Knitting@roosterhillfarm.com

And a lot of frogging too! Just not posting about it! Here are Pear Blossom Socks, Superwash Kraemer Base, (yarn came from here) dyed with coffee. Pattern. A bit tight though


Olympic Hat, one gifted to my cousin, another to my husband. Yarn Ella Rae. Pattern


Winnow in Wollmeise. Sadly only one completed so far. Pattern


A funky beret in Plymouth Yarn Trabajos Del Peru. Pattern


My kind of town cowl in a lovely teal Plymouth Yarn Baby Alpaca Grande. It may not look like much here but it was comfy and cozy during our very cold winter. Pattern.


Also 2 scarves in Classic Elite Firefly — one gifted and not photographed and the other I cannot find in Flickr. And manymanymany socks that I ended up ripping out. Many.


If anyone can remember how to grab the Ravelry button for projects can you remind me how? I seem to have forgotten. Thanks!

Once again, I joined friend Mary on a trip down to Rhinbeck this year. I could have sworn that last time we went it was 2008, but she reminded me it was 2009. She was right. How could I forget? This year, Mary’s neighbor Julie joined us, and the crowds seemed bigger and the trees seemed oranger.



This year our focus was patterns. I couldn’t keep my eyes off hats like the Hexed pictured here, as well as other Knitty hats like this and this. And shawls like this.
For Mary, the focus was baby. She has a new grandson and wants to knit him a sweater. Julie already had patterns, she just wanted yarn!



So many things to see! At Rhinebeck you can buy anything from fiber to yarn, tools and toys of the trade, and finished products.


And fiber-related critters of all sorts. I didn’t see any rabbits this year but I know they were there. Also we did not catch any of the breed judging. It’s hard to see everything in just one day!


We did manage to see a lot though! And chat and snack and enjoy a great fall day, just like the million other people who did at the Festival yesterday! No doubt the crowds will be just as big – or bigger – today as the weather and the foliage is holding up nicely.

If you manage to go, and I encourage you to go if you are interested in fiber arts or animals, here are a few tips I learned this year:

1. Don’t stress the traffic. You’ll move soon.
2. Bring food! Not only will you save time by eating your own lunch instead of waiting on line, you will have something to do while waiting for traffic! We had quite a spread between the three of us.
3. Planning out your stops is good but not always necessary unless you know the item you want is sure to sell out quickly. Better to go with the flow.
4. Wear comfortable shoes and dress in layers. The weather changes throughout the fairgrounds!
5. Don’t be afraid to ask people what they are wearing. We all love to talk about our handknits etc don’t we?
6. And finally, bags of yarn make wonderful pillows. I think I slept 2 out of 4 hours on the way home as Mary and Julie chatted in the front seat. Comfy!

Next up, what I bought (but don’t tell my husband!). You can view all of the pictures I took in my Flickr photostream.

I’ve already told you my approach for doing lace. Well I finally finished my first lace piece, and it’s now blocking.

I purchased lace blocking wires from KnitPicks last month, and while simple in concept, I’ve never used anything like them before and I am not sure if I inserted them the best way.

The Kernel scarf has an edging of 3 knit stitches on each side. I used this edge to hold the wires. The scarf is longer than a single wire, so I had to use 2 on each side.

The ends have slight points, but I didn’t take pictures of them. I inserted a pin in each point to pull it down and exaggerate it.

Stay tuned tomorrow for the finished pictures!