Still working away at the Mega Boots Stretch basic toe-up socks. Still loving (loving!) the colorway. I took these to Stitches West as my unthinking knitting project. I was tempted to bring the Must Have, at least for the train, but I forgot how much I enjoy talking and how talking and knitting anything complex are not easily compatible. My seatmate on the Stitch & Ride is the RPM designer--how cool is that? And on the way back, I chatted with some women who, it turned out, were from Alameda. The "Gail" they were talking about is Gail T from our somewhat new Alameda Yarn Company, our LYS that I hope will stay.
Still can't find Captain Underpants. Annoying! I do think I left it at church but haven't been able to find it anywhere there.
To document my haul from Stitches West:
I walked up one aisle and there before me was the guy from the Fair Isle book I have at home, and have drooled over many a time. In the Philosopher's Wool booth, surrounded by all those gorgeous sweaters. And knitting on one. And what I didn't realize: it's worsted weight! I could finish it within my lifetime. So lovely Carol in their booth helped me try on several sweaters to find the one I wanted. The first one just didn't do it for me. The second, even less so. The third had my heart racing (that's Carol modeling it). So beautiful. I whipped out my credit card and was given a lovely knitting bag with the kit and so much encouragement. They even said that if you finish your sweater and write them, they'll send you a pattern for a matching tam as a "congratulations." Apparently, there's enough wool for most sizes in the bag, so you don't even have to pick it out by size. It's big like a jacket, too, which is perfect, as the wool is certainly on the itchy side.
Next, I went by my friend Maia's booth, Tactile Fiber Arts, which was partnering with Brooke's company, A Verb For Keeping Warm. As I am into the dark, dark, dark these days, I was able to pass up plenty of spinning fiber that was just too pale, but she had some bundles of way dark wool in the back, and as she was writing up two of them, I reached out and felt a bundle of nearly black alpaca and had to add that in. Oh man, so soft. I managed to ignore the right-hand wall of beautiful handspun wool in lots of colors and fiber mixes. (so beautiful, my glance told me.)
Next, when I visited the YarnDogs booth for a Ravelry passport stamp, Lucy Neatby was there, in all her multicolored-hair, high-energy self. They had all of her DVDs for $9 off the usual $29 price, so I quizzed her on which one would be right for me. I settled on Socks 2 (but she did mention I could benefit from Socks 1 as well) and bought it. By the register, they had tiny sock blockers... and sets of tiny dpns (like 3" long, 0 or 00 or 000) to knit tiny socks with! Insanity. (I managed to resist, but just barely.)
The last purchase was at the Purlescence booth. They're all the way in Sunnyvale, so it's about an hour's drive for me. I wish I could patronize them, but it's hard to justify the gas plus the yarn cost in general. So when I saw yummy sock yarn, Claudia Handpaints no less, I went for it. Black walnut, so gorgeous.
Thankfully, I was given the pass to attend a free class, which prevented me from doing more shopping... my budget is grateful.
Next, I went by my friend Maia's booth, Tactile Fiber Arts, which was partnering with Brooke's company, A Verb For Keeping Warm. As I am into the dark, dark, dark these days, I was able to pass up plenty of spinning fiber that was just too pale, but she had some bundles of way dark wool in the back, and as she was writing up two of them, I reached out and felt a bundle of nearly black alpaca and had to add that in. Oh man, so soft. I managed to ignore the right-hand wall of beautiful handspun wool in lots of colors and fiber mixes. (so beautiful, my glance told me.)
Next, when I visited the YarnDogs booth for a Ravelry passport stamp, Lucy Neatby was there, in all her multicolored-hair, high-energy self. They had all of her DVDs for $9 off the usual $29 price, so I quizzed her on which one would be right for me. I settled on Socks 2 (but she did mention I could benefit from Socks 1 as well) and bought it. By the register, they had tiny sock blockers... and sets of tiny dpns (like 3" long, 0 or 00 or 000) to knit tiny socks with! Insanity. (I managed to resist, but just barely.)
The last purchase was at the Purlescence booth. They're all the way in Sunnyvale, so it's about an hour's drive for me. I wish I could patronize them, but it's hard to justify the gas plus the yarn cost in general. So when I saw yummy sock yarn, Claudia Handpaints no less, I went for it. Black walnut, so gorgeous.
Thankfully, I was given the pass to attend a free class, which prevented me from doing more shopping... my budget is grateful.
4 comments:
Fun! How did you like the class? What was it like?
I think we are twins. :O) I have that Philosopher's Wool book too, and that is the exact sweater I want to make!!! I'm still struggling with row three of the Must Have Cardi, and I did isolate those three wrap stitches. That's where my problem is, actually. Maybe I've lost the yo? Or don't see it? I'll go look again. I'm so jealous you got to see all the things you did! But great that you were able to see and chose the sweater! Can't wait to see that one too! samm
Oh I wish I could have been there. There's a knitters convention here in June but I'm not sure I can go. There are other festivals that I am tracking so I can try to get to something, somewhere.
I am hoping for Rhinebeck in the fall but who knows.
I wanted to say thank you for posting on my blog, "Yarn Goddess". It's doubly nice that you also live in the Bay Area. You must be closer to San Francisco or in the other direction, the Livermore Valley, for it to take an hour to drive to Purlescence. It takes me about 1/2 hour to get there (depending on the good old Nimitz traffic factor). I've never been there - it's based on how long it takes me to get to San Jose and Sunnyvale.
I, too, was at Stitches West. I met up with one of my vendors, KaratStix. It was my first time and her third, so she acted as a guide. It was overwhelming. I managed to come away for under $200 (and another $100 for my shop).
In any event, it's a pleasure to meet you. Perhaps we can meet up for coffee or yarn shop crawling somewhere in the middle of our respective locations. :)
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