Wool & Cottage

Rhinebeck Round Up!

Molly Grimm

This year’s NY Sheep & Wool Festival did not disappoint - Rhinebeck was filled with many creative fiber people, and lots of knitting fun! The event took place this past weekend Oct. 19-20, 2024. My husband and I flew into Connecticut and drove two hours to make it to the event on Sunday. It was a short trip, but very full!

The scenic drive from CT to upstate NY was gorgeous. There were not a lot of places available to stay around the festival, so we decided to stay out a little further and make the drive up. Taking in all the beautiful Fall colors this time of year ended up being one of my favorite parts!

The event itself was extremely busy. It was a little difficult to get into some of the booths and there were several lines to do meet & greets with the knitwear designers. As I was standing in some of the lines, many people mentioned it was a lot more busy Saturday, the day before. I recognized a lot of the vendors, but there were many that were new to me, or small local farms from NY. One thing I would consider next time would be to attend the preshows - Cakepalooza & Indie Untangled. Both of these shows were set up prior to the festival, and had several more booths and vendors that I would love to visit in the future! I also learned that you need to preorder some of the more popular festival merch before it sells out.

After we got there, I raced to the Merritt Bookstore booth to meet some of my favorite knit designers. Designers who had written books recently released were at this booth. It was fun to do some meet & greets, and getting books signed by the designer. One of my favorite new books is Cultivate by Dee HardWicke & Jonna Helin. These knitting patterns are truly swoon-worthy, and I was excited to see them knit up in real life! I also picked up the Doodle Knit Directory by Jamie Lomax. This is a colorwork technique book with lots of different seasonal motifs to explore. I was able to meet Jamie and loved seeing her colorwork samples in real life as well!

It felt like my Instagram was coming to life at times (ha!). As I was walking around, I saw many of my favorite knitters who inspire me, including Stephanie Pearl-McPhee!! It was very fun to see everyone’s knit creations. It was a little hot on Sunday to wear the knits all day, but many powered through the heat and kept their sweaters on! Also, contrary to popular belief, you do not need to wear anything you actually knit to the festival. It doesn’t matter, and no one passed judgements! There was a wide range of both hand-knit garments and just regular clothes as well. I opted to bring one of the first shawls I ever made, called “Cake For Breakfast”.

There was so much food at the festival - both food trucks and vendors as well. An entire building was dedicated to food vendors, from tea companies to BBQ sauce. There was anything and everything food related at the festival as well. The longest food line was for the brussel sprout truck - I had to try, and they were pretty amazing!

One of the booths was called, Rowan Tree Travel. I got to talk with these ladies for a bit, and learn a little more about their business. They are travel and event planners specifically for fiber people. They travel all over the world and curate the perfect itinerary that includes fiber, knitting, sight seeing and food! Whether you plan an event with your local yarn shop, knitting group, or a small group tour, they had many offerings that sounded like a great time.

After the festival, there were some “after-parties” that we went to. We started at the yarn shop, “The Perfect Blend Yarn & Tea Shop” in Saugerties, NY. It was a little bit of a drive from Rhinebeck, but worth the stop! The shop was very cozy with lots of tea options and of course, yarn.

Next, we stoped at Yarn Farm Kingston in Kingston, NY. This was by far my favorite party! This yarn shop has a wine tasting bar, and it was voted as the town’s best charcuterie board! I got to meet up with some friends from The Bloomin’ Spindle Yarn Shop in Chicago. I met some of these ladies on the Chicago Yarn Crawl earlier this year. It was fun to catch up and show Ashley the progress I’ve been making on one of her designs (Summer Scream)!

There was so much I wanted to take home from the festival, but had to limit myself to my carry on! I did end up getting yarn for two different projects, along with a couple books, and lots of odds and ends that were being passed out for free by vendors. I did pick up some tea from the Perfect Blend, and a small Rhinebeck project bag. The larger skeins of yarn were called Peace Fleece from Harrisville Designs. I also got some local yarn from Catskill Farms in New York (green & pink - DK weight).

If you’re considering the trip to Rhinebeck, I would highly recommend! It’s a fun event with lots of inspiration all around. I’m so thankful I was able to make it this year (a birthday surprise from my husband!). I hope to attend next year as well, and have enjoyed seeing everyone else’s pictures, too!

Until next time! Happy Knitting :)