My First Rhinebeck!

My first Rhinebeck! Woohoo!

I am happy that I was warned there was sooo much there. I am also so thrilled with the Ravelry forums. They really helped me to get a good fix on things. The spreadsheet & research really helped before hand. It gave me some good ideas about what I should see and what I could skip.

Paul dropped me off around 10:00. He headed off the Aerodrome that is super close to the fairgrounds.

First thing I did when I got there was check out The Fold. I had heard on the Ravelry forums that they had a bunch of Socks That Rock. I wanted to see the STR up close & personal. And I am happy to say, it is some yummy stuff. I definitely see what all the fuss is about. They are some beautiful colorways and super sock yarns. I definitely will buy some of their stuff.

Thing is, I got there at about 10:15-10:30. There was already a huge line to pay. So there was no way I was waiting in line to buy something I could get online. I don't really get it. I suspect I would have had to wait at least 30-45 minutes. That would have been a waste. I really do wonder why The Fold gets such a small booth & why they don't have more registers. Seems like they are loosing business. Ah well.

I did check an alpaca vendor. The yarns weren't what I wanted but they had a simple pair of premade socks. Figured that was a good purchase as they would be nice and toasty. I am sure winter will appear sometime soon, right? *grin*

I wish I could recall in which booth I found the Schaefer yarns. I have been eyeing their yarns online in a big way. I heard about them in a couple podcasts. Their colorways are so beautiful. I really love them. But they are pretty pricey.

However, I did find some Lola. Lola is made with superwash wool. However, they aren't a specific colorway like the ones listed on their site. So they are less expensive. I am going to do a separate entry with what I got & all the pics as a separate entry. So that will have more details.

I had decided to limit myself to two sock yarns with superwash wool. After doing the test swatches last week, it seems some superwash wools will work for me. Some won't. So I set myself a two types of superwash wool for socks cap to make sure I didn't go overboard.

There were a couple sock yarns I absolutely adored. There were several of the Mountain Colors sock yarns I sooooo wanted. But they are one of the price fixing companies. So there was no way I was going to buy that. I put them back and swore at them a lot. *grin* There was one or two other companies I found that had the same issue. *sigh* I really hate that. But I can't support people who won't support fair pricing.

I found a couple places with bargain bins which was kinda fun. One had $10 bags. The bags had 3-4 different yarns in a sealed bag. I purchase one bag with some mixed stuff. It included some pretty cotton yarn that was very shiny. As well as some other ones that I will probably use for donation stuff. I figured for $10, it was worth picking it up.

I did stop by the Ravelry/Blogger meeting at noon. The problem is that I am so not good with going up to people. I did say hello to Necia as she is on the 6th Borough group. I have posted to that board a lot and knew she was local. There were a lot more people there. I was already feeling overwhelmed by the number of people around. So I just couldn't bring myself to stay long. Hey, for me, going up and introducing myself to a complete stranger is an achievement. *laugh* I am just *terrible* with large social groups.

I kept seeing Cat from the Let's Knit Together podcast wandering around. I debated saying hello and telling her how much I love her podcasts. But I figured she had enough going on already. *smile*

I did have a Yarn Harlot spotting late in the day (about 4). Though again, I didn't say anything as I suspect the poor woman was probably already getting too many people coming up to her. She had on her amazing Kauni sweater which looks just like the pics. Pretty cool.

I feel a bit of an idiot though. I put together the info on all the vendors, maps, etc. What did I forget? I forgot to write down what booths had collection boxes for Hats for Alex. I did look, but didn't see anything obvious. So I carried the hat with me all day. It was small & in my purse. But I feel so goofy that I have to mail it because I forgot to write it down. *laugh* Ah well.

At about 2, I gave Paul a call. He was just about to head over to the fairgrounds to join me. He had a great time at the Aerodrome and grabbed a beer at a local brewery bar. I was glad when he joined me. But I was just as thrilled that he got a lot of time doing things he enjoyed.

When he joined me, he was amazed. I only had the Lola & the $10 bag of yarn. He was stunned. *laugh* I had seen some yarns that were nice (like the Opal ones and some others). But there wasn't anything was screaming buy me right this instance! There were some yarns that I will probably buy online at a later date. But I knew I could get them online so I didn't see the point of getting them there unless they really spoke to me.

Though on a surprise note, there were some of the Lion Brand hand painted sock yarns that tempted me. I nearly did get some. But again, didn't see the point when I could get them online.

So I spent some time thinking. I figured *if* A Touch of Twist had more of black alpaca, it was a sign that I should splurge and get enough for a sweater's worth. I have really been wanting to make a simple black cardigan with something I would wear. But it is challenging when getting enough yarn for a sweater is pretty pricey in any yarn I would really want to wear for a long time.

I went back and low and behold. They must have gotten some more stock put out. Because when I was there the first time, there were only 2 skeins. This time there were 5 large 8 oz. skeins. Which are approximately 691 yards, so 3455 yards. I think that might be more than enough.

Wow. I really should have used my calculator. I was trying to make sure I got enough for a sweater. What I found for yardage said I should have about 2500 yards. So that was what I was aiming for. Oops. Ah well. It is black. It isn't like I won't be able to do something else with it! *laugh*

I was so happy that I got to see Diane. She mentioned she might be there. She is the woman who taught me to knit. She was on the look out for me which was good. 'Cause I was not looking at all at that point. I was in overload already. I think this was around 2:30-3:30.

It was so wonderful getting to meet her daughter Claire at last. She is sooo adorable. Though the poor girl did not fair well with the car & all the commotion. But her baby booties where adorable! *grin*

In review...

I don't think I need to stay overnight. I know a lot of people swear you can't do it all in one day. For me, that wasn't true. I had enough time to look over what I wanted to see and enjoyed the experience. I was definitely in overload by the end of the day. I don't think I could have faced going back to the crowds the next day.

If I started spinning, I can *definitely* see why I would need two days. There is a ton of spinning stuff there. Since I don't, there were entire booths I could skip easily.

Also, since I have allergies, I tend to just give a quick glance to all wool places. So that also cut down on how many places I need to see.

I would love to get to some of the workshops. If I took the workshops, I would want to stay a while longer.

But I suspect next year, I will just stick with day tripping again.

I am definitely glad I did all the research. It helped me to figure out what I needed to see. I think I wouldn't have been as interested in A Touch of Twist if someone hadn't recommended them. I found with the recommendation, I took the time to take a closer look. And their prices were good for the yardage. So I am pretty thrilled.

I was definitely exhausted by the end of the day, but happily so! *grin*

I will have to do another post about the other stash acquisitions. But they should probably go on my general journal as they weren't knitting related. *smile*