A couple of years ago a fab group of friends supported one another to knit themselves a Hedgerow cardigan each to wear to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival, aka Rhinebeck. This resulted in a set of awesome pictures which brilliantly communicated the fun and social joys that can be found among knitting friends. One of the pictures featured on Ravelry’s front page in a Rhinebeck roundup post, and so began the ascent of Hedgerow to major popularity. To date over 5000 Ravellers have added Hedgerow to their favourites list, and it has achieved the status of an aspiration knit, something knitters aspire to knit in order to acquire and prove advanced knitting skills whilst creating something beautiful and very wearable.
Well, it is now Rhinebeck weekend again, and this year I am once again enjoying it by proxy, this time through my Tup Knits patterns. Apparently many knitting friends rent and share houses to share during the Rhinebeck weekend, and one such group have set themselves the challenge of each knitting a pair of Gimmers gloves during the festival. Other folk have knitted items to wear to the show, including a pair of Gimmers knitted by one of the original Hedgerow Rhinebeckers, and at least one Shornies hat!
If you follow me on Instagram you can see some of these projects, as I have ‘reposted’ pictures of them that folk have shared there. Rhinebeck is clearly a very popular and joyous event, and it is heartwarming to follow it via social media. Go see!
