Rhinebeck 2007
Well... next year we need to bring either a camper, or a van. Mom and I headed down Friday night, and arrived in time to set up the tent in the camping area in near darkness and a light rain. We went to dinner, and climbed into the tent around 9pm.
Did I mention the camping area is one big hill? Or that we had 30 mph winds and 2 inches of rain? Or that a vinyl sleeping bag on a vinyl tent floor means you will slid down the tent into a crumbled pile?
Around 2am, we gave up and discovered a few more interesting things. Such as, the front seats of a PT Cruiser are pretty danged comfy. And that, despite gaining weight the past 5 years, I am still limber enough to prop one foot under the brake and the other in the ashtray, and find that conductive enough to sleep for 4 hours.
Dawn arrived, and that coffee cart with the purple and white awning opened. Seriously, if you want a place to get a desperately needed shot of espresso and a chocolate pudding cake at 8am, look for that vendor.
From 7:30 to 10, Mom and I watched as the 400-some odd scheduled fleeces arrived for judging. Followed shortly by the 200 more. Yes, the rumors are true... 614 fleeces were judged Saturday! Quite a sight to see, we had them stacked on the tables, and then lined up under the tables as there was simply no room left!
The line for the sale started forming around noon, and judging ran 20 minutes late. We tried hard to keep folks happy, although the forth time I came out and said "they're doing the best in show right now," someone caught on and piped up with "you said that 20 minutes ago!" What else could I say, except "yes, but this time, I'm not fibbing!"
From 1:20 to a bit after 5pm, we wrote sales slips. I think a good 60% of the fleeces sold in those 4 hours. My hands were certainly cramped up enough.
We never made it to any of the parties, opting to grab some BBQ for dinner, and pass out (in the car again, less comfortable the second time around.)
Sunday we got to shop! I grabbed some luscious sock yarn from Tongue River Farms, an Icelandic blend in cream and light grey, and a sock book. I also grabbed Knitting In The Old Way, a book I've been looking for, a weaving toy for the boys, some alpaca sock yarn, some glittery yarn from Little Barn (because, you HAVE to buy something from Little Barn!), apple crisp with ice cream, and lots and lots of fleece managed to sneak into our bags too.
We did not see the Yarn Harlot, although I swore I saw her sweater (on someone else.) But over the three days we hooked up with old friends, and made some new ones, and discovered a smashing diner that makes frappes, even though they call them milk shakes. Mom also got to yak with the micron testing guy, look for some major news coming soon about that.
Despite the rain, we had fun. And we did find that the showers never ran out of hot water... and thank you to whomever left the goat soap, it was lovely!
Did I mention the camping area is one big hill? Or that we had 30 mph winds and 2 inches of rain? Or that a vinyl sleeping bag on a vinyl tent floor means you will slid down the tent into a crumbled pile?
Around 2am, we gave up and discovered a few more interesting things. Such as, the front seats of a PT Cruiser are pretty danged comfy. And that, despite gaining weight the past 5 years, I am still limber enough to prop one foot under the brake and the other in the ashtray, and find that conductive enough to sleep for 4 hours.
Dawn arrived, and that coffee cart with the purple and white awning opened. Seriously, if you want a place to get a desperately needed shot of espresso and a chocolate pudding cake at 8am, look for that vendor.
From 7:30 to 10, Mom and I watched as the 400-some odd scheduled fleeces arrived for judging. Followed shortly by the 200 more. Yes, the rumors are true... 614 fleeces were judged Saturday! Quite a sight to see, we had them stacked on the tables, and then lined up under the tables as there was simply no room left!
The line for the sale started forming around noon, and judging ran 20 minutes late. We tried hard to keep folks happy, although the forth time I came out and said "they're doing the best in show right now," someone caught on and piped up with "you said that 20 minutes ago!" What else could I say, except "yes, but this time, I'm not fibbing!"
From 1:20 to a bit after 5pm, we wrote sales slips. I think a good 60% of the fleeces sold in those 4 hours. My hands were certainly cramped up enough.
We never made it to any of the parties, opting to grab some BBQ for dinner, and pass out (in the car again, less comfortable the second time around.)
Sunday we got to shop! I grabbed some luscious sock yarn from Tongue River Farms, an Icelandic blend in cream and light grey, and a sock book. I also grabbed Knitting In The Old Way, a book I've been looking for, a weaving toy for the boys, some alpaca sock yarn, some glittery yarn from Little Barn (because, you HAVE to buy something from Little Barn!), apple crisp with ice cream, and lots and lots of fleece managed to sneak into our bags too.
We did not see the Yarn Harlot, although I swore I saw her sweater (on someone else.) But over the three days we hooked up with old friends, and made some new ones, and discovered a smashing diner that makes frappes, even though they call them milk shakes. Mom also got to yak with the micron testing guy, look for some major news coming soon about that.
Despite the rain, we had fun. And we did find that the showers never ran out of hot water... and thank you to whomever left the goat soap, it was lovely!
Comments
Hi! I'm Beetsie (husband was D.H. on his Ravelry button) and we met you at the fleece sale on Sunday, and again round and about.
Enjoyed your Rhinebeck story. Someone from my knitting group bought the fiber with the copper which made me think of you when I watched her spindle it up the other night.
Posted by: Iris Westcott | October 26, 2007 08:30 AM