Stitches Midwest 2014

I’ve been so busy with my daughters birthday, going back to school and cheerleading that I’ve only now just taken a picture… heck there is even a project on the needles because I’ve cast on something already.

(L to R) Black Wolf Ranch Alpaca Merino blend, Erin Lane bucket bag, Huntington in 3 colors, I won the Sterling Silver shawl pin as a door prize, Aussi Wool (navy blue - 5 skeins for sweater for my daughter), Brooklyn Tweed Shelter in 2 colors, Brooklyn Tweed Loft in 3 colors, Fringe Supply Co stitch markers, Signature Needle, Woolpierogi rolags, Erin Lane bag and 2 of the Freia gradients… one is already on the needles;)

Most of what you see in the middle will be going into the 'Design Pile'.... which makes me super happy because the Brooklyn Tweed yarns are just so beautiful. I wanted to buy them all, but alas that wasn't possible. sigh.

There was so much to look forward to at this years Stitches. I was very pleased with the amount of new vendors and ridiculously awesome Indy Dyers there.

Stitches 2013

Another year, another Stitches. Specifically another Stitches Midwest.



The haul that I brought home is sooooo full of goodies, that it just makes me smile. I did notice that I heavy on the Green this year and how can you not fall in love with these precious gems.

Major highlights: 6 skeins of Madelinetosh Pashmina in the Forestry colorway from the Webs booth, 8 skeins of Glenfiddich Wool in the Spruce Heather colorway, Another Crafty Girl, Miss Babs, 2 lace silky baby camel skeins from Cephalopod Yarns, buttons, beads, blocking mats, signature needle, Cloud Lover fiber, 10 skeins of Silky Wool in brown and Erin Lane bags.

 I'm having such a great time playing with all my goodies. What a great weekend, full of friends, fiber and food.

Stitches Midwest 2012 Haul

Just some goodies I picked up while at Stitches Midwest.



Do you think I like lime green? Not at all;)

Left to Right: 10 skeins Cascaded Pure Alpaca, the Beekeepers Quilt pattern... because I believe in torturing myself with mini skeins for another 4 years, 1 Skein of Three Irish Girls, 1 purple skein of Pure Alpaca (won this at the pajama party!), Erin Lane large bag, 1 size 3 Signature needle, 1 cone of Vally Yarns Alpaca Silk, a sweater stone, Color Affection shawl pattern, Miss Babs Color Affection Kit in Yet which is a lace weight.

All yummy goodies! And then guess what? Do you know what else I saw...

My pattern (Tourbillon) in the "wild" at the Plucky Knitters booth.

Going For Gold

When last we left off I was showing you the blanket and it looked something like this:




It then grew...




And grew a little bit more...



And it kept growing and growing...




And then when all the pieces were laid out it looked like this:



And then came the seaming. Oh the seaming... and then what happened? It turned into one of the most amazing knits I've ever accomplished.



Its permanent home is now The Knit Zone. Just makes you want to curl up on loveseat and catch a few zzz's huh?

Just to give you an idea of how many hours this undertaking took...I've calculated the time.
It look me roughly 101 hours to completely finish this project. Knitting on the train to work and back. Knitting and seaming during lunch breaks. Then once home I would make dinner and knit from 7pm-12 if not till 1am. Get up and do it all over again. Labor or love is and understatement. I then wore it all day Sunday at Stitches Midwest. It was like a badge of honor to wear that sucker. It was my flag. My Olympics. And I won Gold.

Falling Down at the Kauni Booth

We arrived at Stitches Midwest early Friday morning and were able to get checked-in first thing. We then made our way down to the market for which I had no plans besides buying buttons for a particular project. Discovering that the Ruhama's booth had Kauni yarn was just magical.

Yeah, it's crunchy yarn, but I kinda dig it. It's rustic and the colors, OH-MY-GOD, the colors!! So when I saw the Oakland Shawl hanging as a display I knew that I had Fallen and fallen hard.



The one that smacked me silly was the golden brown orange yummy one. I was then hitting a brick wall. What other color to mix it with. That is when a lovey lady attending the booth came over and helped me. She showed me this trick to seeing visually if the colors would give me the look I wanted. They have sample swatches that show off the full spectrum of colors. It's a little hard to see all the depth these balls have. You take the sample strip and start twisting it with another sample. Before long your seeing the magic happen. The colors blend and pop and BAM. You've then picked your next color and are heading to the check out.



I was so excited to get going on this project that when I made my way by the Signature booth it sealed the deal. I cast-on that afternoon and was happy to bring something pretty easy to the Pajama Party that night in the hotel lobby.

Side note: Vodka Fresca's in pineapple and coconut drinking glasses is killer fun!

Stitches 2010

Where do I even begin?

I suppose showing you the loot might give you some insight.



It doesn't look like much, but I didn't intend on buy much this weekend. It was more about being in the moment verses seeing my wallet burst into flames.

What you see (starting in the top middle) with the Knit Happy mug and Shepherds Wool from the Knitting Today booth. I picked up the travelers mug last year and wanted to add to my collection. The Shepherds wool will be for the Thermis neck-warmer pattern.

Next in the pile is the KnitWhits Mini Yarn Skeins, Opal mini Harry Potter skeins from the Sit 'n Knit booth and a hand full of Holiday Yarns bits. These are all going towards my leftover yarn blanket. It was fun finding all these little bits through out the market.

The remaining items are where I fell down hard, but I liked it. The Ruhama's booth was carrying Kauni, which is a very unique yarn that produces amazing color. You might have seen this sweater done by the Yarn Harlot. Stunning really. Well, I fell in love with the Oakland Shawl pattern you see in the middle of the photo buried under the goodies. I wanted to cast-on so bad that I bought a Signature circular needle to start my project right there!! Oh those needles are so awesome.

So? How many more days until Stitches 2011??

Stitches Midwest 2009

Here is a picture of my LOOT from the fabulous Stitches Midwest weekend getaway!

From bottom Left to Right: Buffalo Gold in "Earth" with pattern, Knit Happy mugs and the green/orange Zealana Kauri yarn (merino, possum and silk blend) from the The Knitting Today booth, an African hand basket (can't remember the name of the booth), Aussi Wool is Russet color, Catalina in the blue, Sunday Knits Nirvana in the cedar colorway and last but not least the New Style of Heirloom Knitting

I love each and every purchase and even with less vendors this year then in years past. I didn't find that there wasn't anything to see.

My Saturday afternoon class Dotty Knits was taught by Suzann Thompson. Go to her blog and just gaze at this lovely Rug she had with her for all the class to see. The name "dotty" comes from the added dots used in the mosaic color work. It was a very fun class and I had a blast. It was indeed inspiring and I'm hoping I can use this for all those creative projects brewing in my brain.



Here are the sample swatches we worked up in class. The heart to the right was the first sample we started with and to the left is a leaf which also has an added intarsia color worked in.

Early on Sunday was my next class in Where Did You Get Those Numbers by Edie Eckman. It wasn't until she held up her book in class that I finally figured out who she was. This was Edie Eckman. Wow. Now, normally I wouldn't mind a math class, but people it was SUNDAY.... MORNING.... AT 8:30!! But once I had the intervenes caffeine drip put in I was golden.

The math never went over 4th grade level and is completely doable and I highly recommend this for new and not so new knitters because she discusses all those mysterious issues, like gauge and yarn substitutions.

I think overall the best part was hanging out with all my friends. Chatting about what we each bought and just being amongst our peeps.