I went to Stitches West. It was really great. I want to be a vendor next year. I think that makes me insane (especially since I just looked at the prices for vending this year, eep!). I nearly forgot to take photos, and the ones I took are sort of blurry. Believe me, these two are the best of the bunch. Sorry, but if you squint you'll see it clearly!
Yes, it was crowded. Yes, it was weird being one of the attendees after working so many other types of conventions. However, as it was a crowd of women, I could see over almost everyone!
Standing on a chair near one of the back corners. This was a relatively *open* area--it was PACKED in some of those booths!
I think this was The Bagsmith booth--those are US50 wooden needles. She could've killed someone with them. The rug to her left was knit with roving and those needles.What's that? You want to know what I bought? Why? Oh, living vicariously, ok. I had set aside some of my tax refund to take to Stitches, and boy am I glad I did! I used almost every last penny of my budget for the trip, but I paid for all my gas, food, and of course yarn with it. I've got some captions on the photo (click on it to "embiggen" so you can actually read it). Also, please try not to be distracted by the colors of my bedspread. Nowhere else was big enough and light enough to take the photo!
click to make it big enough to read the captions!- I have no idea just yet what the Malabrigo is for, though there is enough of the Brillante for a vest (I think) and enough of the Melilla for a short-sleeved sweater (I think--maybe even elbow length). I simply could NOT resist those colors. Yes, I know it's a softly spun single, and yes I know it will pill. I don't much care though, and I'll shave them as necessary!
- The Knitting Notions should be plenty for a cabled vest, I believe. Hand-dyed--there are gorgeous tonal variations you can't quite see in the photo.
- There's another enormous skein of Eco-Wool for Big Man's sweater, but that was being swatched from and therefore in another room (did I tell you I want to make him a hoodie? And that he wants it baggy? Thankfully he likes the looser/bigger needle swatch!).
- The sequin thread will be plied with some plain black thick/thin (like these yarns) and I think I can get two skeins out of it, and the two green wool/stainless Habu cones are to (eventually when paired with two cones I already have) make myself a Sea Tangles sweater.
- The ultra-fine stainless--I can't wait to try that! I want to spin a textured single of...maybe merino/bamboo, and let that thinner-than-a-hair wire wrap around it as I spin it back the other way. It'll be sooooo coooooooool. I have to find the perfect fiber, though...ooh, maybe I'll corespin and then let the wire wrap! So many decisions.
Not much else is going on right now, honestly, I'm applying for jobs, freezing myself because I feel like not using the heat (but leaving the silly windows open) is a great money-saving measure for some reason, and deciding if I should make my own bread every day (is it more cost-effective? Doing the math today). ETA: I just called my local warehouse store, and a 25lb bag of all-purpose flour is $6.29. That is roughly $0.26 flour cost PER LOAF of sandwich bread. Guess who's never *buying* sandwich bread again! Off to try making a loaf right now to ensure I'm good enough at it that this would be a worthwhile purchase.
I've been doing loads of knitting on my Estes Vest, and have nearly the whole back done. I know it's faster than if I were doing it with finer yarn, but even using the Lamb's Pride Bulky and US10.5 needles, all the tiny cables in the honeycomb are slowing me down. It's such a cool pattern, though, that it's worth it. Plus, it's going to be a REALLY warm vest--I'm excited.
And because I know you've missed her, here's another shot of Her Furry Highness. It's from yesterday, and she was resting hard. Doesn't she look tired from all her exertions?
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