A Rhinebeck Adventure
I love going to fiber festivals. Especially in the Fall! And the New York State Sheep & Wool Festival in the town of Rhinebeck, NY never disappoints.
There is something infinitely life-giving and restorative about being outdoors, enjoying the beautiful colors of turning leaves on the trees, taking in the gorgeous yarns and spinning fibers on offer by the vendors, admiring all the lovely fiber bearing animals, learning new skills and techniques in classes, eating yummy festival food and drinking hot apple cider, and the best part of all – connecting with other fiber artists and making new friends!
For the last few years, going to the NY State Sheep & Wool Festival has been my get away, my vacation, my “me” time. I look forward to it all year long. Sunny always goes with me. Though riding in the car all day on the trip up to NY is not her favorite, she is a trooper and my faithful companion. This year, she was more comfy on the drive up than ever before due to the wonderful custom “Mastiff Platform” designed and built for us by Carl. It is sturdy and perfectly fitted to the back seat of my car so that Sunny can relax on a flat, non-slip surface without falling into the footwells. We made her riding space cozy by layering her favorite sheepskin rug, two blankets, and her bed on top of the platform, and she snoozed in style all the way to NY!
This year we rented a beautiful cozy cabin in the Catskills about a 45 minute drive from the Dutchess County Fairgrounds where the festival is held. The views were lovely, the neighbors were very kind, and we were able to truly relax and enjoy ourselves.
I planned to take Friday to just rest and do enjoyable activities after the drive down and before the Festival began. This was a very good thing, because I happened to come down with the most awful virus a few days before and really needed the rest. Sunny and I spent the day walking outside in the beautiful woods and napping.
I was also able to make some rolags for the long-draw spinning class I had signed up for.
Here are some of the views around our cabin that we enjoyed…
Saturday was the first day of the festival proper. I bounced out of bed bright and early, and arrived in plenty of time to snag a decent parking spot and enter just as the festival opened! I visited and shopped some of my favorite vendors: Avalon Springs Farm, Clemes & Clemes, Flying Goat Farm, Thread & Maple, Wing & A Prayer Farm, many of whom I follow along with on Instagram. It was so fun to connect with them in person! I also made a new friend almost immediately – a lovely lady named Linda, who runs a llama farm with her husband. She shared hilarious stories about their travels and the many activities they bring their llamas to participate in, such as library and nursing home visits! Her booth was full of so many lovely skeins of yarn made from her beloved llamas, but I was instantly drawn to this wonderful unique hat she had made (shown below).
Speaking of personal connections, the first time I went to the NY Sheep & Wool Festival (in 2022, I believe), I happened to meet the lovely Jenn Lampen of Synaptic Stitches. Her new design, the Braintree Shawl, which she was wearing at the time, was absolutely captivating. She told me all about it, let me touch and examine it, and showed me to the Fiber Optics Yarn booth where I could get the gorgeous yarn to knit one for myself!
I did knit my own Braintree Shawl, and I love it dearly, both the shawl itself and the knitting journey to get there. Jenn’s patterns are a wonderful mix of deeply satisfying challenges and relaxing restful knitting. They are extremely well-written and thoroughly edited and tested. Jenn delivers the complete package as she encourages every knitter to “Knit Fearlessly” and diligently creates detailed patterns and very helpful video tutorials to assist one in doing just that!
The following year, I wore my completed Braintree shawl at the festival, and happened to bump into Jenn (below)!
She was happy to see me with my completed shawl, and I was excited to tell her all about what a wonderful experience I had knitting her design! In fact, it is possible that I may have a Braintree shawl constantly on my needles from here on out as I love knitting the pattern so much! I am currently working on a Braintree for my niece, Claire (shown below), and have also promised one to my dear friend, Gina!
This year Jenn and I planned a meet up to say hello and catch up in person! It was so fun to see her and she even gave me a sneak peak at some up-coming designs she is working on! Keep your eye out folks, for exciting new designs from Jenn! (You can sign up for her newsletter on her homepage to stay in the loop!)
In the afternoon, I took an excellent class on long-draw spinning taught by the wonderful Heavenly Bresser. I have been wishing to learn to spin in the woolen style in order to create softer, loftier yarns. However, I had struggled fruitlessly attempting to learn it on my own. Heavenly is an amazing teacher, and her class was just what I needed! She took us through specific exercises, step by step, to wean us off of our worsted spinning ways and teach our hands to do something new. We were encouraged to take notes. She even showed us how to select the appropriate types of fiber and correctly prepare rolags for woolen spinning. I am by no means a proficient long-draw spinner yet, but now I have the tools and knowledge I need to practice, and I hope with time, to master the technique and create some lovely soft woolen yarns! That evening I stayed up (perhaps a little too late?) practicing my new skills!
Sunday morning I woke up later than I meant to and rushed to get out the door. Fortunately, I made it to the festival in plenty of time for the class I had signed up for on knitting a Shetland Hap Shawl. This was a fabulous class as well, taught by the excellent Donna Kay. She explained the history of the Shetland Hap Shawl, and guided us through knitting a sample sized shawl. Traditionally, most haps are square, but we made small triangular samples for the sake of time.
We used authentic Shetland wool yarn, and learned how to knit the three sections of the shawl: center, border, and edging. At the end of class, she gave us each a copy of her pattern for a full-sized Shetland Hap, and made us promise to send her pics of our finished pieces! I am really excited to choose yarn and get started on mine!
After class, there were still a couple of hours left to enjoy the festival. So I grabbed a quick lunch and went to visit the animals…
4:00 pm came around much sooner than I expected, and I grabbed a quick selfie by the 2024 NY State Sheep & Wool Festival banner on my way out. It really is true that time flies when you’re having fun!
It was a wonderful, relaxing evening with Sunny back at the cabin before an early start on the drive home in the morning.
Sunny was having strong feelings about bumps in the road and kept shoving her way into the passenger seat up front with me! She did not care that there were bags of our belongings and bottles of Gatorade and even road-trip snacks on the passenger seat. She perched herself atop all of it and regarded me with a very self-satisfied smirk on her lovely face! (She is so funny! XD) Because there is really not enough room for her in the passenger seat (even without bags, Gatorade, or snacks), it is not safe for her to ride there. So I had to keep pulling over and putting her back into the backseat in her custom-created comfy space! Eventually she realized that I would just keep putting her back, and she finally settled in and stayed put for the last three hours of the drive. XD
Now we are settled back in at home, enjoying the comforts thereof, and all the gorgeous yarn and fiber that came home with us…
I’m so excited for all the making I’m going to do with all of these!
As a knitter, I don’t often get to wear knits made by someone else. So it is really special to have a hand-made piece from another knitter who bestowed it with joy.
And of course Sunny and I are super glad to be reunited with our dear Tango who was lovingly cared for by a friend while we were away!
What adventures have you enjoyed this year? Share your experiences in the comments, we’d love to hear all about it!
sarah inskeep designs 