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Dear Kay,

Today, a virtual Rhinebeck for those of us who are not among the 40,000 lamb-huggin’, lamb-shearin’, lamb-eatin’ wool maniacs in upstate New York this weekend. Time for some sweet, sweet armchair knitting.

Hold on—how can knitting be any more armchair based than it already is? Flip up the leg thing on your Barcalounger, and sit back.

Consider Animal Husbandry

Begin with the full vendor list. Contemplate your need to purchase a sheep, or a sheep fence, or that stuff they dip sheep in.

Move on to the easier thought experiment of tracking down yarn that Rhinebeck vendors also sell online.

Four Yarns to Think Hard About

Harrisville Designs: Some of my favorite yarn in the world: tweedy, woolly, made in New Hampshire. We used Harrisville Highland for the Margaret sweater in our second book. (PS Harrisville is having an Autumn Potholder Loop special, in case you’re jonesing to make a Potholder Loop Rug. Their potholder loops are the best. )

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Verdant Gryphon: One of the lushest dyers around. They’re not at literal Rhinebeck this year, but they are having a Virtual Rhinebeck. I get why they would skip the show. Last time I was there, their booth looked like a pack of hyenas had mistaken yarn for raw meat. Despite the complete lack of knittable quantities of yarn, the line was still twenty people long, completely willing to wait until they could breathe in the vapors of the departed yarns. One of the deals online is this four-pack of one-of-a-kind Bugga:

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Green Mountain Spinnery: A worker-owned cooperative in Putney, Vermont. Is there a sentence more not Amazon.com than that? Cannot believe I am considering cream-colored yarn after just finishing that sweater, but c’mon—this deeply authentic stuff is a mix of Columbia, Rambouillet, Leichester and Coopworth sourced from Noone Farm. It’s from Maine. It’s special.

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Tess’ Designer Yarns: Lost all touch with reality in this booth. Ended up making a brilliant Kate Davies pullover, Boreal, with Tess’s Grand Manan. (Read the tale of that project: Vote with Your DollarsHoliday Greetings!On Knitting BadlyBlizzard Conditions Challenge Photo Shoot of Finished Object.)

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Finally, I am so nostalgic that I had to watch this Rhinebeck interview we did right there in front of the beer stand. I still have that indigo yarn. I think I have an idea.

Love,

Ann

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34 Comments

  • Harrisville and Green Mountain are two of my favorites, and I have yet to visit either although they are just a hoot and a holler North…maybe it’s time for a roadtrip? C’mon up!

  • Correct me if I’m wrong, but I seem to remember someone buying mohair to make a coat once at Rhinebeck. Did anything ever come of that? Other people’s Rhinebecks are just a blur in my mind….

  • Fun post! Great idea to go to Rhinebeck and without having to eat carrot-sticks-only for a month to redeem one’s body.

    If I get up really early tomorrow, it should be cold enough to stand outside in my Boreal. That is one great sweater. I call that the return of good weather, BTW.

  • Great post read by someone aching to go but stuck at a desk in Warrington, UK. If Starcroft Fibre had a stand there this year, I’d fight like a wild woman for a few skeins of their Lobster Bake!

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    • Oh to go to actually go to Rhinebeck one year… A dream come true! Maybe one day, but for now, I’ll be joining you chair-side. Thank you for sharing.

  • OK, I am watching the video, and many years have passed since I was in NoVa with the two of you, so I want to know how tall is Ann. Am also reminded that I may have gotten that audio book, and wonder where the heck it is! Clearly I’ve not konmaried to it yet. XXO

    • Ann’s height: taller than me.

      It’s been too long, Maggi!

      • Shakerag!

  • Decided yesterday to go to Rhinebeck for the first time! Guess I don’t have time to knit that sweater….

    • My Rhinebeck sweater: a sweater. That I wear to Rhinebeck. Have fun! Prepare for overstimulation. Pace yourself. Sit down once in a while. Don’t forget to visit the sheep for a break from relentless retail therapy. (Therapy for your therapy.)

  • Sign me up!!

  • One of these days, I’m going to go to Rhinebeck. The trouble is that I think about it now that it’s here but somehow forget about it until time for it again.

  • Looking forward to this.

    Never have been to Rhinebeck. As I am not one for crowds – the Verdant Gryphon scene in the post makes me uncomfortable just reading about it! – I am all for the idea of going “virtually. 🙂

  • So glad you are back!

  • So glad you’re back!

  • Glad you have returned!

  • Yay!

  • I want some of that gryphon stuff

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  • … and then remember for those in the know … Miss Babs can VERY well be enjoyed virtually as it is one of the MOST mobbed vendors of all … but fabulously so … http://www.missbabs.com … cheers … see you there!

  • I love your blog!

  • That video was fun, a real blast from the past! But it got me to wondering…just exactly how did you ladies originally meet?

  • Glad to see you’re back blogging!

  • Sooo glad to see you are back to the blogging! Please send me updates. Love you both on Instagram too.

  • I hope to make it someday.. Thanks for the armchair view.

  • Love!

  • Oh, how I have missed you two! Please sign me up for everything.

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  • please e-mail of new posts

  • Thank you for the yarn company recs, going to go follow them for future reference!

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