A Knitter's Weekend
Postcards from Rhinebeck—and Wool & Folk!
Dear fiber friends near and far,
On Monday, we returned to our respective homes after a whirlwind of a long weekend in the Hudson Valley, where we attended two amazing fiber festivals. It was three days of nonstop sunshine, both literal and spiritual, and often both at the same time. So many beautiful people, wearing beautiful smiles and beautiful sweaters, made for a massive infusion of Vitamin C for the knitter’s soul.
These are our hastily scribbled postcards, with apologies for not being able to identify all of the people and knits we enjoyed so much. The time flew by, and we’re counting the days until next year. In the meantime, we’ll look for other ways, virtually and in real life, to gather together and enjoy the company of fiber folks.
Friday: Wool & Folk in Kingston, New York
Congratulations to Felicia Eve and Catherine Clark, founders of the amazing Wool & Folk festival at Hutton Brickyards in Kingston, now in its second year. We are proud to be a sponsor of this bighearted, uplifting event in a unique setting on the literal banks of the Hudson River.
A highlight of the day was the Podcast Patio. This was a mellow hillside that was filled all day with knitters—knitting, watching and listening to their fave podcasters record live from the Wool & Folk festival.
Here’s Felicia (on the left in red sweater) chatting with Needles at the Ready, who are the bookends, and Earthtones Girl, who is the book.
Such a brilliant way to relax on a brilliant day. Thank you, Felicia and Catherine, for bringing us knitters something new and wonderful.
Booth Sweet Booth
At Wool & Folk we even had a booth, where we were slinging skeins of Atlas like we knew what we were doing. (Narrator: They didn’t know what they were doing.)
Well, Cristina knew what she was doing.
Having never had a booth of our own, we enjoyed the heck out of our home in the airy, sunny Wool & Folk marketplace. (Please note that Kay is wearing her Old Friend Pullover. Kay needs you to note that. She’s also wearing her Honeycomb Scarf.)
Styling courtesy of Ikea bags.
Lots of fun people came through, including faithful MDK contributors Jen Geigley and Nell Ziroli. (Edited to add: Lots of folks are wondering about Nell’s beautiful vest. Guess what! She’s working on the pattern right now, so stay tuned. It has pockets!)
Sweater squad!
If you want to be where the fun is, follow this lady: Gaye Glasspie aka @ggmadeit aka the Iconic Orange Lady, shown here modeling a Rowan duster that was so hot off the needles you could toast a marshmallow on it.
Shakerag Mini Reunion (Sonya Philip, Jen Geigley, and Angela Tong + Kim Anderson—who really needs to get to Shakerag one of these Junes). Kim’s orange cardigan with magenta cuffs is the Barn Sweater by Carrie Bostick Hoge. (It would be great in Atlas, just saying…)
It was a thrill to lock arms again with Jeanette Sloan, for the first time since 2020. She came all the way from the UK for her first Rhinebeck weekend. (That’s Jeanette’s Dionne Shawl in yellow.)
And then there was the moment when Kay started screaming like she’d seen Harry Styles. It was better than that: it was the appearance of Roxy, the model for Haute Dogue‘s stunning canine handknits. They are besties in real life now.
Saturday and Sunday in Rhinebeck
The next morning, we motored across a mist-shrouded Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge to the Dutchess County Fairgrounds, where the New York State Sheep & Wool Festival was waiting.
We got there early enough to see the very beginning of the line at the Mulberry Street gate. That’s Katherine Dashner wearing Thea Colman’s Bee’s Knees cardigan, and on the right is Easy V by Caitlin Hunter.
If you look closely you can see Cristina lugging our bookstands over to Building B, where we had our traditional table in the Merritt Books bookstore.
Last-minute load-in. When you think of all the work that goes into a festival of this scale, it’s really something. All for the love of wool and the things we can do with it.
Sweaters Galore
We always marvel at the sweaters of Rhinebeck, but this year seemed extra sweatery.
Here’s our annual portrait of Mr. & Mrs. @minimoebius, Christine and Colin. In a huge win for #teamColin, Mr. Moebius got a brand-new Rhinebeck sweater this year. No repeat/no surrender!
And just a few more:
Imagine Esther, in 1951, 18 years old, in Germany, knitting this tiny-gauge, embroidered tabard thingie. What would she think of it appearing on her daughter, 71 years later, at a giant fiber festival in New York? Amazing story.
We can identify the Daytripper Cardigan—bonus points for mismatched bands. What’s that gorgeous gold pullover?
Cheryl!
Xandy Peters and his amazing handknit QR code that really works!
We have rarely fangirled as hard as we did when we saw The Twigs: The Twins. These two friends are half of the 2018 quartet of Papa pullovers that started Ann on her own Papa journey.
Ann in her Papa pullover, thrilled to run into Pittsburgh Mercantile‘s Susy Korb, who writes one of our favorite newsletters. [A hearty thank you to reader Kristen for letting us know that Susy’s red and blue pullover is Badger and Bloom by Anne Ventzel.]
Ann totally lost it when she saw Carole Foster’s plant-dyed yarns at the Foster Sheep Farm booth. Made with their own flock’s fleeces. That’s Carole on the left, with her wonderful friend whose name has blown out of Ann’s memory.
Back in Building B, we followed the first rule of book barn, which is that you barely get to say hi to your table neighbor in book barn, because she’s Safiyyah Talley and she’s busy signing her book and wearing a cute cardigan.
Adella Colvin of Lolabean Yarn Co., a proud sponsor of Wool & Folk, stopped by for a quick hello.
A peek at the fleece sale, which is always at our backs, just behind the curtain. What is that tub of golden goodness?
It’s a generous serving of piping hot mac & cheese, topped with crispy tater tots, dusted with parmesan—because too much is never enough. We had to keep our strength up!
A Cider Mill meetup, across from the apple cider doughnut line! The pattern has only been out for a hot minute, so how did all these Cider Mills get knit up? Look carefully and you’ll spot the cardigan mod—that didn’t take long.
No FOMO for this flat friend, who was there in spirit, and in cardboard.
Name that cardigan! We went all heart eyes for these two. (This just in: thanks to Marion, we now know that this cardigan is Gammel Sandvik Kofte from Kofteboken 3. And thanks to Nina, we know that this is Val and Sarah from NYC.)
On Sunday, we wandered to where these folks were keeping the sheep in sheep & wool festival. Mother Katherine on parade here.
On Sunday night, we once again managed to get this fine group to feed us. Cristina is wearing her magnificent Sojourner Shawl in Atlas (shade Peat), which was admired all weekend. Many Pittsburghers in this crew, including Ana of Wren + Rita, and Jennifer, who will forever be the hero who brought a Santa Cruz lamb to dinner in 2018—Mac is doing fine, by the way.
Thank you, thank you, to everyone who crossed our path. It was a joy.
Love,
Ann and Kay
That bright yellow pullover is Seafield by Jennifer Shiels Toland!
In my queue with the on-the-needles Sea Haven.
I thought so! Thanks for the info.
Thanks for sharing these great pics!
Thanks for all the great photos.
Looks like such great fun. One could really get their fan girl on!!!
These two cardigans with the flowers are the Gammel Sandvik Kofte from Kofteboken 3. They are really beautiful
So proud of Val and Sarah from our Upper west Side knit group!
Have you found the pattern in English?
We got the English pattern by paying for a class with a Norwegian teacher.
It was such an amazing festival! I only came on Sunday with my mom, five-year-old-daughter, and three-month-old son. (Baby’s first fiber festival! I should have made a t-shirt.) It felt extra special this year. (And if new baby ever doubts my love, I will tell him how many hours post-Rhinebeck I have spent holding him and feeding him instead of knitting with the new yarn I bought. He’s lucky he’s cute.)
And a good time was had by all! Until next year….
All those smiles!! TY for sharing, bises
We are always honored to be included in the MDK Rhinebeck wrap up. So wonderful to see everyone.
What is the blue sweater Kay is wearing?
That’s her Simple Swoncho by Karida Collins for Field Guide No. 18.
I was also wondering!
What a wonderful wrap up post, thanks for sharing. It was fun to run into you in the atm line!
OH! Thank you for sharing all this fun with us!
So satisfying that you really shared a LOT of photos of all the wonderful people and sweaters!!
I last went to Rhinebeck in 2019, it was magical. I definitely have to get back to it one of these years!
Wonderful!! Thank you!
Question? What were the temperatures?
Is Kingston a good place to stay in proximity to Rhinebeck if I don’t have transportation? Or would it be better to look for lodging in/around Rhinebeck? Is there Uber, Lyft, taxi, bus, available for transportation?
And when Gale says reserve early, she means like now! We stayed at a Airbnb in Germantown, and we already have reservations for next year. Places fill up fast. Look at some of the smaller towns within a half hour drive for places too, Rhinebeck lodging can be super expensive.
Thanks for the tip!
We stayed in Kingston which was about 20 minutes away. The drive in was easy but the drive back took well over an hour due to a massive traffic jam. Just volume and 2 lane roads. We still had a great time! And I talked to Ann and Kay for a moment!!
Stay in Rhinebeck (but reserve early)
There are quite a few buses organized by yarn stores which is fun because you have knitting company to and from the festival.
Thx so much for the tips ladies! My cousin and I are taking Amtrak, from Raleigh NC, next year!! So I guess we’ll need to look for a rental car?
We stayed in Kingston this year, folks stay in Rhinebeck itself and in nearby towns on both sides of the river. The Amtrak train gets you as close as Rhinecliff, but a car is pretty near essential.
The weather at Rhinebeck was Cool and Wonderful! Sweater Weather! (Lows in the 40s and Highs in the 60s)
That’s me in the trio first in line at Rhinebeck, wearing Thea Coleman’s Bee’s Knees. My friend on the right is wearing an Easy V by Caitlin Hunter
Great postcards! Thank you for sharing. I saw you ladies, Ann and Kay, from a distance on Sunday. What’s the sweater Ann was wearing, with the vertical stripes of color? I remember reading about it as you were making it, Ann, but the name of the pattern has left my brain.
It’s the spectra sweater, from the MDK Field Guide 19 called Marls.
I was most struck by this comment in the post, “When you think of all the work that goes into a festival of this scale, it’s really something. All for the love of wool and the things we can do with it.” I appreciated all of it. Thank you, thank you, thank you to the huge number of people who attended to every detail and put out their best effort for me and all the attendees. I am mighty grateful.
I’ve wanted to go Sheep and Wool for many years and FINALLY was able to go this year. (For those of you in a similar pickle, keep at it, you can get there too!) It was wonderful, surpassing my expectations. I found myself, a NYC “kid”, spending a lot of the time communing with the gorgeous animals — so good for lifting the spirit and filling the soul.
Hope to see you there next year!
Barbara
Thanks for the virtual visit to Rhinebeck. It looked like a lot of fun!
Next year in Rhinebeck. #goal
I loved my vicarious visit this morning. Thanks to Ann and Kay!
It was my first Rhinebeck and I’m already thinking about going again next year!! It was wonderful to finally meet Ann and Kay and some of the MDK team. Thanks for the memories!!!
I don’t know when I’ve ever seen such a happy set of pictures! I’m wondering about the one where kaye is clutching Ann as if she might get away! Thanks so much for the virtual visits. And Saffeia in action — I just learned two socks in one from her book, and it’s my go- to now.
My daughter and I missed this year due to a family wedding – didn’t they know it was S&W weekend??? I am a raised in Rhinebeck gal (no longer living there) who used to take her kids to S&W when it was a local gig sharing space with the gem and mineral show! There were bouncy houses for kids and a few folks strolling around! And look at it now!! Truly an amazing event! Next year I am going to seek you ladies out and say hello as I do enjoy your snippets and loved the KAL for the Daytripper.
Roxie sealed the deal.Rhinebeck in a newly knit sweater for me or bust!
I didn’t even get through the whole page before I left (temporarily) to purchase Jeanette Sloan’s Dionne shawl pattern! So gorgeous! Loved seeing all the pretty sweaters though.
Ann made an amazing large-scale version of the Dionne Shawl, I can’t find her finished photos but here it is in progress: https://www.moderndailyknitting.com/2019/10/01/a-baby-blanket-in-a-week/
I have coveted it ever since!
Thank you so much! Loved all the pictures. Was hoping that your weather turned out exactly like it did. Recognized everything both of you were wearing, and I must say the designs of them stood up to all that rumpling and twisting and hugging you guys were doing. But what was the name of that vest that Nell Ziroli was wearing?? I don’t remember it from the MDK Field Guides. It was a v-neck, light-colored and seemed to have some ribbing or garter along the side, and maybe, pockets? I love vests, have two on the needles and am always looking for another one. Thanks!
Love the photos! Such beautiful sweaters! Any idea what the pattern is in the 20th photo…the woman on the left with the blue sips glasses and the red and light blue Fairisle? It’s fabulous!
So many wonderful knits and friendships! I love Kim Anderson’s cheerful yellow orange cardigan with that cozy wide collar. Anyone know what pattern that is?? 🙂
I’m also curious about Nell’s V-neck vest…..
Thanks for asking Sheila!
The vest is called Moonflower and is in test right now, LMK if you’d like to join in…
nellknits at gmail
A little bird (named Nell) told me that the vest pattern is coming soon!
Olive is officially miffed that she didn’t get to go. The terrier supermodel thinks she could show off those sweaters much better than Roxy. (PS: When is that Field Guide on things for small furry folk coming out?)
It’s a dream of mine to get to go to this festival. Thank you for letting me feel just a little like I was there with you.
Best. Post. Ever. I have looked at the pictures over and over. I need to go to this one day.
So many cute sweaters. I’d love to know what pattern, that red Susy Korb is wearing.
Susy is wearing Badger and Bloom by Anne Ventzel. Beautiful! 🙂
Hey you guys — this was a wonderful post. It spoke to my knitterly soul which once made it to the MD S&W, so I know what I’m missing. Seeing the booths and the sweaters and the knitters!! It was definitely the next best thing to being there.
All these pictures put me there in spirit. Thanks so much!
Thanks for all the photos – looks like a great time to be around fellow knitters and producers of sheep!!
thanks so much for all the beautiful pics with blue skies & folks wearing sweaters! I will live vicariously through this for now — way across the country near Portland, OR — where we’ve had the hottest summer that I can remember. Still knitting a linen top. Hope to start back with wool next week! And now I have even more sweaters to added to my queue — I may copy that Seafield pullover in Retrosaria Mungo next – I love it!
What fun! I always love to see your post after Rhinebeck! Thank you, ladies!
I bet I can speak for others who, like me, have never been there and sadly will never be able to go: Thank you SO MUCH for these wonderful photos and comments – and pattern inspirations!
Wish I had been there!! Maybe next year. Thanks for the pictures!!
Oh my, this looks like so much fun!! Great pictures, and give me some of that mac and cheese!!!!
Thanks for all the lovely photos. Maybe next year in Rhinebeck.
So thrilled that my Daytripper made the MDK Rhinebeck post! Woot! This was my first Rhinebeck and meeting you all was at the top of my list. Thanks for being awesome!
Always thrilled to see you two and be a part of your postcards. See ya next year.
I had to go get my sunglasses, the smiles are blinding!
I MUST attend this next year. Looks like it was a FABULOUS weekend!
Thank you SO much for the pics! It made me feel like I was there! The marvelous knits that everyone was wearing …Oh my
Just LOVE it! You gals looked like you had so much fun! Thanks for sharing the photos! Have to try to join you next year! Happy knitting!
Oh, you did have fun. Thank you for sharing Rhinebeck with us!
Thank you Ann and Kay for the wonderful tour. Brilliant sweaters and super yarn.
How many was in attendance?
Ty soooo much for this picture display of this spectacular year at Rhinebeck
So much inspiration and so much fun to see. Thanks for the great pics.
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