Friday, February 27, 2009

So Far, So Very Good

Stitches West is in full swing. I spent Thursday evening at the preview and today I worked a few hours in the Fiber Fiend booth and walked the floor for another few hours. I'm going back tomorrow with my father and stepmother who are in town and think they want to brave the Saturday crowds. Silly people.

I had 3 goals for Stitches this year:

Goal 1: find one sweater's-worth of a yarn that was unusual, special and still affordable. A slightly decadent treat but not so high-end that it broke the bank.

Goal 2: a shawl pin from Romi.

Goal 3: find a fiber to spin into a sweater. Like the yarn, it has to be beautiful yet moderately priced.

I think I have done pretty well so far:

Brooks Farms Mas Acero - enough for a sweater. Goal 1 - check.


A mill end from Blue Moon Fiber Arts - for some plain ol' Vanilla socks. I figure the colors alone will make the sock plenty interesting. Bonus purchase #1.


I knew I could count on Lisa Souza to have something beautiful to try out. She's doing something new - batts. This is a chocolate brown with slivers of tencel through it. Bonus #2. The color is more accurate in this first picture:


but the second picture gives an idea of the effect of the tencel:



I found a shawl pin by Romi (goal 2 - check):


I also found some roving (Jasmin says this is Ashland Bay Merino) for a handspun, handknit sweater (goal 3 - check!):


Then Sandi (my spinning Sensei) suggested I stop by the Redfish Dyeworks booth where I fell madly in love with bonus purchase #3 - this:

It's a camel/silk blend and the softest stuff evar. It practically glows:

And I love the colors. They're me. In fact - I'm starting to see a trend:


So I reached my 3 goals and I bought 3 extra items - the sock yarn and the 2 different fibers. I still have some cash left. I'm definitely spending more time there but at this point I'm hoping more to run into some lovely friends than I am to find more things to buy. I may pick up something else I didn't spot my first two visits, but there's an equal chance I'll stick with what I already have - I'm feeling pretty flush with beautiful fibery things right now.

If you're planning to be at Stitches on Saturday look for me!

12 comments:

Cari said...

Have a great time! Hug Rachael for me if you see her.

Big Alice said...

Ahhhh, lucky you. Gorgeous yarn! (yes, and fiber too!)

Cookie said...

Woo Hoo!

You're doing a great job!

Unknown said...

Sorry I missed you today! But bravo on accomplishing your Stitches goals!

Alison said...

Looks like a good haul. I see the handspun sweater took a different turn - but I like the colours.

~Donna~ said...

I went with AmpuT and a few of her friends...but we didn't see you on Saturday!!! WAH. But I found some great stuff and even dropped off some more Pink Ribbon goodies to the Yarn Dog booth.

Sorry we missed you... :( :( :( But there were so many folks there on Saturday...

And now my wooly sensitivities have kicked in...I'll be recovering for a week...sigh.

Tiny Tyrant said...

WEll I kept seeing Jasmine. Who could miss that great hair and I WANT that lime green sweater she had on.

But I don't know her well enough to have gotten past my shyness to ask her where you might have been hiding.

Yeah I suck.

Romi said...

I'm bummed I missed you!! Maybe next year? Or the next time the Harlot comes out? ;)

Zardra said...

Weren't Lisa's batts pretty. I ending up buying the blue BFL/merino batts -- I saw them Fri and they were the only ones left late Sat afternoon, had to take them home cause they were lonely. :)

I also got some of the camel/silk fiber from Redfish, and it is just gorgeous. What's funny is the color you have looks a lot like the batch I got. :D

Toni said...

Wow---what great stuff!!!! I'm impressed that you only have 3 bonus purchases! I would probably be on the phone getting bids for a kidney or something by now....

Anonymous said...

Are you saying the brown batts (which look pretty much black on my monitor) are the same as the creamy couloured second picture? or is the second picture cream coloured wool with tencil in it? I don't want to believe photos lie That Much.

Gorgeous haul. Congradulations for self-control.

Leah

MsAmpuTeeHee said...

I was so bummed to have missed you at Stitches! Thank you for counting me amongst your lovely friends :-) *hugs* Next time we need to remember to use technology and text each other what freakin' aisle we are on or something! Gah! XO