purlewe | photographic Rhinebeck part I

Rhinebeck was full of good ideas, and I thought it was interesting enough to show you some of them. I really loved the fact that so many people wanted to share their crafts. And while they were (mostly) fiber related, each had its own take on what to do with wool. Here are some of their ideas.

Truly, this woman freaked me out. I think it was the hat (which honestly does not translate well into this photo.. imagine a yooge tassle coming out the top end making her a foot taller) more than anything else. She was plucking her bunny and spinning the fibers with him on her lap. Just as we arrived the bunny got very interested in the yarn in the bowl beside them. Her thoughts on this? “He smells his barn mates in the bowl and wants to be closer to them.” O-kay…. I probably would find bunny spinning fascinating if I wasn’t so damn allergic to the bunnies. Just walking through the bunny barns made me red-eyed and itchy. But since I didn’t touch any I was relatively safe. Damn cute bunnies though.. wish I could have one.

These are 2 booths that demonstrated dying. The first had a setup like the old hot lunches in school. They had everything steaming inside a counter that had hot water under the pans. The woman used old cake pans to spread the skein out and then space dyed them as she saw fit. The other end of this booth had a man weaving on his loom and telling people how it worked. I never really saw them sell any of their items, but they were getting a lot done. The 2nd booth was strictly educational dying. Showing people what they could use to dye their yarn. Black walnuts, pomegranates, lichen growing nearby. She was currently doing kool-aid dying while I was there. She showed the difference between using iron and not, different mordents (or not) and was very knowledgeable. The picture I had with her standing by all her skeins was too dark so I thought this was more interesting. I love the locks of wool in the bottom that had been “tea stained.”

Needle Felting was a hot topic that I have just recently noticed. (This, I think, will be the next “big thing.”) There were lots of different ways that this was shown. I saw a wool vest with intricate butterflies, hats with swirling feather designs, and even jeans and jean jackets with needle felting. (how did they ever make it stick I am not sure.) I really loved this.. I am a big fan of taking one type of craft and translating it into another. This woman had drawn out on the wool a quilt pattern and was needle felting the pattern onto a blanket. I was very highly impressed and asked her if I could photograph it. She was happy to oblige.

And before you get too bored with this photo essay I give you some of the KR folks at Spirit Trails. I give you (back row, l-r)Amie, Jenn, me (in a fabu Purlewe t-shirt Amy made) and Annie and Martha in the front row. I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: goto Jen’s Spirit Trail and look at their yarn. Photos do not do it justice, but I think you will be very happy if you purchase something from her. The yarns practically GLOW with beauty.