Rhinebeck Haul

But first, the Rinebeck sweater that wasn’t.

This is what the sweater looked like last Wednesday evening. Then, it was an almost complete sweater.

It would have been completely possible to finish the hem, the sleeves, neck, and add a zipper by Saturday, a lot of work, but still possible. But then I realized I wouldn’t have a chance to get the zipper by Saturday.

I know I could have finished the sweater, and closed it with a shawl pin for the day, but then the waist was a bit wonky, and I probably should have ended the decreases a few rounds earlier, and it ended up kind of longer than expected, and if I wasn’t pushing to finish the sweater for Saturday, then well…

If you look carefully at the photo, you’ll see there are no needles in the sweater.

Now, it looks exactly like it did two weeks ago.

At least it’s a quick knit, and it could have been worse. A lot worse. (See, if you haven’t already Yarn Harlot-Rhinebeck sweater, and Carin of Round the Twist-Rhinebeck sweater. You might want to sit down.)

So the sweater is sitting in the corner for a bit, and new yarn/fiber is making me feel a bit better about the whole thing.

So, the first thing I bought was this beautiful skein from Bittersweet Woolery. Her shop seems to be on vacation at the moment, but if you go through the sold items there’s some great stuff (personally, I’m a fan of the first item ‘sterling’ in lace weight.) The first skein I got was a lace weight (big surprise there), 875 yards, 80/20 merino/silk, color name ‘ghost violet.’ I spend most of the day petting it, and I actually went back at the end of the day for a second skein from her.

Again lace weight, 875 yards, 80/20 merino/silk, this time in the color ‘black dragonfly.’ (I really need to stop buying this shade of blue, I’ve now got three skeins that are all basically this same color, all in varying lace weights.)

These two skeins were the only ones I bought. I figure with all of the yarn I have, and the very limited amount of knitting time, I probably shouldn’t go crazy with the yarn buying any time soon.

I actually went to Rhinebeck with two things in mind. A set of light weight, metal, small stitch markers that would work well for lace weight yarn, and fiber because I had none.

Yes, that’s correct, before this weekend I had no fiber stash. I had a couple bits of random fibers (less than an ounce type stuff), and I had a small fleece sitting in time out until I decide what to do with it, but that was all. So new three bumps of fiber came home with me.

First up, this is one of the stitch markers. The tag only has ‘Jewelry for your Yarn’ which I couldn’t find a website for with a quick google search, but I’m really happy with them. They’re about a centimeter in diameter, very light weight which is exactly what I was looking for, and they each have a different colored bead.

For the fiber, first up I got this beautiful stuff.

It’s 4oz of superwash merino from West Elm Farm, in a very deep blue, I can’t wait to start playing with it.

This braid of fiber (both pictures are the same braid, but different sides) came from Happy Hands Yarns. It’s 4 oz of polwarth in the colorway ‘Landslide.’ I’ve never spun polwarth before, so I’ll be interested in seeing how it differs from merino and merino/silk blends, which are what I have the most experience with.

And finally I got these 4 oz from the vender across the aisle from the Sanguine Gryphon’s booth (which had quieted down by the time I got there, but was still packed).

It’s from Biltmore Wool Barn (which doesn’t seem to have a website, but if you google them, they seem to come up on a handful of other sites), again it’s 4 oz of superwash merino. I (obviously) couldn’t wait to start spinning it, and it’s coming out beautifully, so soft and squishy.

All in all, I think I was rather restrained. 2 skeins of yarn, 3 bumps of fiber, and a set of stitch markers, I’m sure I could have done a lot more damage.

I’m still working on the Namaste-Hermosa review which I hope to get up soon-ish, and I’m still trying to make knitting progress, which I’ll post about soon (hopefully).