Rhinebeck

I managed to get myself to the NY Sheep and Wool festival this year – and it was pretty munch perfect.

Nana took the girls so I could have a restorative, grown up, weekend with fiber people. (if by “grown up” you understand that I ate pizza for dinner two nights in a row, pop tarts for breakfast two mornings in a row, and I was a role model for NO ONE.)

The sheep (and goats, and llamas, and alpacas) were adorable.

(that’s an angora goat, they grow mohair fiber. But I’m pretty sure it’s actually a Muppet come to life)

The fleece fumes were so powerful that I picked up a turkish spindle and some fiber, even though fiber was the ONE THING I wasn’t supposed to buy last weekend)

I regret nothing.

There was also an unexpected sweater quantity of yarn. (also an unplanned purchase)

And its enough for a colorwork sweater, no less.

But I didn’t get one of these:

No thanks, I don’t need to ask. I’m pretty sure this sign tells me everything I need to know.

I did drop my new spindle, twice, and from fairly high up in the train station:

Luckily it’s made of wood.

Rhinebeck is full of amazing knitterly people; old friends, and friends I just haven’t met yet. So thank you all for just being you.

(and no, I didn’t finish my Rhinebeck hat in time)

Summer School with Kim!

Vermont Public Radio’s summer school program* learns to spin yarn this week! They visited my friend Kim Goodling over at Grand View Farm.

VPR recorded an audio postcard for you! Listen to the MP3 on their site. You’ll hear Kim talk about carding and spinning her wool. It’s a great little spot for one of my favorite local farms.

*I love my local public radio. These Summer school tidbits come on at the end of the lunch hour and cover all sorts of fun things from throwing a curve ball to tying a fishing fly.

Lambs

I promised you lamb photos!

And I didn’t want you to think I’d forgotten!

These guys are adorable and tiny and HUNGRY and maybe 3 days old?

Yeah, it’s a bit early for there to be lambs. The farmer said he had a ram get loose in the ewe pen this one time… I guess the ram was pretty excited about his job on the farm and just couldn’t wait to get started.

baby sheepies

I had a LONG but FUN weekend. Sunday we drove down to NH and back in one day (6 hours in the car) and I’m currently functioning on 3.5 hours of sleep (good times!)

But it was awesome to see everyone. We had a great spread of traditional Superbowl type foods, except almost everything was made from scratch: spinach dip, slow cooked kielbasa, meatballs. Neil made maple peppercorn chicken wings with wings that we and my parents grew. Even the maple syrup was home made…

Saturday was equally awesome. I went over to the sheep farm where I bought my montadale fleece last year to see the shearing again (no fleece this year, I’m still working on last year’s purchase). Along with tea, biscuits, and a friendly knitting circle there were also baby sheep at the farm!

Who can resist baby sheep?! I even took pictures of the baby sheep to show you all! But apparently I’ve left my camera cable at home. So no sheep for you! At least not today. And since Neil’s holding down the home fort while I take off for some job training these next few days may be fairly boring here on the blog. I know I can post from my phone, and upload pictures from my phone… Maybe I’ll see if I can combine the two. But only if I see something post-worthy.

In the mean time enjoy your knitting, keep spreading the word about scarves for cancer research, and I’ll bring you adorable lamb photos next time.