Rhinebeck Weekend
Rhinebeck is one of those events you HEAR about as a knitter! It was the talk of my knitting friends every fall. It’s an incredible weekend: the events, the friends, the knitwear, the vendors, the food, the scenery, and the cute Airbnb’s! Seriously every part of the experience is great! For those of you going, here are the details. For those of you not joining us, there are online shopping opportunities for you!
When talking about Rhinebeck, you need to remember folks are talking about a whole weekend of events in and around the Hudson Valley!
Festivities start on Friday with FOUR events.
Queen City Yarn will be at Indie Untangled with 24 other amazing vendors at HITS on the Hudson, 298 Mike Krout Road, Saugerties, NY. Tickets are priced from $10-$35 and include shopping from:
- 10-11:30 ($35) includes swag bag
- 11:30-1 ($20)
- 1-2:30 ($15)
- 2:30-4 ($10)
If you can’t join us in person, you can register for the online market place instead!
CAKEpalooza also has 25 fantastic vendors at CAKE Wool Co's studio parking lot at 8 North Street, Saugerties, NY. Tickets are priced from $10-$25 and include shopping from:
- 10-12 ($25)
- 12-2 ($20)
- 2-4 ($15)
- 4- 5:30 ($10)
Many of these vendors have online shops you can check out, too!
There will also be a shuttle running between the two shows, as well as the local yarn shop, The Perfect Blend, to help with traffic and parking.
About 20 minutes south of Saugerties, at the Hutton Brickyards in Kingston, is Wool and Folk. There you’ll find 60 vendors, plus food and music, from 12-7pm. Tickets are $45.
Many of these vendors have online shops you can check out too!
Wrapping up the events on Friday is Floxsie's 70’s themed Roller Skating Party at Wood'n Wheel Family Fun Center, 365 Route 9W, Ulster Park, NY. Tickets are priced from $15-$30. Skating is open from 5:30-8 pm. There will be raffle prizes, giveaways and winners for Best Dressed, Best Roller moves and Grooves as well as best Knitted/Crocheted items!
From there you should plan on finding some dinner (Reservations are HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY recommended) and getting to bed! There is lots more to see on Saturday and Sunday.
New York Sheep and Wool, the reason we all started coming to the Hudson Valley in October, is at the Dutchess County Fairgrounds, 6636 Spring Brook Ave, Rhinebeck, NY. Here you’ll find 100’s of vendors, food, drinks and animals. Gates open at 9 am both days. Tickets are $12-15.
Be a Great Test Knitter!
We often partner with talented knitwear designers, providing yarn support and marketing assistance on new designs that utilize our yarns. We like to include a QCY test knitter in the designers testing pool, so that we can have a sample of the design to add to our very large sample collection.
It’s been a while since I jumped into the test knitting pool. With my current work load, I typically end up utilizing our amazing sample makers for these, but they were all busy working on other things we aren’t ready to share yet. So, It was up to me! I was really excited to get to know Jill (of Knit Sisu) and knit her newest design the Olive & Oak Sweater.
My VERY first step was a schedule! Jill needed my feedback no later than Sept 4th. Once I had the pattern, I worked out a schedule. I took every day between the day I got the pattern and the deadline and broke the pattern into small daily deadlines. I also took into account days I knew I wouldn’t have time to knit as well as finishing up my Super Simple Summer Sweater in time for the Southern Comforts Market. I also gave myself days that had no deadline. I used these as days to catch up.
I could and should do a whole blog post on swatching, but I will leave that for another time. After swatching, I was ready to get started reviewing the actual pattern. For this I prefer paper and a red pen. (The architect is still in there!) I printed the very first version of the pattern and read the whole thing. I like to circle or highlight all of the instructions and numbers for my size. This is a good time to ask questions. There were a few minor errors, but I was behind the other testers and they has already found these typos, so I double checked they had been corrected in the second version I also had printed.
From there I dove into knitting, hitting my daily deadlines most days and catching up on others but never falling too far behind. As I had questions or comments I added them to the pattern. I used my Taco progress keeper to mark where I started each day!
Once I finished my sweater it was time to translate my chicken scratch hand written notes across three versions of the pattern into a cohesive set of notes for Jill.
Last and Final Step, Photo Shoot! I find it VERY helpful to see photos of the finished test on a body!
Meet the Designer: Jill of Knit Sisu
This week we are featuring Jill's newest design, the Olive & Oak Sweater made in our luscious Coleman Yarn, so we thought you might want to get to know Jill a little better!
My hometown is…. I've moved every 2-5 years of my life so there isn't one hometown! But I was born in Denver, CO and spent a lot of time in Irvine, CA.
I currently live in… Washington DC
My professional background/degree is in… English Lit with a Masters in Teaching
My preferred craft is…and I have been doing it for (how long)... Knitting! For about 10 years.
Fiber crafts I would like to try are… Macrame, yarn dyeing
Non yarn related hobbies are… Yoga, cooking, hiking, and reading
My favorite movie is…. Clueless. But my husband won't watch it with me because I recite all the lines.
My favorite QCY color is…. the new autumn-y Coleman Maple color!
A food I think is super gross is… haha not much - I'll eat just about anything!
I have an unpopular opinion about…. Cats. Yikes.
My current Work In Progress is… I always have way too many projects going at once. Right now I'm designing a cardigan, a shawl, a couple cowls, and a few socks.
Do you have a pet? Yes! Sig - a longhaired Dachshund mix with LOTS of attitude.
Favorite chip or ice cream flavor? Chip - truffle potato chips. Ice Cream - really good vanilla
Coffee or tea? Both... coffee in the morning, green tea in the afternoon, ginger tea before bed.
Mountains or Beach? Most often the mountains, but the beach if it's cold, gray and blustery.
What are you reading and/or watching right now? Watching - the 5 Days at Memorial series (not exactly a feel-good watch, but amazing that it's a true story). Reading - Half Baked Harvest Every Day by Tieghan Gerard... I often read cookbooks like novels, cover to cover.
If you had a superpower what would it be? To instantaneously make people feel comfort, happiness and joy. And also be able to knit really, REALLY fast. 😆
Meet the Maker: Jess
Want to meet the extended QCY team? Follow our Meet the Makers Series! This month we are introducing you to Jess, the gal behind the camera! Jess is a professional photographer who snaps all our gorgeous product marketing photos. She can take a couple skeins of Coleman and make them look like the art they are! Read on to find out more about Jess!
My hometown is… Hickory NC
I currently live in… Waxhaw, NC
My role at QCY is… Photographer
My professional background/degree is in… Business Management
My preferred craft is…and I have been doing it for (how long)... Cooking & Baking, since I was a kid in the kitchen with my Dad
My favorite movie is… The Harry Potter films.
A food I think is super gross is… Olives
I have an unpopular opinion about… The word brekkie
My current Work In Progress is… My yoga practice.
Do you have a pet? 2 cats, 1 dog, and 4 chickens
Favorite chip or ice cream flavor? Coffee icecream or Nacho Cheese Doritos
Coffee or tea? Coffee
Mountains or Beach? Both! NC is great for that!
What are you reading and/or watching right now? Just completed The Maze Runner 5 book series on Audiobook
If you had a superpower what would it be? Teleportation - I get carsick easily so it would be nice to travel more without that!
Do you have a side hustle? I recently launched a passion project, Finicky Foods, making hand-crafted gourmet pimento cheese for the Charlotte community and beyond. Find us at www.finickyfoodsnc.com.