Rhinebeck 2011

Nice view from our hillside home in Rhinebeck. Beautiful sunrises over the mountains. I shared a cottage with 7 fabulous Ravelry friends. Face-hurting hilarity and laughter ensued.

The Sheep and Wool Festival was a blast. Always so fun to be inspired by vendors and fiber artists. The meet-ups are always good. Here's the Spunky/ Hello Yarn/ Southern Cross Fiber group.

Some other weekend highlight pics:

Amy(Boogie), Me, David

Erica(Weetsie) and John(Ironjohn04)

Dale(dirkhumblejunk) and Stacie(njstacie). Just Married!!!!
Check out the wedding dress she made in just 3 weeks. Love that she wore it again to the fest. Go, Stacie!

Too full of awesomeness to contain:)

Me, Tasha(nuttnbunny), Adrian(HelloYarn), John(ironjohn04), Stacie(njstacie), and Heather(Sparkcrafted)

Fleece hunters Tasha and Allie.

Kory(HarmlessDrudge)

Christina(miukat)and Kate(DragonflyFibers)

Mmmm LOOP. Lots of action in that booth this weekend. Everyone kept going back for more. Steph and Kate, my favey faves <3. After we broke down the booth, Steph treated us to an amazing sushi dinner, sleepover and breakfast before hitting the road. Thank you again, Stephanie!

Sarah of Sanguine Gryphon, Gale of Gale's Art, my new best friend(lol) KateyJ, and Kate(Dragonfly Fibers)

I learned an amazing lesson this weekend. I have a very giving heart. I used to think sometimes that is reciprocated and sometimes not. To give freely and purely, without expectation is the point. This is how I roll. Yet, over the past week, I have been absolutely, gobsmackingly fiber bombed with so much giving that it blows me away. I received this amazing package in the mail from a dear soul I met in Ravelry. It was HUGE and filled to the brim with individually wrapped packages, each with its own lovely ribbon and hand written note. Everything in my color sense, all from my wish list. Thank you, Jen<3!

Then on our road trip, Kate gifted me a Jenkins Turkish Delight that Ed himself had given her! It is simply the most beautiful thing.

She also gave me a bag of sock yarn for hexipuffs and a bag of fluff to end all fluff. This bag was HUGE!!! It was an industrial size trash bag overflowing with her amazingly prepared and dyed fleece. This girl has a gift for fleece prep like you've NEVER seen before. Here's a peek:

I seriously never need to buy fiber again!
Yet there was a more subtle soul nourishing that transpired this weekend. The little things some people may simply take for granted but meant the world to me. The sharing of John's harvest, libations from Dale and Stacie's ongoing wedding feast, amazingly prepared meals, someone always offering a coffee, taking a plate, refilling my wine glass, rides back and forth. So much heartfelt giving. It really filled me and made me realize that giving is probably always reciprocated but maybe in the most surprising ways. Maybe even by people you've never given to before. Perhaps that's the beauty of it. and that's what makes it pure. I dunno...but it was beautiful. Never really gave much thought to karma before, but I'm pretty sure I've just experienced it. Thank you, all<3.