Chiagu Blog

Rhinebeck 2015 ...and a lovely time was had by all

Posted on October 23, 2015 | 4 Comments

The New York Sheep and Wool Festival (aka Rhinebeck) is always held the third full weekend in October. I've been going for over 10 years, starting with day trips and lately for the whole weekend. This year we participated in the Indie Untangled Rhinebeck Trunk that took place Friday night.  

Here is the booth being setup up (with much help from Lexie).  I sewed project bags of various sizes and I even pulled an all nighter to get them done. It was a successful show for us and we hope to do it again next year. Over the weekend I'll replenish the Chiagu website and the Chiagu Etsy store with the remaining bags.

Eight of us rented a house for the weekend and we got off to a slow start Saturday morning. My inner giddiness surface when the first thing I saw was the nun walking two baby cashmere goats.  I'm pretty sure I squealed.  And every year there is a nun walking goats. I took an adorable picture of my friend Margaret and one of the goats:

It was a cool and crisp Saturday - those who knitted Rhinebeck sweaters wore them comfortably. As we walked the Dutchess County fairgrounds we saw spectacular color:

and in the vendor barns you saw cool business banners like this one:

I can say confidently that this was the most popular knit project:

Here's a close up of the Shetland Baa-ble Hat knitted by my friend Pamela:

That sheep hat was everywhere! It's a free pattern from the Shetland Wool Week website.

And who doesn't like running into a llama taking a walk?

By the end of Saturday we were all tired. Some of my housemates bought goodies in the Food Barn so we had a delicious dinner of appetizers and alcohol:

There's bread, several different types of cheese, olives, pickles, chorizo and sweet Italian sausages. Dessert was the same idea (and we forgot to take a picture of it).

As for Sunday I have to admit I was a sheep stalker.  A Herdwick sheep stalker.

I've been a Twitter follower of James Rebanks aka @herdyshepherd1 for a couple of years now.  His Twitter feed is full of gorgeous pictures of the Lake District, his herding dogs, and his Herdwick sheep.  So when I saw this Herdwick ewe I had to see what she was up to.  Her name is Haylie - she and a baby Herdwick were part of a sheep talk.  When it was over they were walked to a pen in the next barn. I watched them eat and then Haylie walked over to her owner, Erin Bradt from Helder-Herdwyck Farm, for some petting.  

ADORABLE.

And then I got to pet Haylie. She was SO SWEET.

Herdwick sheep Hayllie

And yes I ended up buying two aran weight skeins of Herdwick yarn.  And that's another year for Rhinebeck.  

Chiagu Rhinebeck 2015

So thank you to my fabulous housemates (yes, we had a selfie stick that we used at the house.  Remarkably there were no selfie stick sightings on the fairground).

Already making plans for next year and I can't wait to see Haylie the Herdwick again!

 

Posted in @herdyshepherd1, Baa-ble hat, food, Hayllie, Helder Herdwyck Farm, herdwick, Indie Untangled, james rebanks, llama, New York Sheep and Wool Festival, Rhinebeck, sheep, twitter

 

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