I’ve been knitting like a fiend this fall, much of it eventually to be published. But in between deadlines, I managed to finish an intarsia vest that has been rattling around my brain for a while. It felt liberating to knit more and think less, though it did take a night of Excel charting to execute. The grey is Rowan’s British Sheep Breeds, (rescued, after years, from an unfinished Owls sweater) and the stripes are The Fibre Company’s Tundra in Glacier, Boreal, and Aurora. I love the contrast of textures. I finished just in time to wear it to the NY Sheep and Wool Festival this past weekend, sewing the buttons on a damp garment in the car driving up the night before.
It’s been a long while since I’ve made it to Rhinebeck. Seven years, actually, which I remember vividly, because I had gotten the tattoo of birds on my left arm the day before. It burned all day, came uncovered during the night, and stuck to the motel sheets while I was sleeping. (With the perspective of time’s passage, I regret the motel some; the tattoo, not at all; and the attempt to use a diva cup for the first time that weekend, wildly).
This year, I roadtripped up and spent the weekend with my Kelbourne Woolens colleagues and the Fancy Tiger ladies in a gorgeous old farmhouse by a creek. There was a firepit outside and a fireplace in, a dock with canoes, a big old farmhouse sink and a screened-in porch overlooking the landscape. We had meetups and dinners with a veritable crowd of my knitting-industry favorites. A weekend of dream existence, in short.
It was incredible how many people were there. There was just so much to take in, I know I didn’t see everything. I came home with a few skeins of yarn, mugs for myself and Nik, and, best of all, a giant soft alpaca hat, pictured here with the vest.
My favorite part? The sheep. Definitely the sheep.
The Projectory 
I really love the color choices on that vest!
I love this vest! Are you planning to publish the pattern? I can’t wait to make some of the sweaters in the Tundra: Elements collection 🙂