In past years, I'd only gone to Stitches one of the four days. This year I had a class with the wonderful Shannon Okey, so I had a pass that let me into the marketplace everyday. This might have been a problem. I ended up going to the market preview on Thursday and returned on Friday. By then, I had done so much damage I didn't go the following two days. I'm pretty controlled with spending.... except at Stitches. So let's have a look at what happens when I bring a credit card "just in case."
The Thursday marketplace was only open for three hours. Good thing too.
I made a beeline to the Cephalopod booth where Sarah (the owner) stopped me and complimented me on my Celestarium. She didn't know I was the designer and I didn't know she was the owner, so we had a fangirl moment over each other. I've never asked for yarn support before, but three skeins of Skinny Bugga! in Cheraxes Tiridate (1.) will become the southern companion to Celestarium.
The next stop was at the (2.) Becoming Art/ Never Not Knitting booth. Becoming Art yarn just glows, so 2 skeins of Cielo fingering came home with me. The purple is Luminous Heart (I think, the label didn't have the colorway on it) and the brown is Sunlit Amber.
I wandered over to the (3.) Blue Moon Fiber Arts booth to touch all the yarn. I agonized for a good half hour or more over what skeins should come home with me. I left with two skeins of Silkie Socks That Rock in the Mossley Manly and Schwarzwald colorways. I also picked up a skein of Socks That Rock Medium Weight in the Enchanted Forest colorway. As an aside, it is all Alicia's fault that I got the Mossley Manly. Her Manly Cowl made me want it.
The last purchase I made before the marketplace closed was at (4.) Redfish Dyeworks. Last year I got fiber that looked like a thunder cloud. I decided that it needed a friend, so this braid of 60%Merino/ 20%Yak/ 20%Silk came home with me.
Day 1 did some damage to my wallet... but day 2 was much worse. I went to (1.) Cephalopod again. I decided I needed one of their awesome bags, which has an extra front pocket. Then I had to get four skeins of Bugga! in Nebraska Conehead because I promised myself I'd get one sweater's worth of yarn. I also picked up a skein of Skinny Bugga! in Oleander Nymph because a friend got the same skein last year and I wished it was mine.
When I stopped by (2.) Wonderland Dyeworks, two braids 80%Merino/ 20%Tussah Silk in Coral Reef had to come home with me because the fiber glowed. I blame Carol. I will get her back.
I've long admired (3.) Spincycle Yarns, but I hadn't bought a skein from them until now. I have a whole bunch of things to say about this orange skein, but that will be in a future post. Just know that it is 100% BFL in Fallen Leaves and it has a great backstory on how it came to be. Carol bought a skein too.
I've needed a sweater sized box bag for awhile now. I got one at (4.) A Needle Runs Through It. It has knitting sheep on it. When I got home, a sweater moved into it immediately. And rumor has it her bags are going to be stocked at Green Planet Yarn in the future. I can see money flying out of my wallet already.
I also stopped by (5.) Slipped Stitch Studios when I wasn't with anyone and picked up a miPattern Wallet with magnetic bookmarks. It is nifty and will be much more useful than my current pattern system. Bonus: it is the color of my blog.
I wandered over to (6.) Ann Weaver's booth which also had Neighborhood Fiber Co. yarn. Ann is awesome. And I'm not just saying that because she liked my shawl. (That was just a bonus.) I picked up a copy of her book White Whale vol.2 because I must make the Ambergris sweater. I have no idea when I'll have time, but it will be mine one day. I also got a skein of Neighborhood Fiber Co. Studio Sock in Georgetown. It is an electric purple and it is superwash. I plan on remaking my crazy purple bike socks sometime. I'm still disappointed that I accidentally chose non-superwash wool for the last pair. It isn't practical for a pair of bike socks.
I always like going by the (7.) Village Spinning And Weaving booth. I got three Japanese knitting books. One is a stitch dictionary and the two others are about socks. I haven't a clue what the titles are, but the diagrams are good enough to knit from.
For quite awhile I have admired (8.) Greenwood Fiberworks on etsy. I finally got my hands on two braids. The purple braid is the Enchanted colorway and the blue braid is Blue Eyes. They are part of the new Sock Roving line that is 80%Superwash Merino/ 20%Nylon. The last pair of socks I handspun wasn't superwash. I've learned that all my handknit socks need to be superwash for me to wear them regularly.
Stitches West was great. I had a bunch of great conversations and met some really neat people. And when I got home, I found that for the first time in two years, I actually have a life direction. I've felt like I was bumbling around, but at least for now, I feel like I know what I'm working for. And that is worth more than all the yarn in the world. Well... almost all the yarn.
