New York State Sheep and Wool Festival 2010 in Rhinebeck, New York

Yesterday I took Amanda for her first visit to the New York State Sheep and Wool Festival.

It is held the second weekend of October every year in Rhinebeck, New York, along the Hudson River.
We arrived bright and early, as did hundreds of other fiber fanatics. It was only about a 20 minute wait standing in line.
And that meant that there weren't crazy crowds at the exhibits either.
The weather was beautiful and Mother Nature was really showing off.
The fall colors were plentiful and beautiful.
The air was crisp and windy which helped to send wonderful aromas through the air. We knew our meal plan would include some of those delicious scents we could smell so early in the day.
But first we had to dive right into the fiber!
As usual, the colors were exciting.
And patriotic, to say the least.
And if I were so inclined, I could find any color fiber to spin. I just prefer to get right to the knitting though.
There were many pattern books for selection...
and I think Amanda was a bit overwhelmed by the yarn offerings.
I looked all over for one of my favorite booths, the little elf villages! They are so cute!

The person who made these is a real artist!

We ran into Stephanie who was working the Sliver Moon booth. I stole a quick hug as did Amanda.

And Karin got a hug too. She was working beside Stephanie.

Around the corner we ran into Elaine. She was taking a break waiting for her friends to meet her at "The Tree". You'd know that was funny if you could see how many trees there are at this location. It turns out Diane was standing there the whole time and none of us saw her! LOL! I guess we were looking at the wrong tree!

Back inside we checked out the spinning wheels, of which they had a great variety. This character would make spinning inviting...

As would these spinning wheels sporting sheep, goats and dogs.

The drop spindles were beautiful and decorative.

And so pretty!

I had to stop to watch the weavers make magic out of string. This weaver was making an evening bag with the prettiest sparkle yarn.

And even the men got in on the demonstrations.

And any age can learn.

This woman was using a one of a kind spinning wheel. She said this hand painted horse wheel was the only one of its kind in the world.

Here a first timer tries her hand at spinning with the help of a more experienced expert.
We had to stop and see the bunnies. This little guy thought he could make a quick escape but he didn't get far.
These Australian puppies make great sheep herding dogs. They were so cute and active. And they were for sale. Sorry Andrew! I'm allergic. Besides, they weren't Bulldogs.
I didn't want to miss the animals who give us all this wonderful fiber so we stopped by to pay our respects. This alpaca was very vocal, making the cutest little sounds as though he was trying to say something to me.

These two fellows couldn't care any less that I wanted their picture.

But Llama Boy was ready for his portrait.

As was this cuddly guy. He even smiled for the camera!

I had to make sure to thank them for their contributions to my knitting addiction.

Amanda and I met with other "Ravelers" on "The Hill". That's sort of the same as "The Tree". Apparently, everyone but us knew the location of the hill. Then as we were walking around we noticed this large crowd and as we made our way over we could see everyone wearing "Ravelry" buttons. We found the hill!

The day was getting late and we had eaten our delicious lunches and the obligatory fried dough so it was time to call it a day and head back home.

It was time to bite the bullet and brave the parking lot and the curse of the exit line.

To put it in perspective for you, Amanda started this hat when we got in the car. Two hours later when we reached the exit (yes! I said two hours later!) she had almost finished the hat. All it needed was the ribbing band.

Moose was willing to model it long enough for a photo.

Well, we had planned to spend the day at the festival and we did have a wonderful time. To be honest with you, we stood for such a long time that a three hour ride home (that includes the two spent in the parking lot) seemed like a reward well earned.

It's Autumn! Time for Fiber Festivals and Balloon Festivals

Yesterday was a beautiful, warm summer, I mean fall day. The temperatures were in the low 80's so you can see why I would make that mistake. A perfect day to ride up to Greenwich, New York for the 2nd annual Southern Adirondack Fiber Festival.

It was held on the Washington County Fairgrounds and I could smell the wool fumes as soon as I exited the car. They called to me to come and touch and buy.

There were beautiful fibers to spin....

and blend....

and even cocoons to spin your own silk.

Of course there was yarn everywhere too.

I made sure I visited my friend Karin's booth ( http://www.etsy.com/shop/franknit ) to scoop up some of her lovely Periwinkle Sheep sock yarn to make a prayer shawl for a friend. There's my hubby behind her waiting to pay. He's a keeper!

I love to visit the animals who so graciously let us shear their coats. What a regal fellow this llama is. He stood so proudly.

And who can resist those darling angora bunnies?

My son will be disappointed that I didn't bring this little fellow home.

However, I am just allergic enough that I can't knit with angora. What a shame! Their fiber is so soft and warm.

But I'm not allergic to alpaca. Isn't he a cutie?!

This fat guy was too lazy to even look up at the camera. He's not really fat, it's all wool!

My favorite was this gentle giant.

He just laid there staring at me as if to say, "Who are you staring at?"

There were all kinds of demonstrations everywhere. Here a spinner works her magic.

And here's another with a slightly different technique. She is using a drop spindle instead of a spinning wheel.

There was also a hooker! Rug hooker, that is.

She did a beautiful job!

My great-grandmother was a weaver so I especially like to watch the magic that happens when the fabric appears.

Of course, you could purchase already made garments too.

And there were all kinds of tools. These hand blown glass handled crochet hooks were beautiful.

Since it was a fiber festival there was more than just knitting. There were a whole array of felted items for sale as well.

These bowls were especially colorful and cleverly designed.

And just in time for Halloween were these hand felted masks. I wouldn't want to meet any of these on a dark night!

At that same booth there was an opportunity to felt your own flowers using bubble wrap and warm soapy water.

After a goodly amount of time spent agitating the plastic sheet you get these beautiful flowers.

Now if you know where the fairgrounds are, you'll know that you are only a few hundred yards away from the best homemade ice cream in the area. And we never pass up the opportunity to stop in for a taste.... or three. LOL!

Ooops! You caught me red-handed! I couldn't decide between the pumpkin, Miller's Mudslide, or Hugh's Chocolate Overload so I had a little of each. Bad girl! Well, I'm not going to have dessert for at least until......Tuesday! That's when the Chicks will be celebrating our fifth anniversary.

After the fiber festival we drove over to Glens Falls for the annual Balloon Festival. Due to the bumper to bumper traffic, it took us about an hour and a half to drive two miles to the location where the festival takes place, passing homes along the way where families were all set up with their picnics to enjoy the balloons flying by. Unfortunately, by the time we arrived at the entrance we found out that due to unpredictable high winds the race had been cancelled. All those poor families who were waiting were going to be so disappointed. I did manage to see one balloon before it completely deflated.

So instead Ron and I took the long country back roads homeward and watched the subtle change of colors of the trees in the distance.

It was a lovely day and now I look forward to the cooling temperatures when I get to wear my warm woolies again.