with the coffee cups, there are glasses, which held Melissa's amazing gin and tonics.  I'm not normally a fan of gin, but hers were delicious.

 

 

     

Our AirBnB, on Sunday afternoon.

 

 

 

 

 On the porch at the Mason-Dixon Pie Party; beautiful porch, house, and setting, not to mention, delicious pie and friendly knitters.

 

 

 

 

 

Saturday's crowd.

 

 

Sunday's crowd was much smaller, which made it more relaxed of a day.

 

 

 

 The view from the apple cider doughnut stand; I just love the leaves and blue sky up there in October.  

 

 

 

 

Some of the animals that make what we do possible.

 

 

 

 

 

One of the booths had this cool display: a cork ball with aluminum needles radiating out of it.  It reminded me of the space age decor from the early sixties; I think it would look great in the FibreSpace shop in Alexandria, since they use that theme.

 

 

I finished Lori's hat, but none of us needed it.  Oh well, we'll have them for next year.  

One of the fun things we do is give each other gift bags; usually cool things we find over the course of the year.  I bought a variety of stuff in NYC to give, and Kristin bought us this fabulous felt bag from StevenB's shop in Minnesota when she visited it in the summer. She also gave us these adorable stitch markers from A Needle Runs Through It.  Half the markers are images of knitwear items, and the other half are NotSafeForWork sayings.  They are so funny!!

 

 

I can't remember if we took a photo of the packed car on our first trip, but we did last year and this is the 2017 shot.  Although it looks jammed, it actually has less than last year, as we all showed some restraint.

 

 

 

I still have to photograph my purchases, but this is the first thing I bought, and I couldn't wait to get started on it.  It's a Wishmaker Mitts kit from Magpie Fibers, which I bought at Indie Untangled.  It was the last kit she had and I snapped it up; I think it's gorgeous.

 

 

The third color is cream and the design is a dandelion at the make a wish stage.  I have a feeling this will knit up fast since the chart and design are so addicting to knit.  

 

 

Hope everyone has a lovely week, doing what makes you happy.   

 

Almost forgot to include a picture of Gracie!  Two pictures of her at one of her favorite places to hang out:

 

 

Rhinebeck Eve

My friends and I decided to start the Rhinebeck party early this year, so we left Thursday after work and drove to the foot of the Delaware Bridge. We got to the hotel around 11p.m., and celebrated with a glass of wine.  

 

This allowed us to arrive in Saugerties for a late lunch at Rock da Casbah, before checking into our AirBnB.  We went to the Needles Up event, and the Knitting Garage, before driving over to Kingston for Indie Untangled, and wrapped up the day with dinner at the Olympic Diner.

 

 

It was our first time at Indie Untangled, and although the vendors were wonderful, it was way too crowded for me.  It was nice to see some designers, as well as some gorgeous knitwear; this jacket/sweater was amazing!

 

 

We lucked out with yet another beautiful AirBnB; this year's house is right on a creek, and has two decks.  The weather, while too warm for my taste, is beautiful.

 

 

 

Lots more tomorrow!  Now I have to get to bed, so we can get an early start.  

 

 

 

 

 

October is My Favorite

October is my favorite time of year, although it still feels like summer around here.  I'm trying to get my house ready for the cozy season, even though I'm still having to use the air conditioner.  Last week, I hung some twinkle lights in my kitchen, and I love them!  Alicia Paulson was my inspiration; I've wanted to do this for years, ever since I first saw her blog photos, and I finally did it.  It makes washing my dishes so much more pleasant, especially since my ceiling light quit working.  And the smell of the Mrs. Myers Apple Cider dish soap makes it even better.

The skies have been simply gorgeous lately.  I took these pictures last Thursday after work, but the morning sky has been just as lovely.

I found a surprising amount of sea glass on my walk too.  One of these days I'm going to use the glass for something, but until then, I'll just enjoy having little bowls of it here and there around the house.

I finished my Bousta Beanie well ahead of my Rhinebeck deadline.

I deviated from the pattern at the very end; instead of switching back to the dark grey, I finished up with the blue, for a brighter look.

And because I finished early, I started a second one.  My friend, Lori, had cataract surgery last Monday, and isn't going to be able to see well enough in time to knit her own, so I'm knitting hers for her.  I started on it last night, while watching my Sunday night PBS shows.

This is Homecoming week at school; the theme is A Night at the Movies.  One of the activities is a door decorating contest, and I think my students did a phenomenal job on our door!

I'll finish this disjointed post with a picture of Gracie, relaxing as usual.

As always, I wish you peace and joy.