Rhinebeck 2009

[wingedorange]

Or, alternately: “Lloyd Says, ‘Don’t Trust a Ho’.”

It’s Monday and I miss Rhinebeck already. I was missing Rhinebeck once I got back to the Garden State Parkway yesterday, because people don’t drive like jackasses in upstate New York. Honestly, I was on the Parkway about thirty seconds before I was honked at twice, passed, and cut off on a lane switch. Sometimes I am so not proud to be from New Jersey.

Anyway. Rhinebeck was, as usual, awesome. Amanda and I had a really good time, even though it was gray and cold and kind of rainy. We knew we had to get a bad year weather-wise eventually, but I was kind of hoping it would be some other year far in the future at a time when I maybe couldn’t go to Rhinebeck (i.e. a time that does not exist). The drive was really pleasant, and fast this year! We also tried an alternate way of getting into the fairgrounds, which was amazing, because we waited maybe two minutes to park instead of the 45 minutes we waited last year. I was better prepared for the cold this year, and did not freeze. And on the way up, Amanda played me a song called “Don’t Trust a Ho”. I died when I heard the lyrics. “Did they just say, ‘Don’t trust a ho’?!” “Yep.” “*cracks up* That is sound advice!”

(Also good advice? Following the cut so your blog reader doesn’t die when the pictures load.)

Saturday was rough this year. It was so crowded! I swear, the whole world was at Rhinebeck this year. There were a bajillion people, and I was exhausted from working all week and being up late and waking up early and driving four hours that I really bought next to nothing. I got a batt that I wanted all year (which really was an awesome purchase), my dad’s maple syrup and some blue cheese, and some gifts for Krissy & Katie, but I had a hard time focusing (we’re back to that), and I kept thinking about buying yarn for my first sweater, which I was convinced had to be in a rust color and I just wasn’t finding a rust that I could live with.

We met up with Elinor on Saturday, though, which was really exciting. I recognized her right away, and although I felt a little stalkerish, I was glad I wasn’t all like, “OH HAI, I think I know you but maybe not,” which is usually how it goes. She was really fun to hang out with, and much taller than I imagined. ;) Elinor asked us if we were going to the Ravelry meetup, and we weren’t planning on it initially, but she was very persuasive, so we went. It was a lot of fun! We met Mason-Dixon Ann (!!!!!) and all kind of realized it at the same time. She was really nice, though; very sweet and Southern. The three of us mingled a little bit, ate Bobcakes, huddled by the hobo fire, dodged falling ash, watched Mary-Heather get Kanye’d, and lost door prizes. It was awesome; I’ll come a little more prepared on the social front next year, though. Here’s some pictures from the meetup; click to embiggen:

We got a little lost in the advanced darkness of upstate NY (well, it’s advanced darkness if you’re from NJ, where we believe in streetlights), but we made it back to the hotel around 11. We got up around 8:30 on Sunday, ate breakfast, and headed back to the fairgrounds, because I had entirely too much money left and was feeling kind of stressed about it.

I made out a little better on Sunday, and bought some really great blue alpaca from Burgis Brook Farm. It’s blue! I couldn’t find any alpaca at my normal haunt, Misty Mountain Farm, and I knew I wanted some alpaca before I left, preferably a fun color. It’s gorgeous; I got the last 4 oz. in that color. I win. :)

I still had money, and I knew I wanted sweater yarn. Amanda and I looked in and out of every tent and barn, and there was nothing I wanted in rust that I could afford. I almost bought some really gorgeous cormo in a blue and purple colorway called Cathedral, but it would have been a $90 sweater and I just couldn’t do it, even though I really, REALLY wanted to, and my love for cormo is almost as deep and real as my love for alpaca. Next year I’ll get some for a hat, though. Lloyd made out pretty well; she found some seafoam green yarn at Seaport Yarns for a sweater for about $60. Score!

I had kind of given up on sweater yarn and ran off to buy a Sheep Incognito calendar, which I’m really excited about. There are several of her prints I want; maybe I’ll collect one every Rhinebeck. Anyway, I randomly wandered into one of the smaller tents and started squishing things. Amanda pulls out a skein of a really pretty denim color and goes, “What about this?” It was gorgeous! The lady in the tent (Silver Moon Farms) was really nice, and she helped me unearth 4 skeins of it. Ta-da! Sweater yarn! It’s pretty awesome, not gonna lie to you.

It was really cold and rainy on Sunday, so Lloyd and I spent a lot of time on the floor of the newly cleaned-out Horticultural Building, talking, laughing, and snuggling our sweater yarn. We also decided to become goatherds someday and to make buttons and to have a Rhinebeck booth called Norman & Lloyd’s. To round out the day, we educated a small child about fiber animals via pictures, and reflected on the advice from our drive: don’t trust a ho.

It’s getting late and I am so sleepy, so I’ll leave you with a few fun photos and a link to the Flickr set, which has pictures of all my booty and lots of animals and good times. :)

Mirrored from winged orange.