(mmm bretzel!)
There were amazing little touches everywhere- like these decorations for the nametags! I had a little sweater and Casey had a sock.
We also got to meet Jeannette, one of our incredible site moderators- was so nice to meet her in person!
In the evening, we got to hang out in the beautiful fall weather next to Backnang's Wollstube- isn't that the prettiest yarn store ever?!
After the lovely day in Backnang, we had a little vacation with our friends Julie and Adam and traveled into Alsace, France. We couldn't help ourselves though and had to have a little Ravelry meetup in Strasbourg with the Tricoteuses d'Alsace while we were there.
They were very kind about my horrible French and we had a really fun time. :)
After Strasbourg, we saw some more beautiful vineyards and gorgeous Alsatian towns:
Then it was back to Heidelberg, where Julie helped to organize a meetup with the Heidelberg Knitters group at a great restaurant!
Thank you so much to everyone who came out to see us in Germany and France! It was so thrilling for us to meet some European Ravelers. I took tons more photos of our trip- too many to fit in this blog post! So much fun!
Now over to Mary-Heather about her travels in September and October! :)
::Mary-Heather here... thanks, Jess!::
Here in the mountains in New Mexico, the smell of roasting green chile and pinon is in the air... along with loads and loads of hot air balloons! Fall is here, and yarn lovers are out in force taking advantage of the newly crisp air.
In September, just as the heat was starting to turn, New Mexico Ravelers got together for a meetup at Oodles Yarns and Beads in Santa Fe. The meetup was held in conjunction with a workshop by Jane Thornley (color4texture) and you can read more about the day and her adventures in New Mexico in her articles in This Week in Ravelry: Fiber Foraging in Santa Fe and Ravelry Meetup in Santa Fe. It was a wonderful day - those of us from Albuquerque and points south took the train up north to walk to the shop (after nabbing some sopapillas at a restaurant near the depot first, of course). It was wonderful to meet so many other Ravelers from the Land of Enchantment - thank you to everyone who came! It was great to hang out with you!
The first weekend in October is the much anticipated Wool Festival at Taos. This festival, held in a park in the beautiful mountain town of Taos, features a rich variety of wool and animal fibers from the states of New Mexico, Colorado, and Texas. There is music playing, dogs frolicking, the sweet smell from the cinnamon almonds booth blankets the whole festival, and if you are overwhelmed by all of the beautiful wool and need a break, the town of Taos is a lovely destination in its own right, packed with art galleries, fantastic restaurants, and beautiful mountain views. It's a truly wonderful weekend!
The organizers generously donated a big tent for Ravelers to have a home base right in the middle of the festival grounds! The weather was absolutely perfect - sunny and crisp - and it was so nice to have a place to gather, talk, craft, and rest if we happened to be tired from carrying around big bags of wool or fleece. Ahem.
Thank you so much to the organizers of the festival for providing such a wonderful space for us to gather and meet, and thank you to everyone who came by, said hello, shared some Ravelry love, and baked or ate cupcakes with us. (If you ever get the chance to eat one of Deltafine's cider cupcakes... take it!!) I'm already looking forward to next year!
Now, we're off again! We're headed to the New York Sheep and Wool Festival this weekend, and we'll be posting more information about that very soon! Look for the news about our daytime meetups, Saturday night party, and awesome party sponsors in the next couple of days! 
