It was such a nice week off. I'm ready to go again - right now - anything but having to face real life and cooking and the never-ending laundry. Sigh.
We started off going to Rhinebeck on what was supposed to be a cold, rainy, snowy day, but was in fact, chilly but very nice. All those folks who knitted Rhinebeck sweaters had to cover them up with coats. There were a very few hardy souls shivering with just their nifty new sweaters to keep them warm. The rest were much more sensible.
So of course, the Hubbo headed off to lamb burgers and lamb stew land, and I sailed off to Building A, my favorite building, where it is a real building and not a barn. Yay, heat. And of course, I shoved my way through the crowd at Brooks Farm yarn. And I bought enough yarn for a sweater for me. Are you shocked? Here are a couple of pics, but they don't do the yarn justice. It's a single, which I'm truly not fond of working in, but so pretty that I just decided to go with it. Wait until you hear me complain; it will not be a happy moment when I knit on this, but oh, those results better be awesome, because the yarn is! Solo Silk:
That was my yarn purchase at Rhinebeck. There were lots and lots of pretties around, but when you dye your own, you are not going to buy fingering wt yarn. Well, not too often.
And then I treated mytself to 2 books. When I'm on vacation, I will pay full price for a book if I really want it immediately. I consider the time browsing and dreaming of new projects to be part of the vacation experience. So, here they are:
There are some very intriguing ideas in both these books. I won't make anything exactly like the projects, although I may come close. At any rate, the browse factor has been wonderful, and well worth the bucks. I did not buy a couple of others. As much as I wanted them, I am willing to wait to buy them on Amazon or Knit Picks. Hey, cheap is good. And this way I have more money for the essentials of life. yarn, and dye and yarn.
We had a happy couple of hours at Rhinebeck and then headed north to MA to visit the kids and grands. Spent the night, and I caught the Principessa's cold. This I did not need. Ah well, it's a cold, not the flu, and certainly not a bad cold. It was a 2-day wonder, and now when the drip stops, it will be gone. She, on the other hand, is still coughing away. Not a happy moment for a little kid. Poor little thing had no energy at all. Her brother, The Kid, was his usual 9 year old self. I love 9 year old boys. They are so goofy.
And then off to Keene, NH, where we love to go and explore. We stay at a neat inn right on Main Street, and can walk to downtown and all sorts of fun stores, and then onto the library, and a great book store, etc, etc. Nothing exciting, but we like it. And we took side trips to Brattleboro, VT, and other Vermont places, including, ta da, King Arthur Flour in Norwich, VT. (pronounce nor-wich, not norrich). And what were my exciting purchases at KA: Fleischmann's yeast in a 1 pound pkg. This will get frozen and will last me a year, easily. And even more thrilling, reusable parchment paper. I can get 8-10 uses out of one sheet of this stuff. We are talking some bargain here. And then, I bought a bread form. I've wanted one of these forever. Never find them on sale anywhere, and here we were, so piffle, I just bought it. Hah.
You flour the thing very heavily, plop your dough in it, and let rise, and then gently upend it onto your baking sheet or whatever, and bake it. It will keep its groovy appearance. At least that's what I've been told. I'll let you know, maybe even take a pic.
On the way to Norwich, we somehow found ourselves at
Simon Pearce. Oh my goodness! Wow! We watched them blow glass, and it was simply amazing. These are awesome craftsmen. I would love to be able to do this. And then we checked out the shop, were blown away by the prices, and ended up buying 2 pieces that were "seconds". The regular prices, by the way, are entirely proper. These pieces take a very long time to make, and the quality is beyond amazing. But we are not rich folk, so we went to the seconds tables, and found 2 pieces that looked very good to us. A real Simon Pearce fan would know the faults, but we don't, and we love them. So, yippee for reduced prices.
Here is a pic of the
pitcher we bought. We got the medium one, and it is a perfect pitcher just for the two of us. Water with class! I'm using their pics, because mine looks dopey.
Oh, and we did make it to Green Mountain Spinnery in Putney, VT, but I bought a pattern only. A very cute hat, indeed.
And then, after all our New Hampshire/Vermont adventures, we headed south again to Hartford, CT for Stitches East. To be continued tomorrow or whenever I get the time.
Knitting news:
Yup, I got some knitting in. Started and finished a little triangular shawl in someone's fingering wt yarn. It was in my stash drawer, it's not mine, but I lost the label. Anyhow, here it is unblocked, and I think it will be cozy around my shoulders. The pattern is the
Multnomah shawl.
Oh, and the top pic of the sock is my
Lacy Waves pattern. Elder DD walked off with the socks, and I liked them, so I'm knitting them anew for me out of a skein of Linda BFL. Such amazing yarn.
Ria - Maybe I saw you in Rhinebeck? or maybe not. It was pretty busy, wasn't it?
itsJUSTme-wendy - I like hats, but I look ridiculous in them. Little head, thin hair, I look like a dork beyond dorkishness. I love knitting tams especially, and look equally stupid in them too. Only a baseball hat does it, and even that's not great. sigh.
