Dear Ann,
It’s Wednesday and I’ve just finished hooking a small rug and I’m still floating on the fumes of my Saturday at Rhinebeck, aka the New York Sheep & Wool Festival, aka my annual renewal of my vows to knitting. I know that, for people who don’t (a) live in the Northeast and/or (b) organize their personal, family and religious calendars around knitting, Rhinebeck is a kind of Emerald City that they read about in scores of feverish blog posts every year. Sometimes, as I walk through the gate each October, I think, “we’re overselling this thing. It’s just shopping.”
But it’s not. If Rhinebeck were any other weekend of the year, it might just be a pop-up Mall of America for fiber lovers, or one among many occasions for knitters to fly our freak flag (or fry our fleak flag, as I just typed) and Wear All the Knits. But the third weekend of October, in the radiant Rooseveltian fields of Dutchess County, with the spookier days of fall just ahead–dang it, it IS magical.
The purpose of this post is to show off my Rhinebeck sweater. “But Kay,” you say, “you never knit Rhinebeck sweaters because you are a special snowflake and don’t go in for the mass hysteria of cool-kid projects like racing to complete a new sweater in time for Rhinebeck.” Yes. That’s true; I am no ordinary snowflake. But this Rhinebeck sweater was not for me. It was my half of a swap with Liz K, who crocheted a massive Comme des Garçons granny square wrap for me last winter. I felt no guilt about not working on my debt of honor during the spring and summer months, as Liz had chosen a truly winter-iffic sweater, Adara from Brooklyn Tweed, and she had selected Purl Soho Worsted Twist, a puffy merino that would not have been tolerable as subway knitting during the season of sweat. But when Michael’s started pumping the pumpkin spice out of the HVAC, I knew: it was Time. Since I was going to Rhinebeck with Liz, that seemed like a healthy deadline.
This was the scene at my house on Rhinebeck Minus Two: I still had the neck to pick up and knit, and the prospect of setting in the sleeves. You know how Brooklyn Tweed patterns always tell you precisely how to execute any knitting technique that you might not have jumped out of the womb already knowing how to do? Well, the instructions for setting in the sleeves went like this:
“Set in sleeves.”
I screwed my mattress stitch to the sticking place, and by God I set in those sleeves. I finished at the stroke of midnight, on Rhinebeck Eve. All that remained to do was….
DIGRESSION! All that remained to do was to push the ON button on my AWESOME NEW JIFFY STEAMER, and steam-block my freshly finished Adara. WHY DID I WAIT UNTIL MY FIFTIES TO GET A JIFFY STEAMER? WHY OH WHY? MY LIFE HAS BEEN A CHARADE, A MERE PANTOMIME OF EXISTENCE, WITHOUT A JIFFY STEAMER.
Basically, it’s the coolest thing ever and has cut my already-small dry cleaning bills down to the nub. The very nub, I tell you. Unless you are spilling ketchup, almost any dry-cleanable can be freshened up, with far less wear on the garment, with a nice gentle scald from Jiffy. Best thing I ever Amazon’d.
Not surprisingly, I got virtually no pics of Liz wearing Adara at Rhinebeck. Well, I took a couple of hasty snaps in the parking lot, only to realize later that she had it on backwards, which kind of misses the point of the lovely fully-fashioned neckline shaping. So Liz kindly modeled it at home and sent me these lovely shots.
Pattern notes: I subbed Purl Soho Worsted Twist for Brooklyn Tweed Shelter. While this made sense on paper, in reality the Worsted Twist is denser than the Shelter, and it was impossible to knit it to gauge without cramming too many stitches in and making the fabric look crunchy. So I knit the smallest size and hoped for the best. Luck was a lady, and it worked.
If I knit another Adara (as Someone in my household has requested), I will go for the Shelter, for more accurate gauge and also a lighter weight in the finished garment. Purl Soho Worsted Twist remains one of my favorite yarns in the universe. The navy in particular is lush, but all the colors are so good, and you can wear this merino on bare skin without complaint.
My Rhinebeck haul? A sackful of rughooking supplies from my lady Heavens to Betsy (and the kindly Mr. Heavens To Betsy, who works the cashbox), and one exquisite sock kit from the Tsock Tsarina. Oh, and wooden spoons. I don’t like to think of the wooden spoon guy heading for home with more than a few spoons in the truck. That would never do.
Love,
Kay
i love he idea of someone knitting a Rhinebeck sweater for someone else. It makes the deadline so much more rigid! The sweater is lovely and I think it will feel like a totally different knitting experience with the Shelter. I look forward to seeing a more woolly Adara.
“Set in sleeves” – HAHAHA! The sweater I am knitting has the exact same instruction. My winter goal is to learn color knitting so I can make at least one of the beautiful sweaters you knit.
I keep eyeing up Adara, but can’t justify bringing any more yarn into the house until I’ve made a dent in either my yarn or fibre stash (hmm – maybe I could spin the yarn for it; now there’s a thought). I’d like to know how you get your ribbing to look so neat. Any particular tip for knitting it, or do you (as I do) fiddle about with it once it’s done?
You are so right about Rhinebeck weekend. Well, and the other stuff too :-D. Beautiful sweater!
Kay,
So does your JIFFY STEAMER take the place of a wet block and pinning of a finished knit? You do one, not the other?
LOVE the sweater!!!
No, I still think newly-knits should get a bath and a lie-out when they are finished, but in this case there was no time for that, and the rich steam of the Jiffy really did wonders for the Fair Isle portions, smoothing and plumping. It was also handy for blocking the armhole openings before setting in the sleeves; you can’t (practically) wet block the sweater at that stage, and steaming made the edges much more well-behaved and visible so that I could match things up properly.
Oh, those spoons! I fondled one way longer than was appropriate, but, alas, the funding gods were not with me.
lovely neck indeed…
I’m afraid to look… if that willow ware sock pattern is one of a series based on old China patterns, well, I might actually want to knit socks again! It’s been quite a few years now since I’ve made the pilgrimage to Poughkeepsie… love the posts.
Jealous! Beautiful sweater, and a lovely Rhinebeck day. thanks for sharing. (and so glad you are back blogging …)
and Jiffy Steamer — I have a big one at work. Lovely. Hint – we use distilled water like you would in an iron. Be careful not to steam yourself!
OMG it is one of my favorite china patterns (Blue Willow) on a sock! Why did I not think of this before? Not that I would have been able to design it. Beautiful !
OMG…queue and queue. The sweater is just lovely, as are the socks.
Love the sweater! But also need to know if Liz remembers where she got her boots?
The boots are at least three years old, Coach, and a fabulous Marshall’s find.
No ordinary snowflake indeed… you’re not too shabby at this knitting lark really, you know ;-P x x x
I, too, appreciated the “no ordinary snowflake” comment! I would also enjoy seeing a picture of the rug that you hooked, if that would be OK.
LoveDiane
I thought you weren’t a sock knitter, and you’re going to start with that? I’m skeptical. Last year would have been perfect for a trip to Rhinebeck and this year I thought of it and next year we are really going to try to do it. I’ll start knitting my fancy socks now!
Your skepticism is well-founded, Mary. The sock kit is for someone else. I didn’t even finish sock 1 of my Colbert socks, which were plain 2 x 2 rib solid color socks. But I do think this pattern is right up there with Debbie New’s work on willow ware tea cups. Sincere yet funny, perfect tribute in sock form.
Thank you! Also, not to worry; I’m working on a steeked cardigan version of the same design. đŸ˜‰ I believe it’ll be my Rhinebeck sweater for 2015….
What a Rhinebeck it was, too. BTW I too did my bit toward lightening the wooden spoon guy’s cargo. Sunday afternoon; it was the only time they let me out of the booth!
As so many others have said, I LOVE your Blue Willow sock design. It is such a perfect tribute!
The sweater turned out beautifully and I’m glad you’re blogging again. Also I MUST knit that sock!
Well, one day I’ll get there. Love the sweater, and the socks (though I’ll probably never knit them). The jiffy steamer seems like a fine idea!
What a perfect post. You totally nailed the whole “why is this weekend more special than all weekends for Rhinebeck”, displayed new steamy equipment and had a fab FO sweater to share. sigh. So good to see you both in person and online, snowflake! XOX
I love Rhinebeck best of all the festivals. Every year that I get to go, I come home worn out and staggered by the amount of fabulous vendors and full of inspirational and motivating ideas. Then, I start right in thinking about going again next year!
The sweater is swooningly gorgeous! And someday, I will get to Rhinebeck….
Wonderful post, of course! The bottom-half patterning on the sweater, the Jiffy Steamer and the Blue Willow socks all delighted and intrigued me. Being as I am possessed of linebacker shoulders and narrow hips, the patterned-yoke sweater has never called to me. But this…hmmm. And, as a fan of steam ironing, whenever I have seen a steamer being used (usually in the back of a small boutique), I have been greatly interested. I wish you many happy, steamy hours with it! And finally—those socks! I have loved them since I first saw them, due to the fact that my mother used thrift store Blue Willow ware interspersed with other blue and white plates, cups, etc. as her everyday china. You must post a photo when yours are finished, even if it’s in 2017 or later!
I’m fond of blue willow because my grandma had a set she collected as a premium for grocery shopping at Safeway. They were so great on a white table cloth. My mom gave them to Goodwill. Waah! I will secure photo rights to the finished socks, for sure.
Oh, I now see that the sock kit is for someone else. Well, I would still like to see a photo of the FO. (FOs, in this case, I guess.)
Kay, I have been looking for this sock pattern and I understand it is no longer available as, sadly, the designer is deceased. I am wondering if you can share your pattern. I am certainly willing to pay. I am not sure how any copyright law might be affected since the designer is gone now. Please let me know. Thank you so much.
Rosie