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.

I Saved Latin, What Did You Ever Do?

In high school, I took 8 days of Latin before the district cancelled it. We did try to save Latin, but didn't succeed. Of course I knew I needed a skein of the Rushmore themed, "I Saved Latin, What Did You Ever Do?" from Canon Hand Dyes the moment I laid my eyes on it. But like anyone with a stash, I felt like I might have "enough" yarn and took too long to decide. Then horror of horrors, it wasn't available any more. I mentioned this to Amy. And just this last week, look what arrived at my door.

I might not have been able to save Latin, but Amy saved me a Latin, and that makes me quite happy.

Stitches West 2015

Per usual, I did a lot of damage this year at Stitches. It was made worse by believing that I'd only get to visit on one of the days. I ended up going three out of four days... As you can see that was a bit of a problem. So without further ado, I give you the 2015 Stitches West damage report.

This year we'll go though everything in the four columns that I've arranged.
In the top left we have two skeins of Twisted Elegance. I was gifted them by my friends Janet and Jennie as a belated birthday gift. (It doesn't count as a purchase, right?) Jennie has recently bought a yarn shop in Medford, Oregon. I can't wait to see what she's done with the place.
Below is a bowl from Jennie the Potter and a neat measuring tape from YOTH yarns that allows you to measure your bust on your own. Pretty nifty.
Below the gown and measuring tape is my annual Thundercloud-colored fiber from Red Fish. I just can't help myself. Every year I need to buy roving that looks like a Thundercloud. This year's blend is 50%Camel and 50%Silk.

In the next column we'll start with the 5 red skeins of Rockwell in the Bing Cherry colorway. I fell down hard at Jill Draper's booth. Below the five red skeins are four more skeins of Rockwell. (Darkest Roast, Lichen, and two skeins in Pacific.) And to procure all this yarn, I visited her booth three times. The first time I got the two skeins of Pacific to make Connor a scarf. The next day I ran into Carol, showed her the booth, sighed over the red. She asked me the magic words, "Do you need a wedding gift?" Who am I to say no to yarn? Thank Carol! After I parted ways with Carol, I snuck over and bought the skein of Darkest Roast and Lichen. I didn't want to seem ungrateful. But I needed those skeins for my own scarf.
Underneath all the Rockwell are six skeins from White Birch Fiber Arts. I was signed up to help at Amy's booth (Canon Hand Dyes) but Lisa (the booth next door) needed the help. I ended up buying the three skeins on the left, but she gifted me the three skeins on the right after I helped he keep up with restocking on Thursday. It was a madhouse! The color ways from left to right are: Sugarbush, Strangefire, Wild Thai Ryder, My Rainbow Can Beat Your Honor Student, Fade to Black, and Does This Rainbow Make My Black Look Big.

The next column has a soap dish and Utensil pot from Kunihiro Pottery. So pretty. The soap dish went to my Mum because her's had fallen apart. The pot went to my future kitchen.
Below that is a pattern for No. 002. I saw the sample at the YOTH booth. Samples work. I usually don't buy patterns, but I got that one.
Next are three skeins from Canon Hand Dyes. From left to right is Silver, Yoga For Elephants, and Etude No.120. I bought the Yoga for Elephants and Silver because I can't find my Yoga For Elephants socks! A tragedy. So really I only bought 1 new skeins because replacement skeins don't count as stash.
Below that are two skeins of Spincycle Yarn's new colorway, Mississippi Marsala in the Dyed In The Wool base. I couldn't help myself. Their yarn is so pretty.

In the last column we start with two cups from the Yarnover truck. Connor and I had been meaning to get reusable cups for tea. I wanted to have cups that didn't have a particular brand of coffee house on it.
Below that is a Japanese Stitch dictionary. I quite liked the patterns in this one, therefore it had to be mine.
Next are three skeins from Anzula. I asked Connor if he'd like a scarf. He said yes, so I handed him two skeins. It seemed especially appropriate because it is in the "For Better Or Worsted" base. He chose the Mariana color way. I got a skein of Squishy in Spruce since I realized I was running short for my wedding shawl. Last are two skeins procured from the Yarnover Truck from Baah La Jolla in the California Poppy and Grape Vine color ways.

So all in all it was a great yarn year. I bought another collection of yarn for a very good friend who reads this blog. Once the package makes it to her, I'll add the additional skeins to this post. I chose well. Connor was tempted to keep a skein for himself.

Edit: The package has now arrived, so here is her haul.

In the top corner is a ball of Opal in the Geographer color way. It was based on Le Petit Prince. The next skein to the right of the Opal is Anzula's Squishy in the Keola colorway. Next up is Dragonfly Fibers in the Dragon Sock base. The coloway is Tourmaline. That one seems to shimmer with color. Next is Miss Babs' Yummy in the Coffee Break colorway. Last in the top row is a skein of Spincycle, Dyed in the Wool in the colorway Venus In Furs. On the bottom left is a skein of White Birch Fiber Arts in the Electric Slide colorway. And at the very bottom are two skeins in the Charles base from Canon Hand Dyes. The top skein is I Am All Astonishment and below that is Yoga For Elephants. It was a lot of fun putting that package together!

Stitches West 2014

This year at Stitches was awesome. I got to see friends, make new ones, and have a good old time. I also took a class with Carson Demers called Swatchbuckling, which was about better knitting ergonomics through swatching (I highly recommend this class. Seriously. I learned how to knit better in a morning.)
I went to Stitches all four days, but for whatever reason, only took two pictures. And by two, I mean that I took one and was in one. So here is the one picture I took. Behold, it is a Celestarium in the wild. This one is by Ashley and was inspired by Vincent Van Gogh's Starry Night. Go stare at it on ravelry. One picture has a Tardis in it, which makes it x1000 cooler.

The second photo is of Sarah and I at her booth. Cephalopod hosted the Southern Skies all weekend, since it is made of their yarn, Skinny Bugga! in Charaxes Tiridate. I was quite pleased to see that there was always someone closely inspecting it whenever I passed by.

And now for the damage report. This year I'm a little embarrassed to admit to what I bought. Have you guys seen that pin that says, "I'm on the road to recovery... Just kidding, I'm on the road to a yarn shop." That's how I feel. So here it is, in all it's glory. There is one braid and one skein missing from the picture because they were bought and already gifted to some friends at Stitches.


Day 1 was Thursday. I went in a bit early to drop off samples. And even though it's a market preview and only open for 3 hours, I'm pretty good a buying yarn and fiber.
1. This is a braid of Greenwood Fiberworks Sock Roving in the color way Cider House. I've wanted this ever since seeing Falling Stitches' socks out of it. Of course I got it right as the market closed, so I left it at the both. Guess who has two thumbs and was freaked out when they got home and the braid wasn't in her backpack: this girl.
2. Here's a skein of Dragonfly fibers' Dragon Sock in Mushroom Hunter. I saw it appear on Pan's Needles and I desired it. I might even do the same pattern. It looks so pretty that way.
3. And then there was Canon Hand Dyes. I have been waiting to see her yarn again after she was at KnitLab. I don't care that I haven't finished knitting my other skeins... I had to have more. From left to right is a William base heel/toe, a Charles base in Intermission, a William base in See How I'm Bewitch'd, the next three are Charles base in Cheshire Cat (second variation), I Know We Shall Have A Reveling Tonight, A Rose By Any Other Name..., and in Lewis base, Something's Rotten In The State Of Denmark.

Day 2, I had my author signing, which might have kept me from going really nuts.
1. Here is Spincycle's Dyed In The Wool in the color End of Summer. So lovely.
2. Is Miss Babs' 2ply Yummy in the colors (left to right) Rain Forest, Prince Charming, Coffee Break, and Biker Chick. Rain Forest and Prince Charming are going to become a Drogue for my Mum. Coffee Break was bought because I saw it on HeyPorkChop's instagram page and have no self control. Here is her blogpost about them. I've also been looking for the prefect Halloween yarn. I've looked for so long I don't even know what I'm looking for anymore. But Biker Chick seemed like it might fit the bill.
3. I didn't buy this, Mum did. It's a Tardis tin with little Dr. Who themed stitch markers from Slipped Stitch Studios. They let me change out one of the markers so I wouldn't have a weeping angel. They are too scary for me.
4. Tyler and I went to RedFish Dyeworks together. This might have been a miscalculation on my part. I only wanted one braid but left with 2. (Or three, but one was gifted) There aren't color ways on them, but the orange one is 50/50 Camel/Silk and the bluer one is 50/50 Merino/Silk.
5. I got black and white Koigu because I wasn't happy with how my Cascade was matching up with my Knitch yarn. Koigu matches the Knitch much better.

Day 3 was the day I had my class, so I was only in the marketplace for less than half the time it was open. Krista and I also waited in the crazy Knitmore Girls line so we could give them our Halos of Hope hats.
1. I passed this braid the day before but came back for it. It's Wonderland Dyeworks 75%BFL/ 25% Tussah Silk in Red Riding Hood. Go buy a braid from their easy store. Their fibers just shimmer. You'll thank me later.
2. I got a little silly gift for my Mum at A Needle Runs Through It. It's a triangle bag with Hedgehogs on it.
3. Every time I passed Cephalopod's booth, there was one less skein of Skinny Bugga! in Strawberry Crab. Then there were two left and I couldn't take it anymore. (I got David to buy the last one.)
4.Went back to Dragonfly Fibers. This is a skein of one of their newest base, Damsel, in Spanish Moss. I don't know what it will become, but it will become some sort of design.
5. Then I realized that one of my missions during Stitches was to get some lace weight. I have two skeins in my stash, one is alpaca (too fuzzy for swatching) and one is possibly a cobweb weight. That's it. Anyways, would you believe that I still haven't bought Anzula despite having touched it every time I'm at Green Planet? Well, now I have some Touch My Lace in the Grace color way. Also, Sabrina, the dyer/owner is awesome.
6. As part of the "I have no lace" cure, I also got a skein of Mithril from Verdant Gryphon so I can swatch up an idea. I should have bought a skein on Thursday. It was slim pickings by Saturday. At least they had some of the Forest Clearing still there!

Day 4 I went in 15 minutes before the market closed on purpose. I had to pick up my samples and needed to avoid being tempted. The plan worked. 

So, all in all, I had a great time. (My wallet didn't, but I did.) Now I'll need to be disciplined.... until next Stitches.... or whenever.

Let's Have A Yarn Day

I've been looking forward to today's adventure for quite some time. When I learned that I might be able to come to New Zealand, I let my blog friend, Wei Siew of Kiwiyarns Knits, know about it. So we planned to meet up. First thing on the list was to take pictures of the Southern Skies shawl (Due to be released in the next day or so). We stopped by the Dominion Observatory to see what kinds of photos we could get. Although this wasn't a final pick, I quite like the photo.

Next up was a trip to the Holland Road Yarn Company. I've had a burning desire to visit after reading Wei Siew's multiple blog posts about all the yarn she finds there. This shop is run by Tash, the granddaughter of Margret Stove. She is wearing a Rocky Coast Cardigan. 

I've been drooling over the Knitsch yarns for quite some time. Tash dyes them herself and I had a very difficult time making up my mind over what colors to buy. Of course in the end I went with my life's philosophy on yarn: When in doubt, buy it all.

Photo credit to Wei Siew.

You can really build up an appetite after looking for yarn, so we went to John's Fish Market for fish and chips. I'm pretty sure this is the best fish and chips I've ever had. Everything was fresh, the batter was crisp, and the seasoning was spot on. There may be another trip to it in the near future. Possibly tomorrow... I hope.

The fish market also happens to be across from the beach. So we took our lunch, sat on a bit of driftwood, and watched the seagulls fight amongst themselves over who would get first go at our food. One gull puffed himself up and ran at every other gull. (I think he is the second from the right in the photo.) The chips were too good to share, so I didn't.

Our next stop was a really special one. Wei Siew arranged for us to have a tour of Woolyarns. This is where the Zealana yarn is made. I'm quite a fan. In the past I've made the Druid Mittens and Fireside Sweater out of their yarns. Here we've got some raw possum. It's really soft. I know this because I was allowed to touch it.

Having worked at a mill, I really enjoyed seeing some of the equipment again. There were a few machines I never got to work with, but wish I had. The first neat one was a machine that automatically cut out knots in the yarn and spliced the two ends together. I didn't even know that was possible. But that would explain why I've yet to find a knot in my Zealana yarn. The other neat machine was the one that made yarn into center pull balls. I had always been curious about how that was possible. The height of the tubed area determines how the yarn ends up. There is a shorter tube for donut sized balls of yarn. 

After Woolyarns, we headed over to Wei Siew's for dinner. She even showed me her yarn stash. And as any knitter knows, the yarn stash is a sacred realm. Only the most worthy are allowed to enter. I must have entered into a holy order or something, because I was allowed to leave with some of her stash. A few bits of Royal Stansborough yarn and, get ready for this, a whole sweater's worth! Of Stansborough! This yarn is pretty tough to find. As in I bought the last 6 skeins at Holland Road Yarn Company.

Here is the official haul from yesterday. The top step were all gifts and the bottom step was damage I inflicted on myself. 

Top step L to R: Little Wool Co, 4ply in Lime; Flagstaff Alpaca, 8ply in North Isle on Marl; Little Wool Co, 8ply in Peat; 11 skeins of Stansborough Mythral in Takahe (Thanks Wei Siew!)

Bottom step L to R: Knitch 100% Merino, a pair of each in Looking Glass, Charlemagne, Yellow Brick Road, The William, and Odelay; Stansborough Mythral, first column is Manuka and Rata, second column are both Royal Kokako, third column is Kokako and Takahe.

So all in all, it was a great day. The only thing I forgot to do was get a picture with the both of us in it. Ah well. Now I have an excuse to visit my blogging buddy again.

A Yarn Harlot Day

After being really, really good about not buying yarn, (not counting the skein I had to get for The Book) I broke down. It's hardly my fault. I was invited to go to Oakland for a knit event and we hit up some yarn shops. First up was Article Pract. I really like this shop. There was a good color selection in each brand. And there were a fair number of brands represented too.

I finally won the right to call myself a yarn enabler after getting Carol (on the right) to buy yarn. She was resisting pretty well, but I got her to buy a book and a bunch of skeins of Pigeonroof Studios. Krista also fell victim to Pigeonroof as you can see below. I resisted, but I'm still thinking about those skeins in the colorway "Greenstone." If only it looked better with my skin tone.

I bought the new Knitscene, Norah Gaughan #7, a skein of Koigu KPM in Prince, Tosh sock in Edison Bulb, and Curious Creek Fibers Wasonga in Emerald City. Now comes everyone's favorite part, the rationalization for each purchase. I bought the magazine because it's my kryptonite. I ought to just get a subscription. The book I bought because it's pretty and has great photography examples. (I also got Krista and Carol to buy a copy. Does that make me a book enabler as well?) I tried to resist the Koigu, but I've never used it before. The electric purple is pretty neat, but I couldn't leave it behind once I saw that it was named "Prince." I've been lusting after Tosh's Edison Bulb for awhile. Don't know why. But it looked like a good match for the Koigu. I think I'll make myself another pair of Velomeisters with the Koigu and Tosh. The skein in Emerald City is for a project my Mum requested right before I left for the shop. I might have been able to resist everything if I hadn't been looking for skein for that project. (Who am I kidding. I might have bought more if there wasn't a project to match yarn to.)

And now I reveal the true purpose of our trip. Stephanie Pearl-McPhee aka the Yarn Harlot was giving a talk at A Verb For Keeping Warm entitled "This Is Your Brain On Knitting."
In the picture you can see that I'm not really smiling. I'm actually really happy to be there, but I stopped smiling at the exact moment Krista took the picture. Just imagine that I have a huge grin on my face, because I totally did before and after the picture was taken. Do you see the sock Stephanie is holding? It's mine. And it's a copy of the any gauge ribbed sock pattern I'm working on. I really appreciated how Stephanie took her time talking to each knitter even though there was a huge line. Plus she liked my sweater, so there is that. (The pattern is another one that I'm working on. It needs to be graded still.)

She signed a copy of her book for me too. 

Thanks to Carol and Krista for the wonderful day. And to Stephanie for such an entertaining talk. I learned a bunch about how my brain works and am even more motivated to continue knitting. It really does keep you calm. If you ever see that Stephanie is giving the "This Is Your Brain On Knitting" talk near you, go to it. It is thoroughly entertaining and enlightening.