Rhinebeck !!!

I'm back and it is so hard to know where to begin because the last 4 days have been simply wonderful. I visited family, I saw cool stuff and I finally experienced Rhinebeck! It was all so much fun that I kept forgetting that I had my camera with me.



I wish I had taken more pictures so I could show you all the people I met. I found my friend Carole almost as soon as I arrived at the hotel and she introduced me to... everyone. There was blogless Sharon, and blogless Manise, and Kim (who was drawn like a bee to honey to the most gorgeous wheel I've ever seen), and Kathy, and Jessalu. I also met Anne and Judy (I was knitting socks with her yarn when we met). I'm forgetting a ton of other folks too which is understandable since I met way too many people for my pea brain to handle. I was among my people - fiber people, and it was so easy and so much fun that I relaxed like I haven't relaxed in quite a while.

Adding to the fun (at least for me) was someone I convinced to join me for part of the weekend. My sister, who lives way closer to Rhinebeck than she does to me. It was a bog deal because not only doesn't she know any of "my people" - she doesn't knit at all. She was a really good sport and she braved the crowds and wasn't freaked out by the fiber folks that were everywhere we looked (they even surrounded us when we had dinner at the Culinary Institute of America).

But it wasn't all torture for my sister. Here she is conversing with a gentleman dressed in period attire. I believe he was telling her that it's not "garb". She does look like she's enjoying herself just a little bit. Right? She's even smiling and we weren't even in the food building.



Here's a blurry picture (that I didn't take) of the two of us. Even blurry,the family resemblance is there.



A few people asked me how Rhinebeck compared to MDS&W. Is it as big? Are the vendors the same? As far as I can see they seemed about equal in size - or very close - but there are differences. First, there is no food building at Maryland. I really liked the food building. I tasted wine, I sampled cheese and I brought home a bit of maple syrup cotton candy for the family. Yum! Definitely a plus.

There are no rides or other kid-stuff at Maryland. I suppose this is a plus or a minus depending if you've got small kids or not. Personally those days are way behind me and I could do quite nicely without the small fry when I'm looking at yarn. I also would've been happier without getting bumped repeatedly by strollers. But if my girls were still little I might feel otherwise.

One thing that both events have in common is the people who wear everything they've ever knit ALL AT ONCE. You might think it'd be less funny when you see people draped in multiple woolens in October when it's 40 degrees than it is in May when it's 80. Nope! Still funny.

For me the thing that really set Rhinebeck apart from MDS&W really had nothing to do with the events themseles and more to do with location. I attend Maryland as a commuter, usually for just one day. I go, I see, I buy, and then I go home. I don't stay up drinking with friends while discussing who was wearing what, who was there, who wasn't, or what booths had the coolest stuff. It's a totally different thing when you experience it as a commuter versus a tourist. Guess which is better?

I had the best time this weekend. It was well worth the drive and I can't wait to do it again.