First off, I would like to thank you all for putting up with me.

And now as promised, a Rhinebeck recap …… before the Great Whine, I believe I had left you all in suspense about D#2.

Well, she did manage to get to the fair – although she slept through that painfully early wake up call, she got there around 10. Some of the highlights ….. she fell in love with this little angora goat who seemed to return the sentiment. We had a lovely time cruising through the barns, enjoyed an early morning chicken pot pie and picked up some Brooks Farm Riata for her next knitting project.  She seemed  impressed with the whole fiber festival vibe and is now eager to finish a project she has on the needles so she can start on that Brooks Farm – a true knitter!

Here is a mosaic of the shopping bag …..

The two middle pictures are of the Jennie the Potter mug and the Riata – all the rest of the yarns were bought at Creatively Dyed, two skeins of laceweight and two of sock.  I can’t wait to dig into those!

God. I feel like I’ve been up all night having some grueling emotional conversation with a boyfriend. You know, that emotional hangover feeling?

After discussing this over and over with various patient friends I will put it out there for my bloggy, spinning friends and then I will try to put this out of my head.

The original Rhinebeck Saturday morning plan was to drive a little past the fairgrounds, pick up D#2 at Bard (she is a sophomore) and then go to the festival. D#2 is a new knitter, it was parents’ weekend – a perfect thing to do! Pick up time was planned for 8:30 and D#2 asked for a wake up call beforehand.

What do you think the success rate of getting a college student out of bed on a Saturday morning is? I called and called and it went to voicemail. Then I tried a wake up text message. Then I decided she was an orphan. Actually what I really decided was that she would call when she got up and she could get herself to the festival.

All of this put me at the fairgrounds much earlier than ever before. Early enough to be first online to get the elusive Norm Hall wheel.

I need to say that I have spun on a Norm Hall twice before and I really didn’t like it. The wheel is gorgeous – truly a piece of art. But the alignment of the double treadle and the offset orifice on the Saxony makes me twist at the waist in a way that I don’t twist anymore. The woman who was there helping Norm said that the long draw is the way to go on this wheel. I know how to do the long draw and have done it, but it is not my usual method – I fall somewhere between the woolen and worsted method.

OH MY GOD – I am making myself nuts even writing this blog post. This is a long way of saying that I turned down a Norm Hall wheel because I haven’t liked it, still don’t like it but everyone else likes it so much that I am wondering what in the hell am I missing??!! I recognize that it is beautifully made, but I find the actual spinning uncomfortable.  I keep going over and over in my head – what am I not getting??

What have I done????? Have I made a terrible mistake??????

ps. adorable owl mug from Jennie the Potter.

pps.  I promise another ‘New and Improved Rhinebeck Post, now with no more whining!’ sometime this week.

Poke berries, with some cranberries thrown in for good measure! If you look through my flickr account, you will see some black walnuts, tansy, marigolds and goldenrod brewing. It was another great workshop hosted by the guild and put together by Diane.   Diane truly worked her arse off for this day and it showed  – everything was wonderful.  Even the weather cooperated and we all had a great time.

[poke berries brought to us by Patty E. — thanks Patty, and fyi I gave you all most of the credit!]