RHINEBECK!!

I went to Rhinebeck yesterday, and OMG it was amazing!

First, I met Kileigh7, in person.  She is exactly the same as online, and just as awesome.  Yes Amy, there are photos :-D  And I met Laura's mom, who is an extremely good sport for someone not as crazy into knitting, Ravelry, and the blogosphere as certain other people.  The three of us walked around the festival together.

First stop was the Author's area.  Laura & Laura's mom had gotten a Yarn Harlot autograph, but I just wanted to see her (and take a photo :).  Anyway, the line was HUGE.  We went over to the front of the line to try and take a photo (ok fine to Kinnear her), and befriended 3 fellow Ravelers. One of whom needs to join HSKS7 because she's a huge HP fan ::goes off to invite her::

Thank goodness I was with Laura, 'cuz after we got our photo of the Harlot I didn't know any of the other authors from a hole in the wall.  She was our guide, pointing out who the authors were and which of my favorite patterns they wrote.  Then we walked past Hannah Fettig's table.  I had to take a photo of her sweatshirt for CentyB.

Not only was she great to chat with, she let me juggle the samples of the Juggling Balls pattern from her book Closely Knit.  She autographed a copy for me.  After my chanukah knitting, I am so knitting my own set :D

Next it was almost noon so we hit the Ravelry meetup.  Since we got there exactly on time we snagged buttons and were able to talk to Jess and Casey before the masses descended in droves.  Well mostly Casey.  It was strange, here we are walking up to him and saying hi as if to an old friend, and yet to him we are all a bunch of strangers.  Being a celebrity must suck.  Also, I had no idea what to say to Casey. I knew that once I got started with a thank you I'd just babble, so I settled for thanking Casey for helping me find my first local knitting friend, Gryffinitter, through the hsks group.  He told us about someone that told him she met someone in her own apartment building through Ravlery!

Jess and Casey were super nice about taking photos with all their groupies
[I'll post the photo here when I find my camera cable]

We also saw Mary Heather, and I chatted with Erica, helpdesk emailer extraordinaire and sister-in-law to Jess.  She is awesome, and has a very, very cute puppy.

After the Ravelry meet, we grabbed lunch and got down to business.  Shopping.  I got:
- Green Lambs Pride that looks kettle dyed, for a hat for my Dad for Chanukah
- *something* for the Stitches Witches exchange
- Ceramic Buttons for the Calorimetries I made.  They are really cute, just a little funky, and very perfect.
- Handles for my Firefly bag
- 2 skeins of Socks That Rock in the Dreidel colorway.  Can you say Chanukah Socks??? :D
- Backup/extra yarn for my HSKS6 kit.

Laura has been trying to get her mom to sign up for Ravelry with no luck.  I hope she does sign up, because she bough some pretty brown yarn to make a scarf for Laura's dad, and I want to see photos of the finished product!  Laura got some STR to make socks and possibly a Sock Monkey, a starter kit for spinning, and some books.


At 3:30 we were festival-ed and shopped out so we went home.  It was a long day, but awesome!  And even the drive home wasn't so bad, the leaves were changing and gorgeous :)

hats hats everywhere!

Wow, it's been a while since my last post!

Okay, last Sunday I took a break from working and went on a field trip.  First stop was The Yarn Tree, to pick up a prize I won in their raffle.  I won... a pound of coffee.  Which might get regifted, since I don't drink coffee.  Not to waste a trip there, I found their 25% off sale on Koigu sock yarns and picked up enough Teal and Lavender for 2 pairs of socks.  The yarn is basically monochromatic with different color values (light and dark), which is my latest love in yarns.  I might actually finish a pair of socks with them! LOL yeah right :)

After TYT I went to a new-to-me LYS, Brooklyn General Store.  It's literally 3 blocks away from my HS best friend's house, and her mom is a knitter, yet somehow I never heard of it in all my times visiting them.  It's definitely worth a return trip, their prices are better than the LYS near me and they have my new-favorite yarn - Cascade 220.  Yes it's a very "basic" yarn, but its in my price range and soft and wonderful and I love it. Plus it comes in a  bazillion colors, and Brooklyn General carries a lot of them.  I also snagged 4 skeins of Noro Kureyon in a great colorway.  1 skein has already been turned into a hat.

Speaking of hats, I am making them for "everyone" for Chanukah this year.  Everyone being immediate family, Grandparents, aunts, uncles, first cousins, one first cousin once removed, and 3 or 5 friends.  That's 5+2+4+3+12+1+4 31 hats, approximately.  And now that I think of it, I have a couple of second cousins who could use a handmade hat.  But I'll stick to the 31 I've already committed to, I suppose.

So far I've finished 1 Stirling Cloche, 3 Calorimetry,1 Robin's Egg Blue, 1 Divine Hat, and 1 Just Like a Peasant Hat, for 7 FOs total.  The thing is, I need 13 male-friendly hats and I've completed 0.  Also 2 years ago when all the cousins and aunts and grandmas got scarves - the guys got zilch, so I really can't stiff them again.  But dudes hats are so boring - no fun colors, no funky patterns or interesting designs.  They might all just get ribbed watchcaps, and where's the fun in that?

I need to make a list of who is getting which hat, because it's getting harder to keep them all straight in my head.  Therefore:

• Lisa is getting a Grey Calorimetry
• Jackie asked for a Divine Hat, so she's getting a turqoise one to match her scarf.
  
• Rif is getting the Magenta Robin's Egg Blue
• The Third is getting the Like a Peasant's Cap - and if you know an Orthodox woman who covers her hair, this is THE CUTEST HAT ever so make her one!
• C might be getting a Stirling Cloche. Or a Green Calorimetry. Possibly both if I get through 24 more hats in time.
  
• AE is tough because she wears a Sheitel, but I figure a Calorimetry won't muss it too badly and will cover her ears in the winter.
• I is getting a Divine Hat in purple.
  

More will be added to this list (I hope!!) as I complete the hats.  Still hatless:
AG, The Second, Uncle B, Uncle D, Uncle R, Grandma, Grandpa, Avi, Mia, Rocky, Big Rocky, CH, Eytan, my parents, D, Older Brother, Jay, G, Dan, and Lizzie.

Oh and I still need  to seam up that afghan (yes I decided I was sewing it up) and line a bag for someone (I HATE sewing!).  Better get cracking...