19 years ago today I married my true love, snugglewumpus, and very dear friend. Happy anniversary George!
Many flowers arrived (among other things), unfortunately all photographed at night:
from Miriam and Rich, whose anniversary is also today.
More orchids:
Orchids two years in a row. Perhaps a collection is beginning.
And so I went back to Rhinebeck on Sunday. I didn’t “need” to; I had been there a good bit on Saturday, but Saturday I was so overwhelmed that many things just passed me by in a blur.
I had really hoped to meet some people whose blogs I love to read and I probably walked right by at least one of them in a fog of unrecognition. There was a lot of fog in my brain both days. Even so, the best part of Rhinebeck was talking to many people, some I knew, and many new people as well. It was so inspiring talking to knitters and spinners, weavers and felters and just generally having a good time. The people are what really made the fair special. And so, if you are one of the people I bumped into and did not say hi to, accept my apologies, my poor brain was really overwhelmed. I tend to get overstimulated far to easily. I will be better next time.
And so, even though the joy of the fair was not the loot acquired, there is still more loot to show.
First, I had seen some gray, maroon, and navy handspun, rough silk yarn which I really liked but couldn’t think quite what to do with it. George dragged me away as I had promised him we could leave when he was ready, and surprisingly he tolerated far more sheep and wool browsing, shopping, and nattering than I would have expected. He would make a great spinner as he took to it naturally when we took a class at Morehouse Farm a few years back. He was definitely the star of the class and turned out perfectly even fine yarn on his first try. At first he was excited by the possibilities but as time passes the memory of the thrill fades.
Anyway, back to that yarn (on the left, multicolored). I dreamt about it and knew what I would make: a gift for someone and I can say no more as the person who would receive said gift may hear about it through this here blog. If you hope this may be you, patience is a virtue; if you are praying it is not you, well, only time will tell.
There was not enough of the silk, which I knew before I went back, I was just hoping that any of it was still there and most of it was. With it I bought these two wools and the rest will be left up to your imagination:
I also picked up a chenille that George had really liked: he loved the softness of it as well as the blend of colors. There is not quite enough for a vest for him, but I am mixing it with this solid gray wool. I would not do the entire vest out of chenille anyway as that would make me absolutely stark raving mad. I might or might not get started on this right away. I already have his Christmas gift and since his birthday is in May it may not be appropriate. It will be completed when the mood (or need) strikes: Here are the yarns:
The chenille is actually a little darker than it appears here: I took these late at night and without flash the photos were too dark and muddy. With flash, the lighter areas of the chenille really overshadowed the darker portions, it you look at the bottom corner, you get a better idea of the true feel of the chenille yarn.
I spent a good part of this past weekend at the NY Sheep and Wool Festival at the Rhinebeck Fairgrounds.
One thing I was interested in looking at was rovings, particularly dyed rovings. I had not been to the Sheep and Wool Festival for many years and it has expanded considerably in my absence. One thing that really impressed me was the amazing variety and selection of fibers for spinners. Some of these were amazingly beautiful and I loved the colors of some of the combinations of silk and wool and also some of the tencel blends. If I knew how to spin this would be an amazing temptation, and as it was I was sorely tempted.
I was looking however for wool rovings or fiber to use for felting and fabric embellishment. I am totally inexperienced at felting but I have been feeling an itch to try some and I thought this would be a wonderful opportunity to get some fibers to play with and see if I liked the process. It was quicky apparent that the problem would not be in finding materials, but in limiting myself. Luckily, since I am not sure about felting silk or tencel fibers I quickly eliminated them from the search. Still there were more than enough options to choose: Here is some of what I came home with:
Both photos were taken in the late afternoon sun but the colors seem pretty close.
The show was really inspirational. There were several felters present and some of them did amazing work: the traditional thick felt as well as some very sheer, modern delicate looking things crafted into exquisite garments. There were also beautiful quilted pots and one woman who made wonderful purses and satchels with leather trim and beautiful hardware. If my budget were not constrained by looming construction costs I would have been far more tempted into purchasing. As it was the fair was a wonderful source of inspiration.
I was also fascinated by the work of some of the weavers. I have thought that I would love to take up weaving, but I never was tempted to work on a small loom. This means that weaving will definitely remain in the realm of dreams for me. I know I don’t have the time – I barely have time to sew and knit. I can’t help dreaming of fiber arts though. If I could spend all my time on those things alone…..hmm…it would never happen. Get me started in the yard and I dream of spending all my time gardening. Put me in the kitchen and I dream of spending all my time cooking. I will never be able to indulge all the interests I dream of indulging.
But maybe I will get a little felting done.
It has been quite a busy weekend, and quite a lovely one as well, despite the very rainy start. Friday was a crazy busy day where I had little control over time or schedule until I boarded the train for Manhattan at 3:30. The dinner and the concert were lovely and we had a great time. Sometime during the concert the rain stopped, and it had mostly stopped at home as well by the time we returned around 2 AM. .
Needless to say we did not rise at dawn to make the opening bell of the NY Sheep and Wool Festival, but wandered in around noon, probably during peak crowd. I had a wonderful time. This fair is certainly much bigger than it was 10 years ago and that is a very nice thing. The sheep, llamas, alpacas, and bunnies were still there and they still had the animal shows and shearing contests etc, all of which are part of what makes the event fun in my mind. There were far more vendors and many more sophisticated ones that a few years back and I had a lot of fun looking at all the wares and wandering around the stalls talking to people and fondling fibers.
Oddly, I did a lot of looking but not a lot of buying. The whole thing was somewhat overwhelming. Now, at the end of the weekend, I have a much better sense of the thing and a much better idea of what to expect next year and how to go about the entire “fair experience” in a more manageable way. I had fun anyway. I did buy two yarns on Saturday, shown here:
This is Haiku by Alchemy yarns. I couldn’t get the color to come out right. It is really much more red, a deep burgundy wine color, with bits of purple, but more red overall. I got it from the Amazing Threads stall, even though the store is just in Saugerties, a few miles up the road. Still, I saw it now and knew I had to have it.
This color is much more true. This is a blended yarn I got from a place called Potpourri yarn by Greta Dise. She had a lot of fibers for spinning and was quite busy.
I was amazed at the quantity and variety of rovings and fibers for spinning and felting. I admit I was sorely tempted to take up spinning, just to be able to spin some of the wonderful fibers; some of them truly took my breath away. I am not opposed to the idea of spinning, I have been tempted before, but I don’t know how I would ever fit it in. Some of the things I saw definitely lead me closer to accepting that I eventually will learn to spin. I enjoyed looking at wheels and hand spindles and think that when I do decide to learn to spin, I would start with the hand spindle type of spinning, just because it is a more modest investment and I have a tendency to go whole hog investing in things and then dawdle along before I fully utilize them. I do believe that if I do start to spin, I will eventually move up to a wheel and I dream of eventually using my great-grandmothers walking wheel, assuming that Mom would pass it on to me.
At any rate I did purchase some bits of fiber and rovings, dyed beautiful colors, which I intend to use playing with felting, although I think of felting as more of a sewing-related activity and will post those rovings and my progress there at my other blog, sewdistracted. I suppose I really did not need two blogs, but I felt, and still feel, that the potential for a combined blog was just too cluttered with different kinds of stuff, especially if I wanted to go into all the boring detail of work on projects. Besides sewing gives me opportunity to explore all the whole fabric, fabric creation, and fabric embellishment ideas that I am interested in and knitting and the meanderings of my mind as I knit offer another whole range of topics and explorations.
After Rhinebeck on Saturday I still had to go grocery shopping. My order had arrived at Adams and I picked up two cases of Old Chatham Sheepherding Yogurt ( a two week supply) and was assured that I would have a standing order for two cases every two weeks. I am so lucky in that I love this stuff and now I get to indulge in it on a regular basis. My daily yogurt fix is my idea of the ultimate luxury. So I got to go home from the Sheep fair and have sheep yogurt. How wonderful!
There was no yogurt indulgence until after I drove around two counties in search of the new Vogue Knitting. I don’t know what happened to my subscription; it is possible that I just renewed a little late and it got delayed, but I could wait no longer. While I was in Kingston, after going to Adams, I ran down to Barnes and Noble to buy the magazine but they did not have it!!! I had not been able to locate it in Grand Central Terminal on Friday either. Desperation set in. I knew I had seen it at the Barnes and Noble in Poughkeepsie a few days earlier, and of course I was crazed with desire. All rational thought and reason had fled my body by that point so I drove to Poughkeepsie where I did manage to get the magazine. Once I was back home I was able to constrain myself long enough to put away groceries before opening the VK, and I made myself a bowl of yogurt and honey to enjoy while I perused the magazine. Nothing quite like dessert before dinner. I am glad I did buy the magazine, there was a sweater that instantly made me think of a yarn I had seen up the Sheep&Wool festival, and several other things that I think have potential.
Luckily, my darling husband had gone to the gym after we left the wool festival and had stopped by the office after that so he was not home until late – good because it was nearly 8 when I got home – nearly 10 before he rolled in.
I made a wonderful, simple, dinner of rainbow trout, pan roasted with a glaze that I made by boiling down a cup of balsamic vinegar until it was thick and combining it with a syrup made by boiling down fresh grapefruit juice. This balsamic-grapefruit glaze, drizzled over the trout, offset the sweetness of the trout and glossed over that little bitter aftertaste that I often find in rainbow trout. I also picked up fresh kohlrabi, sugar snap peas, and shiitake at a local farm stand, so we had peas with shiitake, and a slaw made of the kohlrabi, red bell pepper, slivered poblano pepper, and aioli. Mmmmm Good!
Sunday found me back at the fair, then busy at home while we rewired the stereo system because we were getting some fuzziness in the sound and some unpleasant rumblings. There were a couple of bad splices in the wiring, which I replaced and things are much better. The entire system is old and needs to be upgraded but it will all have to wait until after the rebuilding of the decks, which has now been scheduled for spring, After that I had to catch up on laundry and ironing, basic important weekend tasks, and we drove up to Saugerties, to our favorite restaurant, Café Tamayo, for an early anniversary dinner.
I still have to photograph Sunday’s take from Rhinebeck and catch you up with my knitting progress over the last several days. Needless to say, nothing has been finished but significant progress has been made on a couple of fronts.
I am certain that there is a black hole in the back of the Hyde Park Post Office. It has sucked up my new Vogue Knitting and the Tuesday and Wednesday editions of the Wall Street Journal, along with whatever other mail I am not aware is missing. I have sent the lovely employees at the desk scurrying through the post-office looking for my missing mail, insisting that the paper usually comes every day, but no pile or bucket of hidden mail has been found.
Alas!
Having heard that the new Vogue knitting is out, Liana got hers, I am desperate to have it. I saw it at Barnes and Noble yesterday when I stopped for a bathroom break and a sudden mad impulse to see if they had a copy of Benjamin Britten’s Noye’s Fludde in the music section. Fruitless I know, but the continued rain had me in mind of biblical disasters. Granted it did not rain much on Sunday and Monday, thank goodness, because we had 10 inches on Saturday, more than I ever recall on a single day. I think it did not rain as heavily yesterday, but I was thinking as I drove through the downpours, and splashed through the puddles, rivers, and lakes that had once been parking lots, that 40 days of this could be quite significant.
Meanwhile I did not buy the Vogue Knitting. I was certain it would be in mailbox waiting for me. No such luck. There was an InKnitters, which had a couple of interesting ideas, but did not satisfy my craving. If it does not appear by tomorrow, or at the latest, Saturday, I will have to venture out to the store, the craving will be too strong and my resolve will surely be broken.
Oh wait, I can’t go to the store on Saturday, I am going to the sheep and wool festival. Damn! Damn! Damn!. Adams has agreed to order my Old Chatham Sheepherding Company yogurt for me and it will come in on Friday afternoons so I can’t go grocery shopping till then. Well, I could make an extra drive up to Kingston. or I could just go later, after the sheep and wool festival. Tomorrow afternoon I am going in to NYC for dinner and a symphony concert. No shopping. I hope to be at the Rhinebeck Fairgrounds early Saturday. How did I get in this mess??? Well, who needs food anyway, and I have enough yogurt to get me through the weekend at any rate. It is my secret vice that yogurt.
It is the fate of those who toil at the lower employments of life, to be rather driven by the fear of evil, than attracted by the prospect of good; to be exposed to censure, without hope of praise; to be disgraced by miscarriage, or punished for neglect, where success would have been without applause, and diligence without reward.
Samuel Johnson
Preface to A Dictionary of the English Language
I love getting packages and two have arrived today:
First, this book, Johnson on the English Language, arrived today. It is volume 18 of the Yale works of Johnson, of which I possess not one of the prior volumes, and of which, apparently, three earlier volumes have not yet been published. Still, I am excited. I might have to get the others, I always wanted a works of Johnson – I suppose I cannot escape that English Major part of my myself no matter how hard I try. I must try however, or channel my inner carpenter, because the bookcase situation is severely wanting and there is no space.
I have already dipped into the book, reading bits of Johnson here and there. It is a wet and dreary day, the 7th in a series of wet and dreary days and I am feeling a general sense of apathy and laziness settling in. I would not have thought I suffered from SADD but the continued rain has certainly dampened my spirits, much the way the misery of February often affects my energies and ambitions. There is some small consolation in watching the flood of water pouring down the driveway, driven quickly through the drain I put through the middle of the Iris Bed. No more pooling of water on the lawn, no more washing away of hard-earned fertile soil. Still, one can only watch the flowing of an artificial stream across the blacktop for so long before the gray settles back into mind and body.
The other package was my order of Nepresso coffee pods for the Nepresso coffee maker that Mom got me for my birthday. Now I can happily look forward to an afternoon curled up with Johnson and some nice strong coffee or espresso. I can think of no happier way to while away this terribly dreary afternoon.
But first, the driving cajun beat of Beausoleil and a good run on the treadmill await.
It was one of those days where everyone seems to need somethings, far too many something, and one begins to wish for a hole to crawl into and hide.
I thought fondly back to the current exhibit at the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Gallery at Vassar College, which I visited this past weekend while I was on campus.
I was completely unfamiliar with Danish art, and although I must presume that each country and culture has art, I had frankly never thought about Danish art. It is however a fabulous exhibit and well worth even going out of one’s way to see. There are no spectacularly great paintings. I saw nothing of the same caliber as the great French and Dutch painters, and yet, the paintings are beautiful. Many are neoclassical in style and definitely restrained, but still obviously influenced by trends in the art world, especially impressionism in some of the works.
I found the entire exhibit to be calming and relaxing. Although the paintings were mostly classical in style, they could be any time and any people. They seemed to hint at complexity and sensuality but behind a reserved warmth. They kind of reminded me of Brahms in some way. I felt safe and comfortable looking at that picture, familiar and yet hinting at greater depth.
I would have liked to go back today and been enveloped in that warmth, even if only for a few minutes.
I have not been sewing, so despite my best intentions I have been shopping:
Today I bought this cotton knit from Emma One Sock:
and also this wool jersey:
Isn’t it a great color?
These will be joining my purchases from a couple of days ago (Monday I think) which Linda is shipping to me today:
I think this is absolutely beautiful. I had not been checking the Emma One Sock site regularly as I knew I would buy, but eventually my resolve broke down. How I admire those who do not have the stashing gene. I wanted enough for a suit and luckily for me there as just enough left for the suit I had envisioned, one piece for the jacket and one for the skirt — obviously it was meant to be.
I also indulged in two printed Onionskins. I am still of mixed feelings on onionskin. When I was younger my purist tendencies would not have allowed for their synthetic nature but I am much more relaxed about that kind of thing now. I am enjoying playing with the fabric. Sometimes I am quite successful in my choice of project but I will admit I have had some spectacular failures: I don’t mind the exploration has been fun.
Here are the two I purchased:
The Mann Booker Prize was announced: John Banville won for The Sea , which I have not read. In fact I have not read any Banville although I have heard good things. Interesting.. I will have to seek his works out. I was hoping for Julian Barnes because I think he writes beautifully even though I haven’t read his newest novel yet, although he has won before and so I suppose this is only fair. Of course Ishiguro has won before also.
I am terribly behind. There was a time when I would read all the proposed novels before the prize was announced. I was more devoted and far less scatter-brained then. This year I have read nothing on the list, although several novels are on my list. I did read Ian McEwan’s Saturday, which as you know, I liked very much. I was somewhat disappointed that it was not nominated, almost as disappointed as I was surprised by Zadie Smith. I haven’t read her new novel either although it too is on my list. In the past I have thought that her prose can be beautiful but her story lines weak. Beautiful prose can be a joy but it is not enough.
Meanwhile, I continue way behind on my reading as well as my blog-reading and internet forums:
This article via Rebecca’s Pocket caught my attention yesterday and is well worth reading. The way news is reported and what is reported affects us all and requires much greater consideration.
I personally was not too concerned about Frist’s insider trading charge only because I don’t tend to worry that much about insider trading. Yes people abuse the system, yes people make money, extremely large amounts on information that is not general knowledge, but that is the way people and the world work, always have worked, and always will. I suspect more people are hurt by the secrecy and sneaking around that have to be done because of insider trading legislation than would have been otherwise. Perhaps I overstate the case. Perhaps I have not considered the issues thoroughly enough. Perhaps I am overly cynical.
Decisions have to be made based on something. Someone always knows something that no one else knows. Where would our society be today if no one had ever acted on insider knowledge. Yes there are issues. Yes there are dangers. But insider trading, like war, is so deeply tied to the human psyche that I think anyone is deceiving themselves if they believe these things can be eliminated.
Still the article is important. The implications are important. The connection between Frist and HCA, his voting record on healthcare issues, the entire way the HCA fraud case was handled and settled, these are unsettling precedents for all Americans. These, combined with the insider trading issues should give us pause.
There is no malpractice for news media, for not looking up facts that are not on the surface although such is the case in medicine. We expect our doctors to do all the research. We expect them to protect us. Frist, as a physician, is aware of this, but perhaps as a politician he does not feel the standards need be the same. We do not seem to expect this from our government. We do not seem to expect this from our news sources.
Rhinebeck! Rhinebeck! Rhinebeck!
The New York Sheep and Wool Festival is next weekend and I remain a mass of contradictions. I want to go. I want to meet other knitters. I want to meet knitting bloggers. I don’t want to meet knitting bloggers. Will I like it? Too much anticipation. Too many nerves.
Rhinebeck is only 10 miles up the road from my house. I have been to the Sheep and Wool Festival, but not for a good 10 years I would guess. For the longest time we always seemed to be away that weekend. I never considered it in my plans although I always enjoy going. I have issues. Well, I always have issues with almost everything so that is nothing new. I love handspun and handdyed yarns. I also love commercial high fashion yarns. The latter craving is not satisfied at Rhinebeck. That’s ok.
I had been hoping to get to Stitches but didn’t. Never have. Might someday.
I will get to Rhinebeck. But I am still uncertain. It is a problem with being such an introspective type. I think too much, far too much, and get myself so nervous about meeting people that I will just sneak in and sneak out and act out my old wall-flower self. Perhaps not.
When did Rhinebeck get to be such a big deal in the knitting world? When did the knitting world get to be such a big deal? I have been so out of touch.
I went to a Leadership Conference at Vassar College last weekend and even managed to talk to perfect strangers and have a good time. I know I can do it.
Well, I AM going to Rhinebeck. I will buy yarn. I might buy fleece rovings even though I don’t spin – I do have plans for it though (you’ll just have to wait and see). I will probably even meet people: I am looking forward to it in fact even though the thought makes my stomach churn. I will not wear Tesla as I haven’t finished it. Perhaps my general state of nerves has slowed my knitting progress, as if some small, very small, part of me thought that if I didn’t knit something to wear I wouldn’t go. HA! Not going to happen.
Rhinebeck! Rhinebeck! Rhinebeck!
Beat the drums! Start the chant!
Rhinebeck! Rhinebeck! Rhinebeck!
—-
Meanwhile, on the home front:
Fall is here and the knit blanket has taken its rightful place on the bed. There is a double standard here, and Miss Tabasco is sleeping on her fleece blanket, as she knows she is not supposed to be on her parent’s bedding, at least when Dad is home; she might try to sneak a crawl between the covers by me, as she knows I don’t mind so much as long as she is not in the sheets.
