First came Rhinebeck and what follows are the obligatory sheep photos and then a few shots of some of my haul. 
The featured breed at Rhinebeck this year was the Leicester Longwool and I really like the look of this sheep. I kept going back over and over to visit them in their pens and spent quite a while talking with some of the breeders.
I missed my chance to get a bag of washed Leicester Longwool locks when I saw them early Saturday morning. I figured I'd walk around the festival and then come back later to buy them. Bad idea. By the time I got back they were gone, but I was able to get some pin-drafted roving from a couple of different breeders, and later in the day I bought a couple of bags of Wensleydale and Teeswater washed locks from the Spirit Trail Fiberworks folks.
And, for the first time, I bought fleeces! I got a lovely dark brown Romney and a mixed medium and dark grey Icelandic. I would love to process a fleece myself one of these days, but living in a NYC apartment with one bathroom and a family, this just isn't practical for me right now. So on Sunday, I dropped both bags off at the Still River Mill booth. I should have the fleeces back, all scoured and prepared as roving, by January.
With my mind still on spinning, I went looking for drop spindles. And I found three beautiful ones ~ two from True Creations and one from the Bosworths. And on Sunday, I finally found Sheila and Michael Ernst's booth. I must have walked past it at least four or five times without realizing it. But I made it and they still had a number of lovely glass orifice hooks. I found the perfect one for me, all shimmery amber and beautifully autumn-like.
I had thought that I wouldn't be buying any yarn since I have plenty in my stash, but I did end up getting some Shetland wools, some yak and bamboo yarn from Bijou Basin Ranch to knit the Sweetheart Tunic, and enough of this lovely plant-dyed worsted weight wool from the Hope Spinnery in Maine to fill this wonderful little basket. I got the basket from a couple who learned to weave these kinds of baskets as children and have carried on the tradition here in the United States. I had a little flyer from them but it went astray. I will have to look for them next year and get a bigger basket to keep by my spinning wheel for my fiber.
I took along my copy of the book Knit Green by my friend Joanne. She was at Rhinebeck on Sunday, in the authors' area, signing copies of her books, and I got to spend a little time with her. Not enough, but better than not seeing her at all, now that she lives all the way up in Winnipeg! And I spent some time in the International Tent helping to finish knitting to match donations to the Keep the Fleece project. I got to meet several of my favorite podcasters. And, best of all, I was surrounded for two whole days by hundreds and hundreds of people who, like me, are passionate about fiber! It was wonderful to walk around and be among people getting all excited about the same things that fill me with so much joy.
The last few months had been difficult for me and I didn't write about it here. But work became a place that didn't feel the way it had for the last two years, and I was a bit at a loss to get myself moving in a positive direction again. The last school year ended in uncertainty about what I would be doing this school year. My trip to the Dominican Republic in July helped me to move away from some of the disappointment, but Rhinebeck restored my soul and got my spinning and knitting back in a very good place. When the fiberwork is humming along, all the rest seems to fall into place. While my teaching situation now isn't what I would have hoped for, it's good and I'm good.
And - what can I say - the Yankees clinched a spot in the World Series last night at Yankee Stadium, and I got to be there!
Yes, October has been a very good month.
