See Ewe at Rhinebeck!

We did it! We made the great pilgrimage to Rhinebeck to celebrate all things fiber! On a gorgeous October day, Miss M., Miss E., Mama Mersy and I drove up to the southern Catskills (one of my favorite places) and to the Duchess County Fairgrounds. Even though the day became quite hot and sunny, the morning was crisp, and the trees were just beginning to catch fire. A more idyllic setting, you just couldn't imagine. And there were so many people! That being said, not a single person was impatient, nasty, or rude, and that's really saying something when you're only an hour and a half out of New York City! It just goes to show that yarny peeps are the loveliest group around! We met up with friends from our local knitting group, and as long as I'm sprinkling around superlatives, let me just say that they are the warmest and most joyful folks I know!

For my tastes, the vendor areas, while impressively vast, were just not enjoyable due to the crowd. One spot of relative calm, however, was the books section, where I met friendly ladies from Pom Pom Quarterly and picked up a copy of their re-issued first edition. I also had the chance to meet several authors, including the author of A Hug From Henry by Debbie Trainor. What a sweet book filled with such good lessons!I picked up a signed copy, and I can't wait to knit Henry from the pattern at the end of the book.

(photo from: stitchesbydebbie.com)

I also discovered and become totally enamored with the book Knit the Sky by Lea Redmond. The ideas for knitting projects are so thoughtful and charming. I've had the best time reading through the descriptions of each project, and I'm really looking forward to beginning a weather scarf. Every time I look at the sky now, I start to think about what color combinations of yarn would capture it best. Recently I've been making a concerted effort to be more of a process rather than product knitter, and this book is going to be a great companion for me.

(photo from: amazon.com)

Now, for my favorite part of the day! Mama Mersy and I had a blast watching the goat grand championship competition! Did you know that a female goat is called a "doe" and a male is a "buck"? We learned all about that as well as the various breeds and grades of hair as we saw the Grand Champion Mohair Doe selected. She was beautiful with black wavy, curly hair shot through with gray, a sweet, blunt little nose, and such very intelligent eyes.

We loved walking through the stock pens where the true stars of the show were being groomed and shorn and displayed. It's experiences like this that show you just how gloriously diverse the world is. Going back to the source of all our yarny goodness, seeing how it begins as part of a living, breathing creature, and becomes, through many, many hands, warmth for our bodies.