Tales of a Rhinebeck Virgin

All the Signs Were There...and I Chose to Ignore Them

It has been a pretty crappy week here at Chez Purl.

First, my best friend had a miscarriage. Then, I broke at least one, possibly two, toes and have been in pretty much constant pain. (I tried to take a good photo of the horrific bruising for y'all, but just like black yarn does, it came out all washed out and not at all representative of the actual black and blueness, so I scrapped it). Then, I got unwittingly pulled into some drama at work. It involved being accused of "choosing sides" and frankly, is so ridiculously stupid, it would make you less intelligent if I even wasted your time telling you about it.

A note to my fellow professionals at work: Seriously? People? We are teachers at a high school...we are not IN high school. Grow up already! I can say this here, knowing full well that not one of them will ever read it! The freedom, the luxury, the sweet relief...

Then, still with the rain. I mean, inches and inches of it. You really have no clue what it is like unless you are also from the Northeast. Not enough here to cause flood damage, and I thank God for that, but just enough to be like Mother Nature's idea of water torture. Drip...drop...drip...for the past 9 freakin' days!!!! AUGH!!!

The Weather Channel promised me that it would not be raining yesterday (Saturday) down in Rhinebeck, which is a little more than one hour from my house. Again, the meteorologists were NOT correct. It was raining quite steadily at 10:30 am when we got to the Sheep and Wool Festival. WARNING, WARNING...RANT ABOUT METEOROLOGISTS COMING: What other profession can one have where you don't ever have to be accurate or correct? You can quite literally guess at what you think might happen with no assurance of accuracy and call it a day? There seems to be no Science involved in this process at all, because it is not anywhere near dependable or reliable. They should just call themselves "weather astrologists" and be freakin' done with it already! phew...RANT OVER...

Anyway, since I had been promised dry weather from my former friends at the Weather Channel, I did not wear a water-proof coat, and neither did my other family members. We got very damp in the first half an hour or so that we were there before the rain did finally stop (albeit at least two hours after my former friends at the Weather Channel had sworn to me on their mothers' lives that it would).

Wet wool sweater and denim does not equal a happy Girl.

And, oh! I forgot, I woke up yesterday morning with a low-level migraine. Not enough to puke or have to lay in total darkness all day, but just enough to feel like I wanted to perform my own lobotomy to make the pain go away.

We walked through some of the barns at the top of the hill and BB#2 particularly liked the sheep. He wants one now, and maybe some bunnies to keep it company, especially one of the floppy eared angora types.

I knew there would be a ton of people at Rhinebeck, I did. I also knew it would be crowded. What I failed to recognize--even with the end goal to be the fondlement and purchase of new, exciting yarn and knitting paraphenalia--I failed to recognize that going to such a place with a broken toe, wearing wet wool and denim, with a level 5 migraine, with a 19 month old Bug screeching "Baa-Baa!" at the top of his lungs at every sheep, llama, and alpaca he saw--real or stuffed, with a huge-ass stroller for said Bug's conveyance purposes, with a bored tween (BB#1. who is 12), and a husband who had the patience of a saint as he got jostled around, and with my poor broken toe(s) getting stepped on, nudged, trod upon, kicked, run over, trampled and stomped on...

that frankly....and I cannot believe I am even thinking this thought, much less going to say it out loud...well, okay, write it out loud.

It wasn't worth it.

??? Can you even???

Crazy much?

I felt so claustrophobic and anxious, and annoyed with the universe that I didn't even enjoy it, and I have been waiting and wishing for it to get here--all year. We walked through most of the barns up on the top of the hill. Then we went down to the exhibit buildings and the two BBs loved the Gem and Mineral Show. The older got a pair of those magnetic rocks that man at the end was juggling? Those helped my headache on the ride home, let me tell you!! The younger got more "gems" to add to his rock collection. They were happy...which was nice.

Then we ate lunch, hoping it would solve the Bug's issues. He had only napped about half an hour on the ride down and that was NOT enough. He was quite cranky. Our plan was to go back up and re-walk through the vender barns again so I could do my wool fondlement, perhaps peruse the knitting books, gaze in wonderment at and search for just the right size Addi Turbos for the baby blanket I am going to make for my best friend. By the time we got back up there, everyone and their mother was there, alot of what I had wanted to buy was already gone, so I went back to one place, grabbed two skeins of gorgeous wool in a color that I don't even particularly love for a scarf and hat set for ?? who I have no clue.

It is not the wool's fault that I was grumpy. It is perfectly lovely wool from Wild Apple Hill Farm in Hudson, NY, about halfway between Albany and Rhinebeck. The color, is pretty and is starting to grow on me. It is called mountain berry, and the camera has made it look much more red than it really is. It has much more of a pinkish tone to it. It will make a gorgeous scarf, if I can clear the brain fog long enough to decide who would like one in red.

My plan had been to buy myself some sort of fabulously expensive skein of yarn to make myself a fantastically expensive scarf that would become the absolute envy of all my knitting friends. But, when it came time to buy it...I couldn't remember where I had seen anything I liked and I was so grumpy that I just wanted to go home. Can you believe it? Total money spent on yarn at Rhinebeck? $9.00.

I am a cheap date.

I realize now that I made some Rhinebeck Rookie mistakes:

#1. I didn't dress in layers with a waterproof coat.

#2. I didn't have an alcoholic beverage with lunch--this in and of itself could have made all the difference.

#3. I should have worn steel-toed boots or at least wrapped the broken toes.

#4. I didn't keep a list of where I wanted to go back to later.

#5. I didn't just buy things when I first saw them to guarantee that they would indeed be mine and not some other greedy knitter's..mwahahaha.

#6. I brought a 19 month old who lately loves Sheep (and impersonating sheep) above all else--many thought it was adorable, me? Not so much.

#7. I ignored all the signs, all week long, that were telling me to stay home and just go the Periwinkle Sheep (one of my LYS) for some fun.

#8. I will actually remember to wear the scarf that I knitted especially for Rhinebeck next year when I actually go to Rhinebeck. Yes, it is so, I forgot to wear my new 10 foot long Rhinebeck scarf to Rhinebeck. Can you say LOSER??

So, in conclusion, finally...I do believe in second chances. I will return next year, a more experienced knitter, and a Rhinebeck veteran. I will right all the wrongs I committed this year.

I will come alone, because even a friend is too much with such serious yarn fondling at hand. For me, I think Rhinebeck needs to be a solitary adventure.