Rhinebeck, Lovely Rhinebeck

Mom and I went to Rhinebeck for the second year in a row. This time we stayed over and that made the trip much more enjoyable. Here are some of my favorite pictures from the festival .

Of course there were plenty of animals.

I just love these crazy looking bunnies.

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The sheep dogs impressed us with their skills, as usual.

There was the Ravelry meet-up on Saturday.

Unfortunately from this picture you cannot get a sense of how many people were wearing February Lady Sweaters. Seeing how nice they looked convinced me that I will cast on for one eventually.

The artichoke thing is supposed to be great but, other than artichoke hearts out of a can, I have only had artichokes once and was not bowled over. May be I will brave this line next year. Or may be I am better off not developing a taste for them.  After all, I would be much skinnier if I had never had cheesecake.

At one point on Saturday the line was particularly long.  A woman working the artichoke stand called out to the people on line and reassured them that they (the people in the stand) were working as fast as they could.  One of the people on the line responded cheerfully, “We know and we love what you do.”

Library Books

My library no longer stamps each library book with the due date.  Now they either just tell you when the book is due back or give you a card with the due date written on it.  I am sure there are lots of good reasons for this change but I miss looking at the back page of a book and seeing how many times it has or has not been taken out. 

Often when I got to the end of a book I would look at the last page and wonder about all the people who had taken the book out before me.  Had they liked it or hated it?  Had they picked it out with curosity but run out of time to read it and just returned it.  Or did it become a favorite book and they renewed it a number of times.  Some books went for long periods without being checked out.  In those cases I always had hope that I had found a hidden gem.  There was always a certain excitement in being the first person to take a book out.  In some ways looking at that back page made me feel connected to the community of readers.      

The other day I took Knit Socks by Betsy Lee McCarthy out of the library again.  The librarian startled me by saying, “What is it with this book?”  I had to ask, “What do you mean?”  He then went on to tell me that as soon as this book is returned to the library it gets checked out again.  I explained that socks are a very popular item to knit and that Knit Socks is the ONLY book in the library collection entirely devoted to socks.  He did not get it and as a newbie sock knitter I could not express the passion people have about socks.  However, it was nice to know that it is a popular book.  So I am not the only one haunting the shelves of the craft section of my local library for knitting books.

The Smart Car

My neighbors bought a Smart Car this week.  It is as if Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, and their cute kids moved in next door.  People are constantly coming by and oohing and aahing over it and taking pictures.  My neighbors are outside all the time washing it and showing it off.  IT IS absolutely adorable.  I just want to pat it on the fender and pinch it’s little tires.  I am tempted to start calling it “Shiloh.” 

You would think that after a few days the hoopla would die down.  However, as we are located in between a bus stop and train station and near a great bakery, there is a constant stream of new admirers.  May be I should start selling pictures of it.  

The most embarassing thing about all this?  A few weeks ago I saw a Smart Car when I was walking home from a local diner with my cousin.  I forced my cousin to stand next to that cute little car and I took a picture.  So I have to admit that I am just like all the gawkers wandering down my block.  But yeah, it is really really cute!

English Knitting Magazines and the Metric System

My cousin from London and her boyfriend came for a visit.  She always brings me English knitting magazines.  I have to say that I just love them.  They are full of a wide range of patterns and at least one of them always comes with a great “free” item.  This time I ended up with a set of huge wooden knitting needles.

On previous trips I have gotten other nifty stuff like nice stitch markers and a crochet hook.  I just love these things and I wish U.S knitting magazines sometimes included such “freebies.”  The feeling is akin to the joy I felt as a kid when I got the prize in the cereal box.  Okay, so I am an only child and did not have to compete with anyone for that toy, but hey, joy is joy.

Another reason I love these magazines is that they are a total surprise to me.  I have to admit that sometimes by the time the new IK or some of the other knitting magazines hit the stands, I feel like I have already read them because I have already seen some of the patterns on the internet and heard them discussed on podcasts.  That is not a bad thing, but it is weird to be standing in the bookstore looking at a magazine and be confused about whether or not I have already bought it because the patterns look familiar. 

There is one downside to these magazines, in order to knit the patterns I am going to have to force myself to get familiar with the dreaded metric system.  My cousin’s boyfriend kept saying things to me like “108 kilometers” or “23 kilograms” and I kept saying “I have no idea what that means.”  Luckily he is a teacher and kept whipping out a calculator to convert the numbers for me.  The one thing I do have a handle on is “stone.”  I  know that a “stone” is roughly 14 pounds.  This is essential information for understanding the English tabloids.  Oh, the English tabloids, they are a whole different post!!!

Anyway, does anyone know if Rowan is cheaper in England?  In other words, should I try to convince my cousin to bring me some over on her next trip?  I suspect it is not but I do have fantasies of a sweater’s worth of Rowan magically appearing in my stash.

Andrea McCardle is Great but the Knitting is Not

Last week I went to see Andrea McCardle at the Metropolitan Room.  She was great!  Her rendition of “Tomorrow” was particularly poignant.  If you get a chance I would recommend going to see her.

The first Broadway play I ever saw was Annie starring Andrea McCardle.  At that show my Mom got me the little Annie doll pictured above.  I felt like such a geek but I brought it with me to the Metropolitan Room and had Andrea sign it.  She laughed when she saw it but said that she has signed many of these dolls over the years.

Yesterday my Mom said to me, “Are you still knitting?”  Of course, I answered “yes.”  She replied, ” Oh, I thought you might have taken a break.”  Uhm, no Mom.  I just do not talk a lot about the knitting when it is NOT going well.  Since I have been doing lots of gifts, I cannot identify the projects until after the gift has been received so no pictures at the moment.  But they will pop up later.

Anyway, this week I have learned that I can be perfectly fine [not tired, not cranky, and completely paying attention] and still make a huge mistake requiring lots of ripping back.  While ripping back I remembered that I can curse like a sailor.  I also learned that even though I did a gauge swatch, I should still check my gauge while actually knitting the actual project because apparently something can happen that would lead to the project turning out to be a size suitable for the little Annie doll.  This is problematic when the item is intended for a human being.

When I had Longer Hair

Let’s be honest, I look like Cousin It here.  This picture was taken last year right before I cut it off and donated it to Locks of Love.  At the time we apparently had no clue how to use the camera!  [TG for the yarnographers group over on Ravelry who have set me on a better path]  But it will have to do as it is the only picture we have of me with long hair in digital form.  Actually, Scott and GardenerX knew me back in the day when my hair was longer than this.   

Scott – hope you enjoy this blast from the past.  However, if Hub looks at this and gets all wistful and wants me to grow my hair long again, I am blaming you