Roadtrip to Rhinebeck

Guest blogger and regular contributor Meganne Fabrega reports on the scene and sights at many knitters' yearly pilgrimage.

Last weekend hundreds of knitters traveled to the New York State Sheep & Wool Festival in Rhinebeck, NY (known simply as “Rhinebeck” by fiber fanatics). People converge to make new friends, meet up with old friends, or connect in person with people they only have “met” online. I stayed in a house with 11 knitters; some I see regularly, others I had never met. I took advantage of downtime by reading the ideal book for the occasion--Rachael Herron’s memoir A Life in Stitches (stay tuned for a profile of Rachael in the February/March issue).

So if you weren't there, share in some of the festivities vicariously!

The Ravelry meetup everyday at noon. There was a lot of mutual admiration going on.


There was loads and loads of beautiful handspun yarn to buy, along with hand-crafted spindles, spinning wheels, clothing, buttons (including these by Melissa Jean Design), project bags, ceramics, books, and even a bunny!


Whimsy ruled the festival, and I loved how go Monkey Design used a vintage sewing rack to feature their project bags and needle cases.

With all this yarn it was easy to forget about all of the amazing animals that were on display at the festival, proudly led around by their owners and competing for prizes. The Llama parade was not to be missed.

In between visiting sheep and taking the occasional knitting break, I sampled yummy foodie festival delights. Apple crisp, raw milk cheese, tamales, lamb sausage, pierogis, fudge, and my favorite, bags of maple cotton candy to bring home.

Time to book my tickets for next year!