Finally got around to posting this. There was a lot to show. See!
I took a kinda weird route this year. The program said there were spinning demonstrations starting at 10 in one of the back buildings. So I decided to go through Building A, then hit building 30. After that I went to 36 which is behind 30. I did stop in the area but the woman wasn't spinning when I went back there. She was talking with someone so I decided to wander off. I hit the back row of buildings, coming back around to the front row. Though I almost missed the building next to 30 that way which has some good stuff in it.
I wanted to go to building 30 early as Decadent Fibers were there. That is where I ordered the beautiful fiber that they custom dyed for me. (I need to take some more shawl picks before I post them.) I wanted to show them how great it turned out. However, they were busy with customers. And unfortunately, they only had a few bags of the Spun Sugar fiber I really wanted to try. None of it was in colors that grabbed me. So I wandered along.
Susan's Fiber Shop was really close by. They had some beautiful Hand Dyed Merino Top by Frabjous Fibers. It was the #7 Purple People Eater colorway (4 oz.). Yummy purples and super soft. So it was my first purchase.
More wandering, petting fibers. In building 39, I came to Cloverleaf Farms . They had some lovely stuff.
I think all the stuff they were selling was theirs. But I am honestly not sure. The Merino Top in Midnight (4 oz.) had their tag. I also bought some silk fiber & hankies that weren't marked as theirs. But I think they were created by them.
I do love silk though I confess I haven't had any silk on the wheel yet. So I am kinda nervous about that. The only pure silk I had before was some silk hankies which I have used with the spindle. It will definitely be interesting to see how they work out.
I think the next vendor where I made purchases was
I had been looking at Chasing Rainbows Dyeworks and Three Bags Full online for a while now. So it was great to actually see them in person. They are some yummy fibers.
The Three Bags Full is on my wheel already. I don't know why I chose that one first. It was just what spoke to me when I was deciding what to put on my bobbin next. It is really lovely. The blend I have is a burgundy sort of color with bits of dark blue, yellow, black and such. It is wool with silk noil & some black nylon in it. Really interesting to work. I am definitely enjoying it. Though the noil definitely adds texture to it. So this will not be a uniform yarn. But the bits are smaller than you might think. So it isn't super textured. But definitely nice. The picture really doesn't do it justice.
Chasing Rainbows Dyeworks does amazing colorways. And oodles of them. It is 2 oz. of silk. So soft and shiny. Of course I picked the purple... *laugh*
It finally got so bad with my fiber purchase I decided no more purple fiber! *laugh* I did say I could get some red or if I found some alpaca, I could do that. So of course I found some more purple with alpaca in it at Spinners Hill.
This stuff has some beautiful color & sheen to it. It also feels amazing. It is wool, mohair, alpaca & silk. Yum! I got 8 oz. of that. I was tempted by more as it was so nice and the price was really good.
Shortly after this, my husband headed off to the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome to watch the air show (which ran from 2-4). He took all the bags back to the car for me. Such the great hubby he is!
Somewhere along the way I picked up some oil in a bottle with a long point so you can put the oil in hard to reach areas. Honestly, I don't recall who the vendor was.
Creatively Dyed was outside in a tent between two buildings. They had some yummy sock yarn. And I hadn't bought any yarn yet! *gasp*
Of course, how could I not buy the red & black? *grin*
And the other one has seacell which I have been dying to try to but hadn't found in colors I liked yet. So it is kinda perfect.
There is a building next to 30 that I almost missed. I thought it was just stuff that was at the fairgrounds normally. But I decided to wander through. Turns out it is a bunch more vendors. I got a bag marked "Romney Rolls" balls of different colors. Most are reds or purples. It was only $8 for the 4 oz. so I figured it would be fun to try them out.
I wandered back to building A in hopes that I could try out one of the little spinning wheels. I think it was the Hitchhiker from Merlin Tree. They were around $270-290 and wood. So I figured it was worth testing one out. But they were still occupied when I stopped there.
That lead to my second knitting celeb spotting for the day. I saw Amy Singer of Knitty.com & No Sheep for You early in the day when I was wandering. At the spinning stand was Stephanie, The Yarn Harlot. In both cases, I just let them be. I figure they are there to shop, not be harassed by people! That is what book signings are for. *chuckle*
Speaking of sightings, I did see
I also had wandered back to Building A to look at the Golden spindles again. They are incredibly beautiful and I have heard their spindles will spin for eons. But try as I might, I couldn't justify to myself spending $50 at the low end or $95 for the one I really wanted. *sigh* Spindles are beautiful, but I really prefer spinning on my wheel. I know, I know. Spinners argue you can always use the spindle when you don't have your wheel. It is portable. (Mind you, I have taken my Babe wheel to the
I finished off with Building E. Why? Because that has all the food stuffs to take home! *grin* I had to get the maple cotton candy again. It was too yummy not to. I also picked up some maple stuff for Paul. I also got some blackberry honey for Paul. The twenty different kinds of honey we have simply aren't enough. *laugh* Then the meat... I got two types of lamb sausage, ground lamb, venison burger & venison summer sausage. Yum! We will have frozen meaties for a while. *licks lips*
I confess that I am most surprised that I couldn't find the one thing I said I needed and looked for at about 5 different places that had spinning items. I want a Spinners Gauge WPI Card. It is a card with different widths so you can see if you are matching the thickness you want to spin. I really though someone would have it! But if they did, I missed it completely.
So much yummy fiber, only a little yarn and a lot of tasty food. Paul and I went a brewpub called the Gilded Otter for dinner. We went there for the first time after last year's NY Sheep & Wool. So we wanted to go back again. After that we also hit Half Time. *licks lips* And got more stash of another kind... *grin*
All in all, a wonderful Rhinebeck! I think year two was even better than the first year.
