My yarn arrived yesterday. It is String Theory Caper, a blend of merino, cashmere and nylon. The colors are Cobalt (Dark blue) and Carina, a subtly variegated greige. It’s not quite what I expected but it will work!


I will be making the Catkin Shawl. It’s a little hard to post the picture here but go to Ravelry and you can see it done up in a few color schemes. Can’t start until the 15th!

New England Autumn

Have you discovered Kangaroo Dyer yet?

Sage
I might have. (Although i don’t remember how…)

Painted Desert in Springtime
I just love the muted colors, and the way she chooses them to go together.

Rooster Tails

Don’t you?

When I saw the Cinquefoil pattern, I was intrigued even though I am not much of a hat person, much less a beret. But seeing the $8 kits on elann.com sealed the deal. Yup, $8 for 3 skeins of cashmere yarn.

Mmmmm cashmere. On a plate. (It’s blocking now, and still damp.)

I also bought some Knitpicks circs to make the hat. These are 16″ sizes 2 and 3, the sizes recommended for the hat. I didn’t think I had a large head, but this hat seems a little small. Good thing I bought more than one kit from elann! (Seriously – $8 for cashmere. Did I mention that?)

In other news, I got a snack in the mail. If you watch their site, they typically have a freebie every month. Not cashmere, but still good!

MMMyeah – I was wrong. It took Nell about 2 minutes to hop in and er, “help.” That little stuffed turkey was in the bargain bins. I might have bought them all. I love it, but Nell is not too sure.

I am not sure what she is looking for either. First one way …

Then the next …

Murphy gently pulled at my pant leg the whole time. When I would look down at him he would quickly look away, like here. If he had lips I am sure he would whistle too.

At least I kept one turkey distracted.

Well Christmas is coming and I have plenty of supplies! And if turkeys had thumbs I would have a mighty workforce too!

The October Fiber Baristas shipment. This one comes DT Craft & Design from the UK! She sent it along with some candies and a recipe for Rhubarb crumble.

The color is inspired by rhubarb and the included recipe. It’s “Crumble Rumble,” a mix of reds, purples and dark pinks.

It’s amazing how inspiring this poisonous little plant can be! Look at the sampling of pix from Flickr. Many are inspired by its color, taste and texture. The leaves contain oxalates and are poisonous, the stalks not so much. Other plants that we eat that contain varying amounts of oxalates in their leaves are spinach, peas and potatoes.

But it continues to inspire dyers, and apparently me too. Here is Fiesta Boomerang in Rhubarb from my stash.

And Numma Numma ToastyBoo.



And that third one from the left is Rhubarber in Wollmeise.


I find rhubarb inspiring for it means spring and warmth and green growth. And for the next 6 months we will have none of that! Are you inspired by rhubarb?

Yesterday, I took advantage of the nice fall day to take some stash pictures. This skein is from Hazel Knits October Sock Club (I know, another sock club!) and the colorway is “Cascade Canopy.” It’s so pretty. The green just glows.

Here is the other skein. This color is “Path To The Peaks.” The wind blew that bottom leaf right on top of the yarn just as I snapped, I thought it was perfect.

I quickly had an audience!

No one was sure what I was doing, or more importantly, if it involved food.

Everyone had to take a look.

Even Murphy, and he’s an old pro.

Let’s see how I did.

First stop was The Fold. This one was so easy to find as their line to pay extended out the door of their building into the streets. This wasn’t going to stop me or Mary! In we went and we both emerged with several skeins. We met Thor in line who gladly wrote up our receipts, and Toni was at the register to ring us up.

From left: STR lightweight Rare Gems, STR Mediumweight Rare Gems, STR Mediumweight Crabby McCrabbypants.

Brooks Farm was next over from The Fold so in we went, again nonplussed by the line. Lines were everywhere. There was no avoiding the lines if you really wanted something (unfortunately, artichokes did not make that cut). I love the yarns that Brooks Farm always has, their friendly faces and their Texas accents. And they had sale yarn! When they asked if they could do anything else for me, I wanted to say, “Yes! Take me back to Texas with you!” but I smiled and thanked them instead.

From left: Ellie (on sale), Ellie (on sale), Duet
BTW, if you know how to discern colors on Brooks Farm labels, please let me know!

I saw many Briar Rose bags wandering around and I wondered how their stock was doing. I had a particular yarn I was looking for! We soon made it over to their booth, admired their sample knits, inquired about the yarn I was looking for, and got No for an answer. They had none in stock anywhere, but maybe soon.

Across the way was Lis and her Heirlooms booth and we visited a while and admired her many woven purses, knit hats, handspun and rugs. We heard someone retell a story of having her handmade hat stolen when she turned her back to try on a matching wrap and hat (I wish I took her picture – her wrap was stunning!). Lis’ friends brought her and her husband a pair of those steaming hot chicken pot pies for lunch. And I bought a pattern of Lis’ for a cable brim hat. I had admired one on our way into the festival. Lis was pleased to hear about that one!

OK so you are probably wondering what yarn I was looking for at Briar Rose? A few weeks ago I saw Anne Hanson’s new pattern for a cowl, “Ivy Vines.” I am not a cowl person but I loved something about this one! And it required cashmere yarn with one of the suggested yarns being made by Briar Rose. In one of the livestock buildings we came across Spring Tide Farm from Maine. The cashmere pelt at the entrance of their booth gave them away. Their selection was sparse and dwindling as we watched. The woman in front of me bought about 8 skeins! The woman behind me picked up the last skein in the color I wanted (a pea soup kind of green). I settled on a golden avocado skein. And soon there were less than 10 skeins left in their display, more people interested in their yarn, and anxious people from Spring Tide Farm. They had no more stock and still a whole other day to sell yarn. Seems like they had a good day.
If the cowl pattern from KnitSpot doesn’t work out for me, they also gave out free patterns with each skein. So I have a backup plan!

There seemed to be a lot of buttons for sale from carved to glass to vintage to clay – you name it. I bought a few. Chatting with another button buyer, we both agreed that you can never have too many buttons. Even if you do not know what you will do with them. I guess they are sort of like yarn in that way.

From left: pin buttons from mystery vendor, nut buttons from same vendor, African-made glass from Melissa Jean, From Handspun by Stefania, glass shawl pin from Moving Mud.

Note to mystery vendor: include your business name on your receipts!

Sankow’s Beaver Brook Farm had cheese and yogurt, thrummed mitten kits, hiking sock kits and $50 sweaters they sell on QVC. I bought a single hank of handspun to make boot socks for Gary.

At Seaport Yarn I found a J-Knits sock yarn in a Rhinebeck colorway. Gorgeous! I also had the pleasure or misfortune to stand behind a complete enabler. First she was holding some other gorgeous sock yarn which turned out to be Punta and irresistible. Then she asked if I had tried square needles yet. I had not, and would you believe there were baskets of them in the checkout line? I bought a set of size 1′s – I was hoping for 2.25 but only found the ones. I know 99.9% of WendyKnits patterns are on this size so they will be put to good and frequent use!

From left: Punta MeriSock, J-Knits “Rhinebeck”

That leaves 100% Romney worsted from FoxHill Farms. I missed seeing the sweet older woman at their booth this year. I have had some great conversations with her. I hope she is ok! This color is Asters. I am not sure what I will do with it, but I love it.They had a wonderful silk-blend yarn this year and I saw people buying some wonderful wonderful colors but by the time I put two and two together, the colors left were just not me.



Lastly, here is some Crazy Zauerball sock yarn. And no vendor name on the receipt.

I never did find Clara’s book or get it signed. I know she was there though, I’ve seen pictures! And when noon came around for the Ravelry meetup, it seemed a better idea to keep shopping than stopping. So I know I missed meeting lots of people! Other than that, I think I met my goals and then some. I also met up with some great people, for the first time and some for the second and third, and had a great day. And that’s a Rhinebeck wrap! (and you didn’t have to wait in line to get it!)

Isn’t this funky yarn? I have about 10 large balls of it.



It’s 10-ply of different yarns, different weights. Some are almost novelty-ish.



I think the owner crocheted rugs.


I also purchased for $25 (no pix yet!) a Kenmore 117.97 Rotary Sewing Machine in the most beautiful case. The case has 3 drawers with lots of built-in hidey holes. It also has 2 wings that provide a lot of workroom. It turns out it is missing its power cord and foot pedal but it could be these parts are easy to find. I hope. Regardless for $25 I was thinking I could buy a replacement machine and use the case.

Gary bought a cordless drill and a tree stand.

We were standing next to the family of the estate. Their father had passed away in May and they were cleaning out the house to sell. We heard some great stories like how their mom received a .410 Over Under instead of an engagement ring and ended up buying her own diamond. This spool cabinet stood in the Cole Store at the end of the street but stayed in the family. It is dated 1900. The family’s son bid on it against a very aggressive buyer. Turned out he was bidding for a cousin, and the price was more than she was ready to pay. Final selling price? $1300.