A Rant (Kinda) NYS&W 2012

I came.
I saw.
Whether "I conquered" or the festival & resultant traffic "conquered" me is open to nterpretation.

I went with ZERO intent to buy more yarn. I have enough, and anything I might want or need now, would have to be in what I'll deem "garment" amounts. Unfortunately for me, with about three exceptions, the majority of what's in my stash is NOT garment amounts (of skeins).  

This very obvious choice/shopping strategy is the result of a summer-long project of destashing, reorganizing and more specifically, de-cluttering my home. I still have a way's to go, but, I'd like to maintain the progress I"ve made thus far. So, that narrows the field of what I will buy.

That being said, I did buy some venison medallions, some Highland Farm venison summer sausage (truly awesome, and sweet, you should really try it), and a vintage booklet on crochet edgings. The vendor from whom I bought this, I could very EASILY have seen myself standing there talking FOR HOURS, no doubt making MORE purchases (which would have left me with the post-festival afterglow, uttering, "Why the fuck did I buy this?"), as well as trying to buy the vintage Weavette loom she was working on. The Weavette, I could very easily have bought as I've been in the market for one for years. But I stayed the course, bought the first booklet that caught my eye, and got the hell out of there.

In all honesty, the festival is holding less and less appeal for me each year. The crowds (especially on Saturday) are downright oppressive, with the majority of the herd (of people) alternating between (nearly) body checking you to get past you or standing in the middle of where the rest of us want to walk all so they can do their Chatty Cathy routine (rather than say, "Hey, let's talk outside."). Couple all that up with Dutchess County Fairgrounds inability to ensure adequate cell coverage (I mean, really, this COULD be perceived as a security issue too, what if someone needed immediate medical attention?), it was next to impossible to coordinate and find the friends with whom I intended to have some face time.

However, I did manage to find two friends (a married couple, plus two friends I have never met in person until Saturday) who was at the top of my priority list of who I hoped to see, and I hung with them for a few hours, and TRULY this was the best part of my day.

Regarding the loss of appeal to draw me to the festival (as a crocheter), simply put there isn't much in the way FOR ME. There were a few folks, I believe MaryBeth of Getting Loopy podcast was there, I believe promoting her latest book, "Curvy Girl Crochet," and Margaret Hubert was teaching a class or workshop on freeform crochet. I can get my book, and or get it and get it signed when I see Mary Beth the next time; and I've done Freeform myself (big fan of Jenny Dowde's work), took a class years ago with Wool Mountain, and would have loved a class in something along the lines of what is jazzing me these days. From a vendor standpoint, (besides the gal doing the Croshirret) I saw perhaps one person selling hand carved crochet hooks (one of the folks selling lucets, I think, in either building A, B, or C (that's one big amorphorous warehouse to me). See also: I am destashing hooks. I do not need more. (By the way, here are three I am destashing. Make me an offer. Will ship to US domestic addresses only):

(From left to right: (I believe it's a) Daystar, size K?; Lana Grossa (double ended) 5-5.5 mm; Kollage Square hook, size J. All brand new, used only a few times, if that.)

So here is where I gear up for a double-barreled rant:

So, for me, the festival takes on a different purpose. I go there to meet up with friends from out of state of whom I haven't seen in a while, or friends I know from the internet, of whom I've never met and perhaps this would be one of the few ways we would get to meet. Thanks to Dutchess County Fairgrounds, or perhaps Dutchess County freeholders, take your pick of whom to blame for the communications dabacle/DEAD ZONE, I only managed to see a few of the people I intended to see.

I managed to arrive about noon, and got to the Rav meet up near the front gate in time to meet some other friends. So it's not like I woke up at the crack of dawn to get there when the festival opened. I woke at 8, got to the festival by noon, and decided to leave about 4. 

I got in my car at 4:40. I did not get OUT of the fairgrounds until 5:40. YES, ONE FULL HOUR.  I did not get over the Rhinecliff Bridge by 6:40, and managed to take the wrong exit (for Kingston and not the next one for Ellenville, which would have put me on 28, which would have brought me to "the promised land" that being the NY Thruway).

So I pull off the road to try to get my bearings. Truly getting off the Kingston exit was a mistake made out of fatigue not out of stupidity--I've made this trip before. I truly felt like I was fading fast. My cell was not cooperating with me, so I couldn't navigate that way. And I called the husband, and the reception was dropping in and out. There I was, VERY TIRED, bladder full, lost, at night, with one bar's worth of energy left on my cell. Not what I would deem the ideal circumstance. 

I was able to make out from the spotty cell call to the husband to make a left, but beyond that, I was lost. At the next traffic light, I got directions from someone, who was very helpful. And it was only THEN I was able to get myself back in the right direction. All in all, the getting lost portion of this odyssey really only amounted to about 15 minutes. However, all in all, it took me FOUR HOURS to drive what should have taken me 90 minutes. Being furious, upset, and tired do not make for a safe journey.  Easily 2.25 hours of that journey could have been shaved off if Rhinebeck PD and Dutchess County PD/Sheriff (or whomever ultimately regulates the traffic lights) could have synched up the traffic lights better, rather than relying upon haphazard and distracted manned traffic direction.  If this is how they handle excessive traffic, it makes me glad I don't live nearby, as I could only imagine how horrible it would be to die sitting in traffic trying to evacuate if Indian Point ever has a nuclear leak/explosion, etc.

So why did I go on Saturday instead of Sunday? Because I am enrolled in a water aerobics class (that starts at 8 a.m. on Sundays). The ironic thing here? Because I was so tense and over tired from the drive, and because of being overstimulated (in a bad way due to the crowds), I could not get out of bed this morning.  So thank you, traffic cops, whomever you were, for fucking up what could have been, a lovely autumn weekend for me.