I should preface this entire post, it should have gone up sooner then it is. However getting pictures at night without proper lighting and not having enough natural light with all of the rainy and cloudy weather we had, made it difficult. I processed some of the pictures, got them ready for the post and today there was a small window of light, so I grabbed the camera, tripod, and set up. I am much happier with the results.
The Olympics are over, to be honest I didn’t watch any of it. I know I should have watched at least a little bit of it, but honestly I didn’t have that much time to do much of anything fun. My Ravellenic project was a failure, nothing wrong with the project, it was all me. I had a fall on my triple axel while trying to do so many time consuming things all at once. I was able to make some more progress by knitting while taking public transit to and from school, but not enough. I was able to complete the body up to the underarms getting ready to knit the sleeves and attach them to complete the body. I started the first sleeve last monday, got it up to the underarm on thursday. I proceeded with the next sleeve that I started on thursday, finished friday. From then till now I attached the sleeves to the body and have knitted the in all one piece sleeve caps. Currently I’m working on the sleeve decreases. I am worrying now if I will have enough yarn. I wound up the last two balls last night, not sure if I’ll have enough for collar and pockets, but I guess I’ll just have to see.
Warning, this next section is filled with lots of fiber and yarn photography due to a Stitches West recap, you have been warned.
On Friday, 2-20-14, I got to spend the day at Stitches West and I had such a good time. I got there before the market opened, making sure I could get in and get everything that I wanted for me and for a friend I was buying for who couldn’t go. I had everything mapped put, where to go first and how to proceed after that. The strategy that I followed seemed to work very well. I knew I had to hit Cephalopod first and I picked up 2 lovely skeins of Skinny Bugga in colors Rose Weevil and Flash Art Butterfly:
She is an amazing dyer, but also super fun to be around, I enjoyed talking to her, the little bit that I did. I think that these two skeins will be a design or two, I’m not sure yet, but I think it’ll be so soft and pretty once it’s done.
Then I dashed over to Canon Hand Dyes and picked up 2 skeins of her self striping sock yarn with matching heels and toe skeins, in color ways Days of Wine and Roses, and “We’re all mad here”:
Amy is so sweet, I got to chat with her at Stitches and at Interweave Knit Lab last year. Her yarns are well worth the price, they are stunning. I think she sold out faster then she anticipated.
Abstract Fiber was next on the list, not just for her gorgeous yarns and fibers, but to see Drogue again. I was very pleased how it came out in Alto. And I picked up 3 skeins of her SuperSock (colorways: Chartreuse, huckleberry, Knitmore) and 2, 4oz of fiber (mixed merino and silk base, colorways: Laurelhurst, Shady Glade):
Susan is amazing, her colors are always gorgeous, her yarn and fiber is always great, and she is so much fun to be around. Hopefully I’ll be able to design more with her yarn in the future.
A friend of mine knit a pair of socks with Shalimar Yarns in the base Breathless and it truly takes your breath away with how soft it is. I knew as soon as I saw them on the vender list I had to go get a skein and a skein I got. I got to her booth and was looking at all of her colors, but I didn’t see the 4-Leaf Clover kind of color I was thinking of getting. But I did get a gorgeous skein of her Breathless (it’s so soft it does take your breath away) in color Sprout:
Miss Babs is a must, I didn’t even look at the fiber (I still have those 3 from December), I found 3 skeins of sock yarn that I fell in love with. Of course they are all Babettes. I can blame my friend I was buying for since she couldn’t be there (she specifically requested Zombie Prom) and I had to get one of the same colors. I picked up 2 skeins in Cosmic, colorways Zombie Reunion and Bat***Crazy, and one skein in Yummy, colorway Zombie Prom (I couldn’t resist getting one for me too).
I always go to Lisa Souza’s booth every year and get something, her yarns and fibers are well dyed, extremely well priced, and her and her husband are super sweet. It’s a tradition of mine to go by her booth and pick up something. I picked up 2 skeins of her Hardtwist Petite in Amazonia and Portsmouth (I think I’ll send one of these to my friend, even though I want to keep both), and a braid of her Zen Top (Merino, Tussah Silk, and Bamboo) in colorway Flahriduh.
In November I was introduced to Greenwood Fiber and promptly followed them on Etsy. She is extremely sweet, very nice, and she has amazing fibers. We chatted for a minute about spinning and she had her Hansen Crafts e-spinner with her, I was in awe and slight bit jealous. I couldn’t pass on the sock fiber, so I picked up 3, 4oz braids in Cider House, Shades of Turquoise, and Earthen Hues.
Redfish is something to not pass on, the owners are so nice and funny, not to mention their yarns and fibers are beautiful. There is just something that she does to her yarn and fiber that make it glow and shine, it’s hard to describe. Last year I didn’t see that they had fiber for sale, so this year I made sure to get myself at least one braid from them. I came home with 2 braids. One in her Merino, Yarn, and Silk base in Earth Tones, and one in Silk and Superfine Merino, in a color that can only be described as Emerald City. If you’re not sure of the reference then you need to promptly watch Wizard of Oz and then find a showing of Wicked. The silk and merino just shines brilliantly, I really want to spin this next.
At this point it was time to take a break, sit down, and eat something. I got to spend lunch with Bear-Ears, the talented designer behind Cellestarium and Lit Knits.
After lunch I was trying to be good, I had already gotten more then I anticipated getting. I was very happy with everything that I had purchased. I knew that there was going to be a lot of amazing things tempting me but I was resolute in being strong. I saw some really amazing merino fiber in this vibrant, neon green, but I resisted. Then my downfall was near, Verdant Griffin, I knew I liked her stuff, I knew it would be hard to resisit. I tried for a solid 5 minutes to not buy anything, but when Bear-Ears went outside the booth to talk to a fan and I was left alone with the last skein of a color, I knew I was doomed. I had to find a second color in order to get it, since I knew it was going to have to be a design of mine. The color was just too good to pass up and then I found a match for it, I was doomed. In her base of Eidos, colorways Anubus and Epistemen.
I went back to the neon fiber and got that. It’s from Shaky K Fibers in some Superfine merino, color Electric Green.
I kept walking around not trying not to purchase anything else. I fell once more time, this time at Dyed in the Wool. I saw some of their yarn through Bear-Ears again with her pattern she did for them. I knew it was gorgeous, I knew I would like it, I was being good. Until I found a color that reminded me of a yarn color I really liked that I used up and couldn’t get anymore. It is the color of Persian rugs, so stunning. The color is Shades of Earth, I want to design something with these, but not sure what just yet.
Once I laid all of the yarn and fiber I purchased on my LYS’s table I knew I went a little nuts. I would have to start knitting up a storm and reorganize the stash to get any of it to fit. I’m not sorry I got all of it because all of it is lovely, I just wish I was a little more restrained. But you know what, I have lots of new yarn for lots of new designs, so I’m OK with that. And how could I pass up on some of them, like Zombie Prom or Bat***crazy, the Verdant griffin, the list goes on and on. I’m not sure what the next design will be, but I think it will be something from stitches.
Speaking of designs I have one that I just need to finish the designing of the border, write up, test knit, and find a model that can rock this vibrant orange I chose. More to come on that.