Last year we didn’t go to Rhinebeck, so this year we were itching to make the journey. As in the past, we opted to do an up-and-back, cramming all the yarny goodness into one day.
I bought more yarn than I intended, snagged some Christmas presents, hugged some dear old friends, ate some fried food, and left exhausted and happy.
(In case you’re curious, I wore my Madigan, which was last year’s “Rhinebeck” sweater for me, though I did not attend the festival.)
I may have broken all my previous records with this latest knit. When I saw the pattern at TNNA in June, I immediately pegged it as a fantastic Rhinebeck sweater. It was clearly ambitious, it was new and different for me (I’ve never knit a dress before), and it would show off a design by a real-life friend of mine, Anna Cohen (who designed Emily’s wedding dress, when I knit the bride a shawl). But the pattern from Imperial Knits Collection wasn’t ready yet, and the kit yet to be put together, so I had to wait and hope that I’d have enough time to finish. As September was passing me by I got more and more nervous. October 15 was coming up fast.
The kit was in my hands on September 27. A Tuesday. Two weeks and four days from the Saturday of Rhinebeck. It was do or die!!
I went to Rhinebeck yesterday and all I got was a bunch of yarn and a finished knitted dress, to boot. Oh wait, those things are wonderful outcomes of the annual New York Sheep & Wool festival!
I slept for twelve hours last night, but I think I’ve now recovered from my first full workweek at the new job, and the adventure that was Rhinebeck yesterday! Holly, Tania, and I drove up for the day on Saturday and got to pet a lot of yarn, almost get run over by a llama, say hi to a ton of old friends (some for the first time!), take in the fall foliage, and even sample some tasty noms.
I’m one of those people who gets sick after a stressful event. In college, I got sick on every visit home; for a while in Philly I was getting sick each weekend. I moved to New York, and the constant stress was such that I didn’t actually catch a cold until the week after I stopped working at my job. So after these past few weeks, in which I had a lot of fun but did a LOT, I’m now sick! And home on a Friday night, so I’m talking to you guys for the first time in ages.
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