Rhinebeck Loot

As you know, Rhinebeck did not disappoint this year. The ladies and I had a wonderful time, and I made out like a bandit! Here's a what I got:

Some lovely baby alpaca/tussah in brown from Misty Mountain Farm which is so rich in color and so soft to the touch it's almost impossible to believe:

And then I got the obligatory batt, which I only bought because of the color (since I don't like working with batts so much) which is gray with a kind of grape color. It's BFL from Moose Manor Hand Paints. BFL doesn't feel so good to the touch, but after it's spun - look out! It's so soft and sproingy (is that a word?) that you can make anything and it feels good.


And then there's this lovely braid from Cloverleaf Farms. The label says wool/silk which I take to mean merino and silk (80/20) in my new favorite color - red.

I also bought a small packet of silk caps because I've always wanted to work with them and never had the nerve. I got them at Misty Mountain Farm and when I figure out how they work then I'll have the nerve to work with the silk hankies gifted to me by my friend Sojourn Knitter.

It's going to surprise me when they're all spun up, I'm sure. Take a good look at them now because if I screw up the drafting or spinning, then you'll never see them again!

Also from Cloverleaf Farms is this braid of merino/tussah (70/30) in silver shot with black which I saw last year and didn't buy (I bought some Signature needles instead). I'm glad I found it again this year!

Cloverleaf Farms also provided me with this merino top in Primrose. I would have bought all of their braids, but I controlled myself. This colorway is so pretty that I think I'll keep it around just to look at for a while:

Now, you might be wondering why I bought this chocolate bundle of softness, but all I can tell you was that it's 8 ounces and I thought I'd have a better chance of spinning most of it without ruining it. It comes from The Sheep Shed:

Last, but certainly not least, is this beautiful braid of Polwarth from Gnomespun Yarn. I'm going to try not to gush and slobber all over myself, but I got it because I've heard so many wonderful things about Polwarth, and the colors in this fiber are so delicious it makes me drool!

So that's it. That's all I could afford and I did really well trying to buy wisely.

Although,

I did put myself on the list for one other purchase. While I was at Rhinebeck, I went to a couple of booths where they were letting us commoners try out wheels, and in my travels, I found Gilbert Gonsalves, the manufacturer of Robin wheels and quite possibly the nicest man in the world.

He let me sit and try the wheel and I was IN LOVE! The wheel spins like butter. Not only that, it was as pretty as all get out.

I pedaled once or twice and put my name on the list for a wheel.

Maybe it was because he was so nice, maybe it was because the other wheels weren't in the style I liked. Or maybe it was because I wanted a wheel that was compact enough to fit in my small house, pretty as a picture and reminds me of floating on water. You can see a picture of it here.

The downside is that Mr. Gonsalves makes the wheels himself and it takes up to 2 years to get a wheel, signed and numbered by him. He said he recently got an apprentice and hopes to cut the time it takes to make a wheel to 1 year. I hope so too! With that hope in mind, I tried not to burst into tears when he told me that there are 75 people in front of me waiting for a wheel.

How could I express my instant love for the wheel and that I can't wait a whole year? I can't!

But I will.