2024 Rhinebeck Sweater Craftalong
Each year, The Endless Skein community chooses a sweater pattern to knit/crochet for the NYS Sheep and Wool Festival in Rhinebeck, New York. This year we gave you a choice of 6 cardigan patterns for our Rhinebeck Sweater. The votes are in! The winners are Bees Knees by Thea Colman for the knitters and Kiah Cardigan by Rachel Misner for the crocheters.
All sweater images above are from Ravelry.
Bees Knees is a knit cardigan with bands of cable detail, a textured stitch pattern throughout the sleeves and body, and an optional shawl collar. It is easy to customize the length of this sweater.
All sweater images above are from Ravelry.
Kiah Cardigan is a textured crochet cardigan with pockets. It would be fun to embellish with embroidery or stripes, as shown above.
We hope you'll join us in making one of these sweaters, for our third annual Rhinebeck Sweater Craftalong! Here's how it will work:
1) Let us know that you would like to participate! Sign up in store, email us at info@TheEndlessSkein.com, or give us a call. It's free to join! Attendance at all events is optional; you can attend as many or as few as you like.
2) Purchase your materials! We ask that you purchase most of your materials from The Endless Skein, though we understand if you have stash yarn you want to use. As a participant, you will receive 15% off yarn for your Rhinebeck Sweater. You can use coupon code RHINEBECK2024 to receive the 15% discount on yarn for your sweater in our online store. See below for our yarn suggestions and planning guide!
3) Get started! On Saturday, June 29 we will be hosting a free Kickoff Event for participants! Advance registration is required.
- 11:00-12:00 Crochet Sweater Session: Tips and getting started
- 1:00-2:00 Knit Sweater Session: Tips and tricks on texture and cables with chart reading
- 3:00-4:30 CAST ON at Open Crafting, with refreshments
We will be available all day to help with yarn selection, gauge checks and sizing advice.
If you need additional help with your Rhinebeck Sweater at any point in the process, you can reach out to us to schedule Project Help or a Private Lesson. Fees for these appointments will apply, as per our help policy.
4) Check in at meetups! We will have meetups at our Open Crafting sessions, every Saturday from 3-4:30pm, to cheer each other on.
5) Show off your sweater! In October we will get together for photo ops, both here at the store and at the Sheep & Wool Festival in Rhinebeck, to show off everyone's sweaters!
FO Celebration Brunch and Photo Op at The Endless Skein - Saturday, October 12 from 10-11:30. RSVP required.
Photo Ops at Rhinebeck Sheep & Wool Festival - Saturday & Sunday, October 19 & 20 @ 1pm inside 4H Gate 2
Yarn Suggestions and Planning Guide
Both of our Rhinebeck Sweater patterns suggest using a 4-Weight (medium) yarn. If you are experienced in resizing a pattern, either pattern can be personalized and worked in a lighter or heavier weight yarn. That said, we have many great yarn options in the recommended 4-weight!
Gauge
- Gauge for the Bee Knees sweater is 20 stitches and 28 rows over the textured stitch pattern of the main fabric over four inches on a suggested US 7 or 4.5mm needle.
- Gauge for the Kiah Cardigan is 15 stitches and 10 rows in the stitch pattern of the fabric over four inches on a suggested I or 5.5mm hook.
IMPORTANT: Whichever yarn you choose, please create generous gauge swatches that are at least 6 inches square so that you get good practice on the stitch pattern. Soak and completely dry your swatch before measuring gauge.
Yarn Suggestions
Here are some yarns that we carry that could work nicely for these two sweaters:
Universal Yarns Deluxe Worsted
The following yarns may be possible for crafters experienced in resizing patterns -- these will require some additional consideration since they may not work to the pattern gauge:
Kelbourne Woolens Scout combined with a strand of one of our laceweight mohair or suri alpaca yarns.
Alice DK combined with a laceweight mohair or suri alpaca.