Where do I even begin?

I have so much to post about, it really isn't even funny!

I suppose I'll start with something that's last. I returned home from Rhinebeck to find a package sitting on my computer desk. Ellie sent me a care package!
Dark chocolate to bring out those happy-making endorphins (always a good thing!) Some very awesome stitch markers which I love, and a really sweet note.

I'm telling you if knitters (or fiber-loving people in general) ruled the world, it would be a much happier place. We all seem to care about each other even when we've never met! It just doesn't get better than that!

Thank you Ellie! I am touched by your thoughtfulness.

Speaking of knitters taking over the world (which they should) the knitbloggers meeting at Rhinebeck was enormous. I haven't got a clue how I missed it last year. I must have been looking in the wrong spot because 100+ women all gathered around like they know each other is hard to miss.

It was really nice to finally put faces to names, but I have to admit, I must read a lot of peoples blogs who don't go to Rhinebeck because I didn't meet even a fraction of the people that I read (I realized later that many of the blogs I read are midwestern knitters or Canadian knitters!) Despite all that, it was still very, very cool.

I didn't get to meet the Yarn Harlot though I did see her from far away. (I'm a bit of a chicken when it comes to approaching psuedo-celebrities!)

After the big gathering, I met up with my bestest knit buddies, Jill and Liz. We had a great time going through the buildings, drooling over fibers, yarns and all sorts of other goodies.Here's Jill and I... and some yarn.

So are you wondering what I ended up with? Well let me just tell you, this particular form of retail therapy was very sweet.
This photo is from my Flickr website. I've put notes all over it to show you know what all of it is. Just click on the picture to read the notes... I'll wait.

I may have mentioned earlier that I was supposed to go to Rhinebeck with Gabe's mom, Diane. Well, we still went together and I had the best time. She is such a sweet lady. In fact, she bought me the niddy noddy for my birthday! I really do love her and I'm glad that she and I are friends despite everything that happened between her son and I.

So, do you think I could resist spinning some of this gorgeous stuff as soon as I got home. You better believe I couldn't!This is the Northern Lights roving that I got. It's sort of like pencil roving but not quite as thin. What a ton of fun this stuff is to spin! I have a feeling I'm going to be spending all my free time working on this because of how fun it is and how awesome it's going to look when I finish!

You might have noticed there was a drop spindle there with all my goodies. It's a Golding drop spindle. I just could not resist. I've been wanting one of these ever since I learned to spin. I took it out for a spin (yes, the pun was intended and I've once again demonstrated what a huge dork I am) and I cannot believe how wonderfully this spindle works. I swear it spins forever! Look at what I've done so far with it.I can spin lace on this thing! Or at least fingering weight which is what it's turning out to be thus far. Absolutely amazing how balanced it is. You may wonder why I bought a drop spindle when I have a spinning wheel. Well, there's just something very relaxing about using a drop spindle. Plus is portable. I would never use it for big projects, just for something quick when I need a spinning fix.

Ok, I think that's probably enough for now even though I have much more to post about! I'll post again sometime this week to finish it all up.