Rhinebeck!

I'm officially the worst blogger in the world!  I promise I'm going to start posting once a week...

Anyway, I figured it was time to share some pictures from Rhinebeck!  (aka the NY Sheep and Wool Festival)

It was a gorgeous (but cold) day at the fiber festival.

Lots and lots of people as usual!

I only took a couple of pictures of my stuff on display, and I can only show one of them as the other is of a gift that has not yet been given!

I walked all over the yarn display looking for my yarn, only to find it with the first place winners!  Boy was I shocked!

I took lots of pictures once I got all my stuff back though!

A superfine merino/cashmere/mulberry silk blend entered in the blended category.

Colorwork wool mittens entered in the special item (mittens & gloves) category.

Suri alpaca/llama entered in the exotic category.

A handspun camel/silk cabled lace cowl entered in the small item handspun yarn category.  I also entered a pair of socks in the commercial yarn category but they didn't place!  Apparently I have tension issues...

The winning skein...100% BFL in the 2 ply natural wool category.

100% merino in the 2 ply dyed category.

All in all I didn't do too bad!  I also had a shetland yarn entry that didn't place, but it was definitely the worst of my skeins.  Now to plan for next year!  And of course to get all of these gorgeous pieces up on Etsy!

Rhinebeck Projects!

I realize it is only July, but I decided to start planning my Rhinebeck projects for this year!

Rhinebeck (NY Sheep and Wool Festival) is an amazing fiber fest held in October.  I'd visited once while I was at Hartwick, and had to go back last year.  I took a class last year, which was a bit of a waste of money, but the festival is always worth the trip.

Disc dog exhibit at Rhinebeck last year.

Last year I entered 2 skeins and 2 finished projects.  One skein got disqualified because I didn't have the fiber labeled (the website didn't tell you to do that!), and one project got disqualified because it contained bamboo (which apparently isn't a natural fiber).  But of the remaining 2 items, I got a 3rd with the skein (2-ply Polwarth) and a 2nd with the felted bag.

My disqualified cowl and the Polwarth skein that got judged.

My Rhinebeck winnings!

I'm still not going to go crazy this year, but I wanted to do a few more projects and skeins to enter.

Luckily one project is already done!  I made my sister a pair of socks for her birthday, which isn't until November, so they're going to Rhinebeck first!

Next up is a surprise project, as it is another gift that the recipient doesn't know about!

The third project is going to be a pair of gorgeous color work mittens.  I'm hoping that I have some Knit Picks Palette at home in suitable colors, so I don't have to buy 8 balls of yarn!

And last but not least is a gorgeous cowl.  It will be knit with handspun camel/silk.

Camel/silk yarn.

I may or may not enter my handspun sweater as well...can't decide!

My handspun sweater.

Rhinebeck (aka NY Sheep & Wool Festival) 2013!

I had a pretty busy weekend last week...spent most of the day Saturday spinning at the Hamilton Farmer's market (unfortunately didn't sell a whole lot), and then spent ALL day Sunday at Rhinebeck (aka the NY Sheep and Wool Festival)!

I've always wanted to take a spinning class at a fiber festival, and I figured Rhinebeck was the place to do it!  I found 2 spinning classes that looked interesting, and ended up signing up for the one about spinning different thicknesses in yarn (I think it was called "Spin it Thick, Spin it Thin").  The class started at 9am, and Rhinebeck is almost 3 hours from Norwich, so it was quite the early morning.  The class was very interesting, but I didn't get as much out of it as I was hoping.  (I'm hoping that means I know more about spinning than I originally thought!)  It was still a great experience though.

After the spinning class, I went to check out my competition entries.  About a month ago, I sent 4 items to be judged: a felted bag with flowers, a handspun Polwarth skein, a handspun alpaca/silk skein, and a handknit cowl.  As it turns out, I can't read directions and the festival management can't write directions!  I had the cowl disqualified because I used yarn with bamboo, which apparently isn't a "natural" fiber.  I also had the alpaca/silk skein disqualified because I forgot to write the fiber content on the information card, even though the directions didn't say to do so!  I was bummed, but my other 2 items placed well so I can't be too upset.  My Polwarth skein got 3rd in the 2-ply natural wool class, and the felted bag got 2nd in the felted class!

My Polwarth skein is the white one in the middle with a ribbon!

My felted bag!

Another picture with better lighting.

And of course the most important part of the day was shopping!  I had 2 Christmas presents to shop for (one was yarn for a cowl, the other can't be mentioned), and found exactly what I was looking for.  I also splurged and bought some roving for myself...8oz of dyed Cormo pencil roving, 1 pound of natural Cormo roving, and 4oz of dyed silk!  I have no idea what I'm going to do with any of it, but it was too gorgeous to pass up!  I'm actually thinking about knitting something for myself out of the dyed Cormo!  (Shame on me for not taking pictures of my loot!)

Rhinebeck is also great because of all the entertainment they have!  They once again had frisbee and flyball demos from a dog rescue group, as well as sheep herding!

Frisbee!

Border collie herding sheep.

She was really good!

Gotta love the border collie crouch!

I miss flyball so much!

It was a long weekend, but all in all a great one!  I have one more long day tomorrow (another farmer's market day in Hamilton), but I'm going to sleep in on Sunday!

Short Update and Opinions Needed

Well, I've calmed down...  The dog fiasco has become less of a worry, and the llamas are settling in nicely.  They've finally explored the entire pasture, and are working on picking up every burr out there!

Bluff also left for her new home today.  It was a bittersweet moment...I'll definitely miss her, but she's going to a FABULOUS home and I couldn't be happier!  I can't wait to see what she gets to do with her new family!

A much fuzzier Bluff...this picture is about 5 years old!

And now for the opinions I need!  I've finally started my first Rhinebeck project!  I'm making a felted bag, which gets flowers and leaves sewn onto the front (they aren't felted).  I bought yarn from Knit Picks, but ended up not getting enough of the main color for the bag, so I "borrowed" some from my mother-in-law.  I love how the bag looks now (it is a lot more colorful), but my original yarn for the flowers now doesn't work!  So I need something new.  I searched through the yarn stash again today, looking for options...  I need to knit flowers AND a vine with leaves, so the pictures show two colors (green and something else) that I would use.

#1 (blue).  Probably my favorite option.

#2 (white), and #3 (yellow).

#4 (dark pink).

#5 (light pink).

#6 (light blue/grey).

So...which color do you think I should use?  Technically I could use two colors, if you think more color on the bag would look better!  I appreciate the help!