The New York State Sheep and Wool Festival (aka: Rhinebeck) is coming up (October 15 & 16) and I am dyeing to make my Rhinebeck sweater! This will be my third trip to the festival. My friend Jeana and I have attended the last two shows together. The first year we drove out for the day and were overwhelmed with how much this festival offers – a great selection of vendors, delicious food trucks, book signings, beautiful animals, music, and more! The second year we decided to spend an evening and get a full weekend experience. As we stood in line, we learned about Rhinebeck Sweaters. It is a tradition at this festival to make a sweater and wear it, as Jeana and I stood in the freezing cold with the crisp fall air, we knew we had to be part of this tradition for our third visit.
I have not knitted a sweater in many years. Mostly, because I travel with my knitting projects and a sweater is not an easy project to toss in a bag and go! And because I have commitment issues. I am not the kind of person who reads a book twice or watches the same movie over and over again (unless it is Overboard) so I figured I had better really like the pattern and wool I pick for the project before I just dive right in. Needless to say, that has created a little procrastination or indecision? Either way, I am still determined to wear a sweater of my making to Rhinebeck this year!
In addition, Jeana and I have been super excited about dyeing yarn. Last year, we each purchased The Modern Natural Dyer by Kritine Vejar of AVFKW, it is a comprehensive guide to dyeing wool that is instructional and encouraging. At the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival, we bought a full range of natural dyes and extracts. We visit Kraemer Yarns in Nazereth, PA to buy mill ends and play.
My last trip to Kraemer Y
arns resulted in purchasing a sweater’s worth of wool that will produce some texture in my knitting. It is also a little heavier so that I can wear it as outerwear – I would rather not spend time knitting a sweater and have to cover it up with a coat!
I wanted to create a wool with a color spectrum so that it would have some depth to the color. So, I began by dying the wool with madder.
the results were good, it got me into the pink range 
I really wanted to add depth with a little bit of brown. And the wool has two plies – one thick and one thin – I was hoping that they would pick up the color just a little differently. I mixed up a little cutch and threw everything back into the pot for an over dye.
When everything was dry … the results were just what I wanted.
A yarn with depth in color and texture in the coral family that will knit up without the need for a complicated pattern or stitch. Something simple and warm … I have just started on the knitting … we will see how this turns out!
