Stitches West 2016

This year at Stitches West was a quieter one for me. I just went for one day. I had an excellent class about calculating sleeve caps with Patty Lyons. (I highly recommend her as a teacher.) And Connor joined me at his lunch break to peruse the booths. He's been on the lookout for a new project ever since he finished his cowl. Also, I had a new experience. In the past, I've gone, worn my knits, and people have stopped me because they have recognized my work. This year, while wearing my badge, I got a stopped a few times because people recognized my name. That was quite a boost to the ego. But lets face it: Stitches West is about the yarn. So without further ado, here is the 2016 damage report.

Why is it that we knitters buy the same colors over and over? I seem to have different color themes each year. This year is green and grey.

In the top left we have two YOTH bags. They came with all the YOTH yarn we bought. I didn't know they were giving out bags to those who bought four skeins. We bought 12. Just to the right of the YOTH bags you can see Connor (top) and my (bottom) selections for sweaters. That's right, Connor is looking into making himself a sweater. We both went with the Father base. He got the Caviar color way while I chose the Kale color way. In a way, I chose the healthier yarn. Kale is healthier, right?
Just below the YOTH bags is a project bag and a pattern. The pattern is the Lambing Mitts pattern, which came with the YOTH yarn as well. (I guess we were really good customers.) Connor is already swatching for a pair. I guess I'm taking too long to get around to making him a pair.
The project bag came from Little House In The Big Wool. It says "Official Sock Knitter." Yes I am, so that came home with me. Moving on to the right hand column of yarn...
Starting at the top we have three skeins of Miss Babs' Yowza in the Blackwatch color way. I've eyed this yarn in this color for three straight years. I now know what I want to make with it. Into the backpack it went.
Below the Yowza is a book called Inventive Weaving on a Little Loom. David is loaning me his Cricket Loom so I can see if I like weaving. I got entirely stuck. Since I often do the best with books, I thought it was a good investment to get this one. It helped when everyone I passed by said that, "It was a good one."
The two skeins in the bottom corner of the right column are both from Lisa Souza's booth. A skein each of Coachella and St Louis Blues in the Hardtwist Petite to make the Hieroglyphic socks. I've been wanting to try out her yarn and I'm excited to have an excuse to do so now. Directly to the left of the Lisa Souza skeins is a skein of Black Trillium's Pebble Sock in the Inkwell color. I've been trying to get a skein of this color to go with my skein of Butterbeer. It is always sold out. When I picked up this skein, there was only one other skein left and someone just behind me picked it up. I got all Gollum-like and immediately crouched over my skein before paying for it. Precious. The skein to the left of the Black Trillium is from Verdant Gryphon. It is Mithril in the Green Water Snake color. I needed it to finish a project, and that is my justification for that.

All in all, it was a good year at Stitches. I was glad to see old friends again. I was also able to show off patterns to some of the dyers I've been working with. I'm looking forward to sharing the pattern releases I have for this year.