(image above is my photo with Mason-Dixon’s spot-on text, thanks Kay & Anne)
It has been unseasonably warm here in NYC, and the forecast for Rhinebeck weekend is for low to mid 70’s. This leaves those of us going to Rhinebeck lamenting the fact that after 10am or so, we won’t be able to admire everyone’s beautiful hand knits. I don’t know about you, but for me, watching all of those gorgeous Rhinebeck Sweaters walk by is half the fun. So, in an effort to get to see them, I’ve started a . All you have to do is post a photo of your Rhinebeck sweater (or shawl, or hat, or what-have-you) and use the hashtag #virtualrhinebecksweaterparade. I’ve heard from a bunch of those who won’t be going to Rhinebeck that they love this idea because they get to see all of those beautiful knits too.
While I wait for the weather to finally cool off, I’m dreaming of the hats I plan to make this winter. I love a good colorwork hat, and Mary Lou Egan’s Sidekick from Drop Dead Easy Knits is just the sort of fun, yet simple colorwork I love. I’ll have my eye out at Rhinebeck for some yarn to make myself a Sidekick. It would be great if I could find some colors to match the sweater I’m wearing in the photo above. (The sweater is a new design I’m working on, keep your eye out over the next several months for its release, I don’t have an exact date yet.)
Mary Lou’s idea was to design a hat where a group of friends could share yarn and each make their own version. This is great for an event like Rhinebeck where you might want a memory of not only the festival, but of the people you enjoyed it with. Your Rhinebeck posse can buy the yarn and share it — the hat only uses a bit of each color. Split up the skeins, and next year you’ll all be wearing matching Sidekicks. Try mixing up the colors and see how many variations you can get with the same yarn, or make them all exactly the same. The multi-color version above uses 4 colors, but you can play around and use as many as you like. This design is strong enough that two colors work just as well, like the pretty blue and grey version that Sofie is wearing in the photo below.
If you do decide to make a Sidekick, Mary Lou, Gale and I would love to see your hats. You can tag projects on Instagram with #dropdeadeasyknits and don’t forget to add the projects to Ravelry.
Lovely to see you all together! The hat is fantastic and I can’t wait to see what else you’ve come up with! I wish you a gazilliom sales, completely smooth sailing and a great weekend celebrating another fabulous launch! I’ll be up early and ready on Friday!