rhinebeck visited!

this year we *finally* made it to the Rhinebeck Sheep and Wool festival! we drove down friday and stayed the night in Kingston at the Marriot Courtyard. it was a short drive away from the fairgrounds and a nice hotel. we knew right away we were in the right place--everyone had a wheel or knitting basket in tow.
we got up early saturday morning and joined the very long line of cars waiting to get in. the weather was perfect and the foilage was breathtaking. we started at one end of the festival and gradually worked our way through the barns (along with a billion other people).
lots of dyed stuff, lots of fall colors, and lots of sock stuff. (have i mentioned i hate socks? not just knitting socks, but i hate wearing them. and i can't imagine knitting a sock for Hus's size 13 that shreds socks like mice on silk.) i was on the hunt for felting tools and books and kits and ideas. here's what followed me home:

alpaca gloves (which i realized once we were home that whoever made them just snipped the yarn tail short and didn't leave any to weave in! they are already unraveling and haven't even been worn!! so, i'll frog a couple of rows, bind off again and weave in a nice long tail. ho hum!)
a four needle holder needlefelting thing-a-ma-bob (for four times the needlefelting action!)
a felt flower making kit from Sharon Costello (i'm in the process of putting one together for frabjous and want to see how she did hers)

merino/tencel top from the Sheep Shed in NH--i always get some of this from them. the tencel doesn't take the dye, so it spins up with a muted effect and lots of shine. (see baby's hat below)

leather bag handles from Homespun Heirlooms (if you haven't noticed fancy handles on your felt bag are all the rage--so i picked up a pair of black leather braided ones)

Indigo Junction lapel flower pattern a $9 sewing (millinery) pattern that is NOT user friendly--not sure that this will ever get used. lovely flowers, ridculous amount of materials (very specific materials) that are hard to find or hard to buy small amounts of. oh well, i didn't have time for it anyway.

so that's my haul. not much, but i have enough fiber and yarn...i'm much more interested in what other people are making and new ideas, etc, etc.

here's how the littlest enjoyed the festival...either asleep on Hus or asleep in the sling on me: (handspun merino/tencel hat)

and the older came too with hopes of seeing buddy, Eli....her phrase of the day was: "haven't we been to this barn before?" oh, well...next year she can stay home with Opa.

isn't that sheep amazing? the costume is made of fleece and just unbelieveable!

overall--rhinebeck is awesome! next year we'll plan on being there both days--you really need two days to see it all. we stopped at 4ish and had barely seen everything once. we hadn't visited the sheep barns or watched the dog trials or done any kids workshops or anything other than visit vendor booths. whew!