Tuesday, November 07, 2006

Stitches East

I have a yarn hangover. Three days after the fact! The day started bright and early with breakfast at Panera. A group of wild-eyed yarn addicts met for some pre-shopping caffeinated drinks.
pre-Stitches breakfast
That is Lolly, Laura, Diane, Jolene, Jen and the back of Suzanne's head. Jenna was there too, I somehow managed to not get her in the picture.

We all made the trek to Baltimore and met up with Erin, CAm, Eunny, and Stacey who made the trip all the way from MA for the occasion.

Before I ripped out my wallet, Erin presented me with an early birthday present.
Handmaiden Seasilk

That's the long sought after Handmaiden Seasilk!!! I LOVE IT. It is just beautiful. Thank you thank you thank you Mama E!! (She also gave me some chocolate, but oddly, it has vanished.... yum!) Erin didn't want me to be in a desperate search for it all day, so she gave it to me early. That Erin... she's the best. I am taking suggestions on what this wants to be knit into! Meanwhile, I shall pet and fondle it endlessly.

At some point during the day, some woman offered to ball it up for me - mainly so she could demonstrate her electric ball winder. I will say, it was very cool. However, with a price tag of $275, it is more than out of my range! She said that our knitting group should all pitch in and buy it. Ha! We'd all be fighting over visiting rights!

We tried to stay together. We tried to have a plan. We tried to be methodical in our shopping methods. But all that fiber just made us all dizzy and all our plans quickly dissolved into a yarn buying frenzy. I spent way too much money, but thanks to an extremely profitable waiting shift the night before, I was flush. I almost managed to stick to my shopping list. Here's the haul...
Stitches haul

um... yeah, that's another skein of Seasilk up there in the upper left corner. Erin found three skeins of it hiding in a booth. She bought one, I bought another and Jolene got one too. The Noro is where I strayed from my shopping list. I've been watching Laura, Eunny, and Sarah knitting entrelac and I wanna try it. So, I bought two skeins of Noro to try out a little entrelac. Lord knows when I'll get around to it, so for now it is stash enhancing!

I also bought this
Trekking XXL color 62

It is exactly what I was looking for. It's a little darker than the picture shows. I wanted a variegated yarn in greys or blacks and this is it. It will eventually become socks. I'm thinking perhaps it will become another pair of Jaywalkers.

And I bought this...
Hedera socks

That's Tess superwash sock yarn. I love love love this yarn. The color, the texture, everything. I have been hearing about the virtues of Tess yarn for awhile now and was thinking I would probably get some at Stitches. When I saw the brown, I knew I had to get it. And as you can see, I immediately went home and cast on for some socks for my sister for Christmas. The pattern is Knitty's Hedera.
humble beginnings

I think these socks are going to be gorgeous.

So, other than the Noro, I didn't stray from my wish list too much. I also renewed my IK subscription while I was there. I had a great time though it really was overwhelming and I don't feel like I saw everything. I wish I had time to go back on Sunday. But I guess it's better for my wallet that I didn't! Stitches has a totally different feel than MS&W. It felt much more commercial. And it was definitely all about the shopping. MS&W had more of a community feel to it. But Stitches was good fun nonetheless.

In other knitting news...

I finished one Pembrokeshire Pathways sock
Pembrokshire Pathways sock

side view

There are mistakes, but overall, I think it came out well. The second one is going to be awhile in the making as I am now onto Christmas knits. Hopefully it will not languish as long as the Pomatomus socks have!

I also finished this
Reynolds Smile scarf

It's a simple 2X2 rib in Reynold's Smile. I have been wearing it nonstop since its completion!

And finally... How cool is this...

I got an email this morning from the director of marketing for the national tour of "Altar Boyz." Seems they did a search for Maryland theatre bloggers and found me. They offered me two FREE tickets to see the show at the Hippodrome in Baltimore!!! Yahooo! I'm going on Sunday! Earlier in the week, they sent me an email offering discounted tickets at $26. If you are at all interested in the discount, shoot me an email and I will forward it to you.

GO VOTE!

8 Comments:

Blogger gray la gran said...

pretty socks and a good time all around! i wish i could had gone to stitches, but ... i couldn't !
good company and loads of yarn ... what more could you ask for?!

7:53 PM  
Blogger brsmaryland said...

I was looking for Hand Maiden yarn but wasn't very successful. Good for you for your finds!
I enjoyed the whole Stitches event - I took a couple classes as well as shopped - but yes, it felt very different from Sheep and Wool. Not as organic and catering to a higher-end clientele. We're pretty lucky in this area to have so many fiber options.
And, your scarf looks even prettier in person!

10:29 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Sea silk is wonderful! When I went to Stitches Midwest it was the first thing I bought.

Entrelac with trekking is really pretty too. I'm doing a scarf with it on 2s - it will take a while but it's worth it.

11:33 PM  
Blogger KT said...

1. Yay yarn shopping, and you got some gorgeous stuff!

2. You and socks - 'nuf said. I'm jealous =)

3. Entrelac is easy, no need to put it off.

4. PLEASE tell me what you think of Altar Boyz! I haven't heard anything about it out here yet, other than it exists! Congrats on getting the free ride, and if I was on your coast, I'd hit you up for the discount! =)

4:20 AM  
Blogger Diane Doran said...

Wow, where was I when you guys found the Sea Silk? Thanks for letting me tag along. I continue to love the scarf.

9:27 AM  
Blogger Stacey said...

I love the Tess you got! That and the Trekking are great man colors too....may need more Tess at MD! (between Lolly, you and I she'll be sold out!)

The PP socks look great - I will have to try that pattern eventually....

It was so great to see you!!!!!!!!

11:27 AM  
Blogger Jenna said...

I'm glad I got to see you again for a few short moments. Your haul looks very reasonable and all beautiful. Do you have plans for the Seasilk?
both pairs of socks look fab! I love the slight variegation in the Hederas and the tow on the PP. Makes me wants to start some fun patterned ones...

2:53 PM  
Blogger The Follow Spot said...

Very nice - Your pictures are very nicely done, beautiful. I am excited to start visiting your site and see your creations!!!

2:56 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home