rainbow roving

(Or is that Yarnbeck? Eh, Abby?)

Well, I survived my first Rhinebeck (aka, the New York Sheep and Wool Festival). I caught the Yarn Safaris bus at Riverside T stop in Newton at 7:30 am (well, I got there around 7 because I was afraid of being late). The rest of the knitters (and spinners, and crocheters) piled on the bus and we were off – a bit late, but not too bad. Abby got there a few minutes after I did. I’d been looking forward to this day not just for the wool, but to catch up, too. We chatted the whole ride there, the whole day, and the whole ride back. (My cough came back with a vengeance, but it was so much fun.) The ride to New York was beautiful. The skies were blue, the trees were gold, red, and orange. We peeped our fair share of leaves all the way there. I also started a scarf on the trip out: grey wool (Patons Classic Merino), skinny-ish, with a single cable. On the way home, I think I may have decided that it would make an awesome sleeve for a floppy sweater.

We were all anxious to get inside and start our day at the festival. (Trying our best to avoid the woman who complained the whole ride there, and while we were waiting to get in.) They ran out of maps at the front gate, but we soon found an information booth (that was cleverly not anywhere near the entrance) where we picked up a couple of programs that had a map of the grounds. I was really overwhelmed at first. But we just jumped right in.

We spent a fairly long time in “Building A,” where I bought all of my goods in this order: glass buttons, wool covered soap, lace yarn, Shetland roving, and Socks that Rock yarn. You’ll notice that I didn’t actually buy all that much yarn. I didn’t want to buy too much that I didn’t have a plan for. And I was too overwhelmed to plan on the fly. If they’d had any kits that sprung out at me, I might have bought more yarn. (Click through above to see photos of my swag.)

We walked and walked, and everywhere we were surrounded by fiber. It was amazing. My camera crapped out on me after only a few pictures, and I didn’t have any rechargables. I’d brought some alkalines, but didn’t feel like using them, because I knew I’d only get a few more photos out of those. So I just depended on Abby‘s camera all day. (She’ll be guest blogging at Spinstah‘s blog soon; I’ll update when the post is up.) We were surrounded by gorgeous yarn, fluffy roving, and fun animals. We walked through several barns, pet some sheep, llamas, and alpacas. After a few hours we were so overstimulated, we could barely take any more in. The colors! The fluff! The sheepies! The wine tasting! (Yes, wine. I think Abby bought more in wine and food than yarn. Girl’s got her priorities, you know.) We just had so much fun. I should also mention that we chatted a little bit with a very nice Rockies fan, who noticed us by my Green Monstah shirt. That was wicked cool.

I was doing pretty good by this point. I hadn’t spent too much money, and was really quite satisfied with my first Rhinebeck. But something told me I should go back to the first building we were in and go play with the spinning wheels. I had taken a flier from The Merlin Tree earlier in the day so I’d be able to do more research when I got home. But I just had to try out a wheel before I left. When I got there, there was a woman spinning. Not one of the owners, mind you, but another fiber fan: Elisa (gosh, I hope that’s her name- I couldn’t find her online, but she was wearing a Ravelry button) was spinning away. I asked her a few questions about the wheel she was spinning on (The Hitchhiker): Was it a good first wheel, how do you like it, etc. She recommended that I try out the Ashford Kiwi that was sitting next to her. She set me up, and then one of the owners came over to give me a hand. Before long, I was spinning away. I’d never spun on a wheel before, and it was pure magic. Abby woke me from my reverie (goodness knows how long I’d been spinning), and could tell that I was totally smitten. I asked several questions about the wheel, but a short while later I’d placed a deposit on my very own Ashford Kiwi spinning wheel.

I was giddy for the rest of the day. We’d be walking through some other barn, looking at the cute sheepies, and I’d be like, “Hey Abby. I bought a spinning wheel.” I did not, however, spend the most money that day, even though I’d bought a wheel. (That honor would go to the abovementioned complaining lady. Oh, well.) There was even one person who bought only food that day, and wasn’t influenced by the wool fumes at all. That shows some pretty fierce resistance. I mean, if you’re a fiber fan, and you’re surrounded by thousands of enablers, it’s a complete miracle that you’d leave that place with no wool at all. The ride home was fun, too, though my cough was getting pretty bad (I hope I didn’t annoy everyone on the bus).

We couldn’t listen to the game on the bus (out of range of any good station) and so depended on text messages from friends to get us through. (This post was written during game 7 – Go SOX!!! See you Wednesday, Rockies!) JeT and I stayed up to watch the game, and then I promptly passed right out. In my wool-drunk haze, I only vaguely realized that my Knit Picks order had come in.

It was a wild and wooly day, indeed.