NY Sheep & Wool: Postcards Rhinebeck 2017

New York Sheep & Wool was a daytrip for me this year.  It was, as you've no doubt gleaned elsewhere, unseasonably warm.  Also unusual, I only had dark sunglasses (prescription, I am Ms Magoo), no normal specs, so my picture making was...interesting.  SO. VIVID.

With sunglasses turning things extra bright, I peered over and saw that indeed, longtime fave Nanne Kennedy of Seacolors solar dyed up some strong hues this year at her farm. Love love love.

It's always all about the people and What They Are Wearing, for me. More love love love.

There's the full view of Cal Patch* of Hodgepodge Farm and friends from the Ulster County Spinners in their Dottie Angel Frocks.  Head-to-toe handmade love.

The talented and beautiful Kristy Glass, first thing in the morning when one could wear wool...for a bit...in the shade. Her YouTube channel has this year's 90+ minute Rhinebeck Sweater roundup online already...get your popcorn and settle in. She's the best knit world interviewer/supporter/video star. She interviewed me about the shawl I was wearing. My sweater stayed in the car. I'd declare Yoked Sweaters the Big Thing this year and Boyland Knitworks Sunset Highway the most worn.

Things I didn't buy but will:(L) White Barn Farm's gorgeous Home yarn, in the colorway Remains of the Day. Will be ordered as soon as I choose the pattern it deserves. (top R) Eco dyed woven wool from Rwanda, at the Umva LongRidge Farm booth.  bottom right: Dragonfly Fibers. Swooooon.

Another view of an Umva shawl, and then, something I DID buy, Bristol Ivy's stunning book Knitting Outside the Box. The designs are like her, beautiful and smart. The book is gorgeous and full of skill building, thoughtful, inspiring  essays on ways to make innovative shapes and drapes. In my fantasy world, I take it with me to a cabin in the woods on a snowy weekend and dig in, by the fireplace.

Hugs! (or...neck locks...)That's Cal Patch running into  my Rhinebeck date Beverly Army Williams. I highly recommend attending with an excellent travel buddy maker friend--but go find your own, you can't have her, she's mine;-) Such a fun day exploring and ooohing and aaaahing and hugging...

Here's Beverly and Thea Colman, Ms Baby Cocktails herself,  at the Jill Draper Makes Stuff after party.  Thea's helping Beverly choose yarn to make her newest release Rye and Rum Punch--not that you can see much of it, but Thea is wearing it. She helped select the contrast colors in Windham. This was vicarious shopping at it's best, I am crazy about that sweater. To the queue!

More from Jill Draper's** studio in Kingston---clockwise from upper left: Jill Draper herself, looking 1940's glam,  Misa Erder and Karen Clark (ChooChooKnits) in a mind boggling show of knitting genius. Misa designed and wore her cowl Market Day. 
Karen surprised her by sweaterizing it. (!!) On the bottom left, Misa considers two Empire bumps. This photo, made in a  dark-ish corner at dusk, doesn't  do credit to Jill's dyeing.  That one on the right was SO GOOD. Something like this but, y'know, even better.

Being the bon-vivants that we are, next stop was the Mason Dixon Knitting MDK Pie and Cider Party in the woods.

It was a no shoes party.  The lovely The Wooliers sisters won Best Prepared, in their knit slippers.  Check out that view of the shoes on the front entry porch: in which we confirm  the Venn diagram for MDK and Wearing Clogs is almost totally overlapped circles. Notable exception, my high rise Tevas.   My motto: Sandals till the freeze forces me into boots!
Ann and Kay cut the pie, the cider flowed. It was a lovely way to end the day.

* Cal is an amazing maker and teacher--that link is to her etsy shop but you might want to surf around and see if you can take a class from her, or find her vending at a holiday market.

** If you are clicking over in the days just following the festival, Jill may not yet have refilled her etsy shop, but don't worry, it'll be back in a few days....

keynote pullover: drop dead easy knits

When choosing a sweater to test, 

I decided the Keynote was best.

The yoke's fun to knit,

It has a great fit.

(I never give mine a rest.)*

Back with another limerick lede spotlight on a pattern from  Drop Dead Easy Knits by Kirsten Kapur, Mary Lou Egan, and me.  This time, we are talking the Keynote Pullover by Mary Lou Egan.

Here's our model Josephine wearing it, in the book. This sweater is knit from the bottom up, with the decorative sections of Moire stitch taking place at the cuffs and at the yoke.  (Moire is a series of eyelets, very easy, with a fawncy sounding name...no cables or tricksy moves) . 

Mary Lou, who attends a lot of conferences for her day job, designed Keynote as  the kind of sweater you might knit on quietly while listening to presenters, making the body and sleeves, doing all the stockinette. Not too attention getting in the audience, no need to check charts or juggle multiple strands of yarn or anything like that. Then, join it  and do the yoke in your hotel room later, when you want to pay a bit more attention to the row counts. 

I loved it from the earliest swatches, and offered to test knit it in the same yarn Berroco gave us for the book: Fiora, in a silvery grey. Wow, do I love it. It's a cotton/viscose/alpaca blend that knits up well, has a nice drape and best of all--you can throw it in the washer and dryer and it comes out looking seriously good as new.

Don't let the lighting fool you, Mary Lou and I were wearing our matching silver grey  Keynotes last October at NY Sheep and Wool Festival. We were well aware how dorky that is--but it did show off how this sweater suits a good range of body type. She is tall and slim with broad shoulders, while I am short and rounder and have average/narrower shoulders. 

You can easily substitute any DK weight yarn, like Tosh DK if you wanted a woolly version,  or a very snuggly one of Malabrigo Dos Tierras (wool/alpaca) or Berroco Ultra Alpaca Light  or if you want something wool-free, awesome feeling and machine washable, there's Berroco Remix Light. And, though I personally have not jumped on this bandwagon, this sweater would be a good candidate to turn into a fade, using skeins of handdyed, speckled yarns, if you've been toying with the concept but not sure which project to adapt.

Meanwhile, you'll find me here there and everywhere in mine. Seriously--someone tell me to change my top!

 with Kristy Glass when I was on her podcast. Is she not adorable? You can really get a good view of my yoke if you follow the link to her YoutTube channel, while I bobble my head and blab. Also you can see, above, that mine fits a bit more tunic-style than the model's version. Since it is knit bottom up, you can determine the length to armpit pretty easily as you go.

And here's a silly group selfie at the end of a photo shoot, and I am once again in my Keynote, bottom right.I wear it working, a lot.

If you've got one knit or underway, share it on Ravelry with us!We love love love seeing what you make from the book and where you wear it.

*if you check on Mary Lou's blog Yarnerinas or Kirsten Kapur's blog, Through the Loops, you will see that we're working our way through the book, sharing thoughts and ideas about the patterns. We jokingly said we'd do them in limerick, and I am , characteristically, the one who is taking that joke too far.