Voyeur. A peek into the trunk of my car when Liz and I got back from Rhinebeck Saturday night. (Hey, some of this is hers, you know!)
A closer look? Well, of course! At my stuff, any way. From some great Vendors.
First stop? As soon as we were in the fairgrounds? At 9:50 in the morning--ten minutes before retail officially opened? We hurried right over to The Fold for some Socks That Rock. I got the Autumn and the Harlotty colorways. Beautiful, and we got in just before the line became immense.
Value. I also bought a bump of fiber in the Carbon colorway which was vastly overpriced. 9.25 ounces for more than what I paid for 11 ounces of already spun STR yarn? Insane. I don't know what I was thinking, except that I hadn't noticed the price until she already had my sales slip written up and I didn't bother to say "Stop" like I should have. Don't get me wrong, I think it's gorgeous but . . . that's ridiculous. If anything, shouldn't the finished yarn cost more? This purchase is my one regret of the day because, lovely though it is, it simply was not economically worth it. At all. Too late now! Buyer's remorse, what can I say.
For example? This lovely, beautiful, autumnal roving? 3/4 of a pound of each of the two colors, for one and a half pounds in total? Same price, within $2, from Spinner's Hill. And, really, it's gorgeous. (The colors in person are so much more alive than you see in the photo.) The plan is to spin them separately as singles and then to ply them together.
Then there are these two, lovely, 50/50 blends of alpaca and merino from the Sheep Shed. This is the same place I got the merino/silk roving I bought myself for my birthday last year. They have beautiful stuff. I bought 8 oz of each of these colors--one a light gray, one a gray-taupe--and the plan is to ply them together, too.
And, you may see a theme here . . . two more skeins of roving from the Sheep Shed. The multi-colored one is merino, the burgandy/magenta one is corriedale. I bought 8 ounces of each and . . . yes, plan on spinning them separately and then plying them together.
(Oh, and the cost for these two pounds of beautiful fiber? Only $4 more than I paid for the 9.25 oz of STR fiber. I really can't tell you how much that's bugging me . . . )
After all this shopping . . . and I won't even go into how much fleece Liz bought as an act of kindness for her LYS . . . and stops to visit with some of her friends, including the charming Myrtle and Roy from Black Pines Sheep, who have beautiful, rare sheep like Teeswater and Wensleydale. (Liz raves about their fleeces, and judging by the samples of fiber they had, um, yeah. I can see why.) . . .
Anyway, after all the shopping and one short break when we had some apple crisp and saw some kangaroos . . .
And after six and a half hours on our aching feet . . .
And after meeting approximately 7,397 bloggers . . .
And after picking up a little something for an absent friend . . .
After all of this, we piled into the car and headed for home.
We had a gorgeous View crossing the Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge. (See? Sandy? I even got a Saturday Sky picture for you!) And the sunset on the drive home was gorgeous. Really, the weather the entire day could NOT have been better.
We got home around 7:30 and were both exhausted (though Liz still managed to spin and ply until 11:30 . . . I conked out around 10:15).
Chappy did help revive her, though. They sure do love playing together! In fact, it gets quite Vigorous.
But, of course, this means that my Vacation is now over. I've had a great time, though. Not only did I get to spend almost every day with Chappy (and Mom, one of my very best friends), but we got to the park not once, but twice. Went to Liberty State Park and saw (from a distance) the Statue of Liberty). Went antiquing (well, sort of). Finished my bag. Got some goodies in the mail. And, of course, that little outing yesterday.
Boy, it's going to be hard to go to work tomorrow . . . and I have to go to the dentist, too. It is going to be SUCH a Monday. (grin)
*I came, I saw, I bought.
Fun! We all have buyer's remorse, but at least you'll make something beautiful.
Posted by: lorinda | October 22, 2006 at 09:22 PM
i'm not seeing rhinebeck purchases, lalalalalala
Posted by: minnie | October 22, 2006 at 09:22 PM
Gorgeous goodies! I can only hope that I find items half as lovely next weekend as SAFF. I will learn from your example, though, and not do any overpriced roving purchases!
Posted by: Anita | October 22, 2006 at 10:44 PM
You know I bought some STR fiber a while back from the Fold and it was obscenely expensive. I suppose I should have asked how much it was before I bought it but live and learn!
Posted by: amanda | October 22, 2006 at 11:12 PM
Nice haul!
Posted by: Julie | October 23, 2006 at 05:14 AM
Great post title. You have a lot of wonderful spinning ahead of you!
Posted by: jessie | October 23, 2006 at 06:23 AM
Nice haul!
I thought the exact same thing about the cost for STR roving vs. already spun! Luckily I saw the price before I got to the reigster becauase you're right, it was gorgeous, but I really don't think it was worth what they were charging.
I also hope that you have better luck with the Spinner's Hill roving than I've had in the past. I bought from her at MA Sheep & Wool in May, and was completely disappointed. The fiber was full of clumps and matted sections that were nearly impossible to pull apart. I wound up making felted mittens with what I was able to salvage.
Happy Spinning, you certainly got some gorgeous stuff!
Posted by: Bethe | October 23, 2006 at 07:37 AM
I saw the line for STR and just passed right on by. Sorry about the buyer's remorse.
Posted by: Carole | October 23, 2006 at 08:52 AM
Woo! Great haul, Deb! :) Too bad about the STR roving price, but it is gorgeous, so hey: just enjoy it. :)
Posted by: jess | October 23, 2006 at 09:11 AM
Next year I might have to shadow you all day...I never even SAW half of what you got! My "buyer's remorse" is over what I DIDN'T buy: the most beautiful black, pristine, incredible Corriedale fleece EVER. I'll post the story later in the week....
Posted by: Marcia | October 23, 2006 at 09:42 AM
Wow, those fibers from the Sheep Shed look gorgeous. I'll have to check out that link.
Posted by: susan | October 23, 2006 at 09:44 AM
I bought some str fiber and regret it too. It's pretty and all but no way is it worth what I paid for it. I won't be doing that again!
The rest of your haul looks great!
Posted by: Karen | October 23, 2006 at 10:12 AM
Nice haul! :o)
Posted by: JessaLu | October 23, 2006 at 11:36 AM
Pretty pretty pretty! I'm so jealous! I know Chappy was glad to see you home. Maybe next time you can take him - I bet he would have fun with the sheep! ;)
Posted by: Gracie | October 23, 2006 at 12:06 PM
I would definitely have thought that the STR roving would be a lot less. I mean, they haven't done all the work to spin it yet... Hrmph. Oh well. You have it now. You might as well enjoy it. And like you said, it *is* a beautiful colorway. :-)
Glad you had fun. Great photos. Wonderful stash aquisitions. Woohoo!
Posted by: Laura | October 23, 2006 at 12:52 PM
Well, I hope the dentist has/will go well for you and that as far as Monday's go this isn't too much worse than a Monday following the type of adventure you had would be.
It looks like some great purchases. And, that "overpriced" roving you may just end up falling in love with. You never know, it could spin like a dream with little fiber prep needed and then it just might be almost worth it, right? The color sure is great!
Posted by: Kristi aka Fiber Fool | October 23, 2006 at 02:21 PM
on sunday, i had that exact colorway of roving in my hand and then i looked at the price, and put it right back. but i was tempted.
but i did get teh very last skein of STR -- i took it home out of pity. it just didn't seem right to leave it.
ha!
Posted by: maryse | October 23, 2006 at 04:21 PM
So you are one of the lunatics I saw in that line. That was crazy. I thought there was going to be a riot.
Posted by: beth | October 23, 2006 at 09:37 PM
It happens to everyone at some point, that buyer's remorse. Put it away for awhile until it doesn't sting quite so much.
That was an amazing line. The only thing close to that long a wait was the Artichoke line and the Lamb Ravioli line. I have to admit to not getting in any of them. I'm not that patient, especially at a Fiber Festival. Veni, vidi, visa? Perfect.
Posted by: Laurie | October 24, 2006 at 08:27 AM
Glad you got some STR (there was none left for us Sunday shoppers, sigh). My blooper purchase was some Border Leicester and some Blue Face Leicester that seemed nice at the time, but have turned out to contain lots of nasty coarse hair.
Posted by: Ina | October 24, 2006 at 02:17 PM
Another wonderful letter. :)
Posted by: Chris | October 25, 2006 at 10:59 PM