Well, it's all fine and good to read about the Rhinebeck experience, but I know that for some people, the interesting part is the loot! So here's mine:
The Yarn
From top L-R: Superwash Wool sock yarn from Maple Creek Farm, Merino/Cotton sock yarn from Maple Creek Farm (colorway Parrott), Merino/Tencel sock yarn from Silver Moon Farm (colorway Smoky Plum), Aussi Merino sock yarn (colorway Atlantic Waves)
The blue on the end of that row, and all of the bottom row is sportweight merino from the Morehouse Merino sale bin.
Splurge!
This was my big yarn splurge at Rhinebeck - "Highlander" from Alpaca With a Twist. It's 45% alpaca, 45% merino, 8% microfiber, 2% viscose and super, amazingly soft. I have 9 skeins of the light green color and 1 skein of the dark green (for a contrast hem, collar or something). I'm not sure which sweater this will be, but it's going to be awesome!
And finally, the fiber:
Fiber Haul!
That's my blogger bingo messenger bag (the perfect size for hauling around the festival), 2 braids of BFL from Cloverleaf Farms - on the left is colorway "Cranberry Bog" and on the right is "Redwoods," and three "bumps" from Spinners Hill - the two small green ones are Corriedale/Finn/Rambouillet cross sheep, and the green/brown/teal is merino.
And that's what I got! Not all of these are for me - some will be gifts - but I'm very happy with my haul. The first project has already been started - a Baby Surprise Jacket from the green/yellow superwash wool.
And on an entirely different note, my 19-week ultrasound is this Friday (only 2 days!). Assuming the baby cooperates, we're planning to find out the sex. So I decided to create a poll! You have about 2 days to vote (I'll be posting the answer when I get home on Friday). I have my own feeling about what it is, but I'm interested to see what you think!
We're going to a Super Bowl party this evening - go Colts! I spent most of my formative years living just outside of Indianapolis, and I remember when they moved there from Baltimore. My first professional football game was to see the Colts with my friend Kathy and her dad, back when the stadium was called the Hoosier Dome. Most of the time I lived in the Midwest, the Colts were known as the Dolts because they were truly terrible. It's nice to see them finally having a good year. However, this will make watching the game much more stressful than most Super Bowls, where I could care less...
Since it's Super Bowl Sunday, it was also the Springwater Fiber Workshop annual early morning sale! The sale starts at 7 AM, with (marked) yarns at 60% off the regular price. At 8 AM, the sale goes to 50% off, and at 9 AM and for the rest of the day it's 40%. However, if you got there at 9 AM there probably wasn't very much left. I was there at about 7:20 and I think most of the good yarns were already gone. It was much like the Running of the Brides at Filene's Basement - people were spread out all over the floor sorting through bags full of yarn. I think the prevailing philosophy was "grab first, decide later." However, I wasn't particularly shopping for yarn (although some of the bags that went out the door looked lovely, especially at 60% off!), thanks to Knit From Your Stash. But then I was standing next to a table when someone dropped off a reject that they'd decided not to take, and that's how I wound up bringing this home:
It followed me home! Can I keep it?
That's 14 skeins of Adrienne Vittadini Dianna, a supersoft cotton/acrylic blend. And a bag of 100% lyocell, a cellulose-based fiber derived from wood, to try to spin with - I bought a shirt recently that was lyocell and it's super soft and lovely. And also "the eco friendly cotton alternative." And fairly cheap.
So that's all the yarn damage I did... and I'll play my KFYS "Get out of Jail Free Card." Now, the book table was another story... other people were surrounded by yarn, I filled my arms with books and then sat down to sort them. I did put some back, but I still managed to make it home with these:
Some light reading material!
I'm a sucker for European pattern magazines - always have been, always will be. This is a pretty good representation - Anny Blatt, Bouton D'or, Phildar, Filati, Dale, Rowan, and Adrienne Vittadini. Plus a book on designing your own knitwear by Becky's go-to reference Montse Stanley (who I'd always assumed was a man, based on the name Montse, until I saw her bookjacket photo). The first paragraph is a well-written rant about how knitters are encouraged to blindly follow patterns and not think for themselves. I love it!
Oh, but that's not all... if you're lacking for pattern inspiration, just let me know. I can probably help you out. See, these came home with me too:
They were a steal of a deal!
Mostly Vogue Knitting International, dating back to 1992, although mostly from the late 90's - early 00's. At $0.75 each I just couldn't pass them up. I love going back through magazines and seeing what new things catch my eye. I really need to sit down with these and some post-its...
I always buy back issues of magazines if I can find them cheaply, so it didn't suprise me that there were a few duplicates to ones I already had. Actually, I'm suprised there weren't more. Anyway, these 4 were already in my collection:
We're twins!
That's (clockwise from upper right) Winter 94/95, Spring/Summer 00, Fall 99, and Fall 93. And they can be yours if you want them. Just leave me a comment or send me an e-mail and I'll send them your way!
Alright, off to the party... Go Colts!
Have you ever seen a happier Sarah? My bed is made all the comfier with lots of yarn! We visited the Alafoss Lopi factory store in Mossfellbaer, Iceland. I got three pattern books and the yarn to make 3 sweaters - two for me and one for Dan. Plus a few balls of sockyarn and a bit of extras (of course!). Altogether, the yarn for the 3 sweaters cost me just a little bit more than buying one. Of course, I still have to put them together!
And then, the next day, we were at the grocery store to buy some lunch, and you'll never guess what I found... more yarn! And on clearance! Egyptian cotton for only about $1.30 a ball. So I bought some. And then there were Addi turbos for about $2. Which I also bought. Basically, our souvenirs from Iceland consist of some pictures (which I put up on the web here), a pack of playing cards with Islandic whales, some Brennivin schnapps, and the yarn. Really, that's about it. But what fun!
Is anyone a fan of Lopi yarn? It comes in a rainbow of colors, and is feltable! This coming weekend, I'm going to Iceland for three days and plan to visit the factory... E-mail me if you'd like me to pick you up some and make me an offer to trade! I'm not sure how much it will be, or even if it will be cheaper than buying it here, but I'll check it out!
Last weekend I hit a bonanza... the local Friends of the Library store is moving, so they're trying to clear out their stuff. I scoured the craft books looking for knitting, but didn't find anything. Then I went to the magazines, and found two 60's knitting mags right on top. I started digging around, and this is what I came up with:
The whole box was $10, and includes lots of 60's magazines - mostly Spinnerin, which have styles that are actually quite current (although this is my favorite cover). The 80's magazines are a totally different story - ewww!
Well, I went thrifting yesterday in search of knitting paraphernalia parepharnelia stuff. I didn't do as well as Wendy has (bags of yarn! I'm so jealous!), but I did find some great vintage pattern magazines for 50 cents...
They're from 1962 and 1963. The sweaters are pretty (most of them) but the hair is downright scary!!