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hand-dyes drying at the fairground Thanks to my work with Windy Valley Muskox, I had the opportunity to visit rural New York in October.  Famed and celebrated fiber gathering, New York Sheep and Wool, aka Rhinebeck almost defies description, there are just so many facets.  What I can tell you is that if you go, you'll definitely see fiber and yarn and sweaters, knitters, fantastic local food, yarn-related celebrities, and absolutely people knitting.   And animals; you will definitely find animals!   You can see more of my pictures from Rhinebeck here . I would also recommend Glenna C's account here , and this fun video about Rhinebeck Sweaters.

Third in my artists and craftsmen  series. Some weeks ago, my friend, artist  Susan Schmitt , allowed me to spend a morning with her, observing and photographing her as she painted, her inspirations, methods, tools and techniques. With a fresh bouquet of flowers from the garden as inspiration, she transformed a piece of white paper into a lovely expression of summer beauty.  She explained to me that different projects require levels of time and emotion investment.  Some are "show dogs," and some are like a family dog - sometimes a person admires piece but it is not the right investment for them, but everyone should be able to live with art.  Susan draws, carves, stamps, paints, subtracts, redraws, and works til her vision comes together.  She creates everything from printed cards and journals to one-of-a-kind dolls, too.    She journals with watercolors - sometimes, while her husband is driving!   ...