Rhinebeck is right around the corner! I've been working madly to get ready, and am really excited about this year. I have loads of yarns and fibers done in lots of different colors, and some exciting new stuff to share with everyone ....

First off, some Rhinebeck special events:

Saturday, October 17, from 1:00 to 3:00 pm: Clara Parkes will be at the Spirit Trail Fiberworks booth signing copies of her new book, The Knitter's Book of Wool (which will also be available for sale in the booth). This is a really fantastic book!

Saturday, October 17, from 4:00 to 5:00 pm: Amy King will be at the Spirit Trail Fiberworks booth signing copies of her new book, Spin Control (which will also be for sale in the booth). This is another wonderful book!

For yarns and fibers:

I am excited to introduce a completely new yarn at Rhinebeck: come by, meet and fondle "Sunna," a blend of 75% superwash merino, 15% cashmere and 10% bombyx silk. I had this yarn created and spun especially for me, so it's not available anywhere else. It's a three-ply fingering weight yarn, and is just irrestistable. Sunna, by the way, is the Scandinavian Goddess of the Sun and Spinning, and her symbol is a fiery wheel.

I also have 15 new rovings ready! This is the most new stuff I've ever had ready for one show. All dyed in different colors, they include Gulf Coast, Santa Cruz, Teeswater/CVM X, Romeldale, Rambouillet, Gotland X and others. I also have some lovely white Teeswater and variegated Wensleydale locks ~ too pretty to do anything but wash.

Lastly, I have a new bumpersticker to share (I love bumper stickers. I know alot of people don't, but I get a kick out of them):

The drop spindles were drawn by my father, who is a fabulous artist. The one on the left is my Mongold drop spindle, which is the first spinning item I ever purchased and has beautiful etchings on the top. The spindle on the right is a Peruvian bottom whorl that my friend Shelia purchased for me on her trip to Peru.

If you're going to Rhinebeck, don't forget to check out Wild Fibers Magazine's International Tent for alot of really cool activities and presentations and, if you have a bit of extra time, please be sure to stop at the Tent and knit a few rows on The World's Longest Scarf.

Personally, in between getting ready for Rhinebeck, I've been on a sock knitting binge. Since September, I've finished 4 pairs and have another half way done (this is a huge number of socks for me, as I'm not usually an avid sock knitter). But, I had all this sock yarn laying around staring at me, and I finally succumbed. I posted a photo in the last post, and here's another:

This is some old Spirit Trail yarn; I think it's Alexandra. It's a bit more brown in real life, with mahogany and tan stripes. I especially like how the heels stripe. I have no idea when I dyed it, but it was years ago. It's one of those colors I especially liked and actually took a skein of for myself to use, and then it got buried in my stash. It was before I was doing repeating colorways, but I may try to recreate it one of these days.

I'm also trying to spin up little samples of all the new rovings, but not doing so well getting them done. Too many came in at the same time, just over the last couple of weeks. So, we'll see how many I get done.

If you come to Rhinebeck, be sure to stop by my booth (A4) and say hi!