It’s the most wonderful time of the year!

Rhinebeck is only two and a half short months away. Can you believe it? It seems like only yesterday we were having our shareholder meet-up and waiting in line for the Ravelry party.

I love Rhinebeck, and I confess to taking a lot of pride in the fact that it’s put on by the Dutchess County Sheep and Wool Growers Association, of which I am a lifetime member. The organization works hard each year to put on a world-class event and I am so blessed to have it all take place practically in my backyard.

I love checking out the latest sheep handling equipment and watching the breed shows. I love seeing all the indie dyers’ new colorways and watching people cheerfully stand in line to purchase them. I love the food and the sheep dog trials and spirit of camaraderie that exists even in the interminable lines for the ladies room.

But mostly I love the workshops.

Every year when the workshop schedule is released I spend hours poring over it, trying to decide which classes I absolutely don’t want to miss. The people who put together the workshops have made this a lot harder in recent years because the caliber of the instructors and classes on offer is very, very high.

This year I have already signed up for the Shepherd’s Rug class on Thursday and I’m trying very hard to nail down the rest of my schedule. Last year I took Sue Charbonneau’s Intro to Rug Hooking class (it was fantastic!) and I’m tempted by the Advanced class on Saturday. Sunday is where things get tricky though; I am desperate to take the Indigo workshop but Nancy Shroyer’s two dyeing classes that day look amazing too.  And the spinning classes! Oh my!

If you’ve never taken a workshop at Rhinebeck you’re missing out on the best kept secret of the festival. And we can’t have that, can we? No. We can’t. And now you’ll have no excuse because the people who put together the workshops have given me seven workshop spaces to giveaway! More excited I could not be, people!

These are the classes we have to give away:
Kathryn Alexander – DooDads and Finishing in Knitting – Thursday October 15th – All Day CLAIMED!
Donna Kay – Beginning Handspindle – Friday October 16th – AM
Annie Modesitt – Backyard Leaves – Friday October 16th – PM CLAIMED!
Janel Laidman – Kitchen Sink Yarns – Saturday October 17th – AM
Lily Chin – Crochet Tips and Tricks – Saturday October 17th – PM CLAIMED!
Nan Crawford – Felted Soaps - Sunday October 18th – AM
Nancy Schroyer – Dyeing Self Striping Sock Yarn – Sunday October 18th PM

I am drooling over some of these workshops and I’m sure you are too. So here’s how it’s going to work:

Starting Sunday we will draw one winner per day from the comments of this post. Each winner, chosen at random, will get to chose the workshop they want from the list above, which will diminish as the winners are chosen. Makes sense? All winners MUST contact me within 24 hours of winning to chose his or her (but probably her) workshop or we will have to chose another winner. (It stinks, but otherwise the process will get all bogged down.) Classes may not be substituted or exchanged for other workshops.

A huge thank you to Dutchess County Sheep and Wool Growers Association for providing us with the classes for this giveaway. You can thank them by helping us spread the word. You can tweet this link by using the “Tweet This” button at the bottom of this post and bloggers who blog get a gold star and extra karma points.

To enter, leave a comment on this post. The giveaway will end on Sunday, August 9th, or when we have given away all the workshops. Good luck and see you at Rhinebeck!