The Rhinebeck Haul

Unlike some people, I did not prepare a list for Rhinebeck. I figured an open mind, along with an open wallet, was the way to approach my first big ass fiber festival. The only thing I publicly stated was that I was not going to buy a fleece. Did I or didn’t I? You’ll have to wait until the end of the post to find out.

In the meantime, I promised you the haul and the haul you shall see.

My first purchase of the day. Lovely Grafton Fiber batts. Never mind that I already have 4 batts from Linda Diak at home. Never mind that I’ll most likely see her at SPA where there will be less of a frenzy to purchase. It just seemed like the right thing to purchase first.

Seafoam Cashmere and Silk from Foxfire Fiber. Of course, this is also available to me locally. But still. It’s cashmere and silk and it’s soft and lovely and I succumbed.

Brooks Farm Yarn. 2 skeins of the 2 ply kid mohair. I generally don’t buy yarn at fiber festivals because you can get all the yarn you need online and it’s a known commodity. But Brooks Farm isn’t available online, at least not in all the fabulous colors they have in their booth. So, I stood in line and it was worth it. Obviously, since I cast on the muted neutrals skein almost immediately. It will be a nice Old Shale pattern scarf for me. The red will eventually be a shawl of some sort. I’m open to suggestions for an appropriate pattern for 500 yards of very soft mohair.

Icelandic mixed with Baby Alpaca from Frelsi Farm. The color was irresistible to me. And soft! Too bad we don’t have touch-o-vision computer screens.

Eight ounces of this gorgeous green/blue blend from Spinner’s Hill. I picked this up on Sunday. There were better colors and larger amounts available on Saturday but the feeding frenzy was just a little too intense and I walked away. Margene got some gorgeous red from them, though. Wait until you see that.

Three batts of Lincoln Cross from Barneswallow Farm. I had the two green ones in my hand and then Kim threw the rose one at me. She made me buy these. Really, she did.

Spirit Trail Fiberworks CVM on the left. I didn’t make it to the fleece sale in time to score a CVM fleece so I went the easy route and bought some roving instead. The color is like melted chocolate and I know it will spin like a dream. This and That Farm’s Cormo pin drafted roving on the right. Because while bright colors are nice, natural is even nicer. And it smells yummy and all lanolin-y. Mmmmmm.

So, the fleece. Did I or didn’t I?

Yup. I did. But it’s a Shetland and it only weighs 2.5 pounds. That hardly even counts. And the guy that was selling it was such a hottie, I was powerless to resist.

And that’s all, folks. I came home with a smile in my heart and money in my pocket. And I think this is enough fiber to hold me until SPA, don’t you?