The Greatest Day of the Year

The Sheep and Wool Festival is a sort of Mecca for artisans.  On the third weekend in October we make our pilgrimage to Rhinebeck, New York to partake in all things yarn.

There are sheep, and rabbits, and goats, and llamas.  Dogs bred to herd such fibre bearing creatures.  Spindles, and looms, and wheels.  Needles, and notions, and swifts, and winders.  And yarn of all content.  Cashmere, Angora, Merino, Alpaca, Shetland, Highland, Peruvian, Australian, Icelandic.

With all of these choices, on 144 acres (I looked it up), it's amazing that I managed to only come home with this.

I look forward to this weekend all year long.  I try to put myself on a yarn diet (and usually fail) just so that I can go batshit crazy buying everything I see in Rhinebeck.

It's become a bit of a tradition to stop at Fishkill Farms on the way home.  That's where the apples and pumpkins seen above come from.  

Any good apple picker knows that the good ones are always at the top of the tree.  That means you need someone to catch what you pick.

There are very few things that warrant standing in line for 45 minutes at sunset on a cold, blustery October evening. A Fishkill Farms box of piping hot apple donuts and a few cups of hot apple cider is on that list.  After that, it's time to head home and start counting down to next year.

Planning all the projects to use up the yarn, and all the recipes to use up the apples just helps the drive go faster.