October 23, 2012

Among My People

I don't know what it says about my self-esteem and basically optimistic nature that I looked at my schedule for the next little bit and thought it was doable, because right now all I can do is look around me and feel the fear of the recently disillusioned.  The schedule is, of course, completely doable.  It's just only doable by someone really super organized, tidy and fresh, who doesn't need sleep much and has a cook and a maid.
Sadly, it turns out that I am not that person - and although I've always known that, I keep thinking that I just have to woman-up and I'll be totally fine.  Then there I am, two weeks later unpacking and repacking a suitcase while printing handouts, cleaning the fridge, fighting about homework and making soup while confirming flights and still meeting a word count, and the whole thing makes me want to go upstairs and look in the mirror and tell the person there that she needs to work on her self concept.  Then it all works out, and it's even worth it- and weekends like this last one are what keep me from ever learning my lesson.
After a great experience working at Webs, it was off to Rhinebeck for me, which always for me, is like walking among my people.  It's a whole weekend where the whole world is the way it should be, if fibre people ran the world. 

Rhinebeck is like Christmas for knitters- at least the way I do it.  I do things I only do once a year, see things I only see once a year,  take time with friends I only see once a year... even eat things I only eat once a year. (I'm looking at you - chips on a stick.)

For three days we talked, ate, laughed...

We made two weavers out of thin air, and helped them warp their first looms.  (I'd be prouder of Kellee and I doing that if we hadn't have warped their looms totally backwards and not noticed for hours. We both blame the wine - and the fact that somehow we thought it was really smart to do it really, really late.)

We shopped,  we greeted people seldom seen -


We communed with our spirit animals


and we talked for hours about things that other people have a limited threshold for - like necklines, and twist, and roving, and decreases, and the joys of mattress stitch, perfectly done.

We had photo shoots of Rhinebeck sweaters that made it... (Thanks to Caro for these awesome shots- and to Stitchy for smoothing.)





And we tried to figure out what to do about the ones that didn't quite make it. 


And then... just so we knew we were in the right place...

We watched other little tribes do all the same things. 

It was great. It was like Christmas- and just like at Christmas?
I've got a lot of wrapping paper to clean up before New Years, and it was worth it.

Posted by Stephanie at October 23, 2012 2:42 PM