Playing Catch-up

hello!  I guess it's been two weeks since I posted last, it seems I have lots to share so maybe I'll split this up into two separate posts, I'll see if it gets unwieldy.

First, I met Jocelyn Friday morning to chat, knit, and have lunch, alas I did not document any of it outside of the fact that we had the exact same Zauerball (sp?) colorway, what are the chances of that?

 

With or without documentation it was fabulous fun to get together in real life and have time to talk!

Then later that same day, to celebrate dh's #decade birthday we went to Cooperstown, not for the baseball hall of fame as you might first think, but to a Bed & Brew weekend that the Inn at Cooperstown holds with Ommegang Brewery.  It was SO.  MUCH.  FUN.  

 

We found this giant bottle of beer (a jereboam sp?) in our room with two Hennepin glasses to match it.  This picture cracks me up b/c it looks like maybe I am just really small and the beer is normal sized.  An alice in wonderland effect, if you will.

Then Friday night the Innkeeper hosts a beer sharing event, they ask everyone to bring their favorites and it's just a free for all of sampling different regional craft beers and getting to know the other people who are there for the weekend as well.  

Needless to say, we didn't start saturday morning too early, so we pretty much hung out in our room doing crossword puzzles and watching it snow.

 

Pretty!  It was a really pleasant way to spend the afternoon.  In the late afternoon a trolley came to pick us up and take us to the brewery where we were given a guided tour.

 

I hadn't ever been on a brewery tour, so it was pretty interesting.  It's amazing how small this operation really is, all the bottles are hand fed and hand boxed, that made me stop and think.  It also made me realize that buying local beer made by small breweries is actually supporting the local economy in a way I hadn't thought about before, so I feel good about that too. 

Then we went into the gift shop for a beer tasting with some fancy cheeses.

 

As part of the package DH got an Ommegang Hoodie, of which I have no picture but you can see the sweatshirts & shirts behind the dudes.

After that there was a 5 course meal, each course was paired with one of their beers.  No pictures of this, but it was OUTSTANDING.  Then after all that beer they let us loose in the gift shop - they're no fools!

So that was LAST weekend.  And since my finished Tang is in the picture above I will show you the rest of the FO pics for that.

 

LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE IT.

 

warm and cozy and the brooks farm fourplay is an amazing yarn 50/50 wool silk it is soft and drapey and gorgeous.  I am now out of fourplay and am very sad about that.  I already have plans to go to MDSW this year to stock up.  

 

Sorry for the grainy quality of the photos, I'm not sure what happened, it's all rainy and yucky today, I'm sure that played into it.

Okay, so that's about half of what I have to say, I'll stop here and do another post cuz this is getting crazy long.  Sorry for the lack of linkage, I am feeling behind in the world and am afraid if I stop to link I'll lose my momentum.

Comments

[Barbara-Kay]

Love your sweater. You had a fun weekend to take photos, and I'm sure you will always think of those good times when you wear this sweater.

[trek]

The subtle color variegations are nice and it looks very comfy.

[Jodi]

The sweater's fabulous! I have some of that yarn (in a different color) marinating in my stash, waiting for just the right moment.

That weekend sounds amazing! I'm going to have to check it out, as my husband would absolutely LOVE it.

[KathleenC]

LOL! I looked at that photo with the big beer and thought nothing of it until I read your description. And then no matter how I tried I could not get the image of a one foot high you out of my head!
Great job on the sweater, lovely color!... was it hard to knit to fit a one foot high person?

[Jocelyn]

I had fun, too! That Zauberball is making me crazy, though -- I'm not much further along than I was when I saw you! Your weekend sounds amazing; I'm going to have to find something like that to do with Rick sometime. He'd love it :)