Monday, February 27, 2017

Stitches West 2017 recap...

...it was a blast!

Thursday:
  • The opening day Spotlight talk by Franklin Habit was even better that I thought it would be. He is an engaging and humorous speaker. 
  • The Teacher a la Carte luncheon was fun and the meal was very good. (Any meal that ends with flan for dessert is a winner as far as I'm concerned!)  One of my former neighbors sat at our table and we were able to catch up a bit. We see each other once a year at Stitches, so it's something to look forward to.
  • Market Preview was a whirlwind. First, I turned in 5 hats to Halos of Hope,then it was shopping! I didn't have a specific project in mind, so I just visited the booths that I knew would have stuff I liked (Hello, Greenwood Fiberworks!). I had a few tools on my list, like the Sock Ruler., that I wanted to check out.
Friday:
  • The Dye Your Own Yarn class was very interesting. We learned about different methods to apply the yarn and how that affects the knitting. Playing with the dye was both intimidating and fun. I used a yellow that I'm not fond of, but for a first attempt it turned out OK.
  • While we waited for everyone to for their turn dying, I worked on the latest hat for Halos of Hope. I use two circulars for hats, in this case 2 Knitters Pride circulars. And one broke! Arg! Someone suggested to go to the Webs booth and see if they knew how to get it replaced.  That seemed like a reasonable idea especially since I'd bought the needles from Webs at last year's Stitches West.
  • After class, my friend Loretta and I hit the market and rapidly decided that we needed lunch! We got some drinks and got some fuel in our bodies.
  • We were supposed to meet her friend at the front of the market at 12:30. After waiting for 15 minutes. Loretta sent me to the market with the plan that we'd try to catch up later.

    We never caught up, but I was able to exchange my broken circular at Webs. I love their customer service!
  • When I got home in the afternoon, I decided to stay in Stitches mode. I created new Ravelry record for my purchases and took photos of the items. I ran out of steam about then and decided to work on the Camo baby sweater [Ravelry] and maybe take a nap!
Saturday:
  • I went back to the Market with a plan to concentrate on indie dyers and to make my second run at Greenwood Fiberworks. I bought a couple of tools that I had been eyeing (a thread twister) and bought the yarn for a shawl that I couldn't get out of my head--Gray Area by Casapinka [Ravelry] using Invictus Yarns. I also jotted down the names of two other shawls that I liked.
  • When I got home, I repeated the process from the day before -- create records in Ravelry and take photos of everything.
Sunday:
  • I decided that I'd bought more that enough (LOL!) and stayed home. I spent several hours processing photos and getting them uploaded to Flickr. 
  • I watched the Oscars while I knit.
  • I finished the Camo baby sweater [Ravelry] and picked the two buttons I will use. I still need to sew them on, but that will take about 5 minutes. I'm calling it done.
  • I also finished the Macaw Hat [Ravelry]. I think I'm done with hats for a while!
Here's a collage of my Stitches West purchases:

Stitches West 20171 collage

R1: Earthen Hues camel-silk by Greenwood Fiberworks; Grapevine Alpaca-silk by Greenwood Fiberworks; Contempo merino-tencel by Greenwood Fiberworks; Crocus merino-silk by Greenwood Fiberworks; Enchanted camel-silk by Greenwood Fiberworks;
R2: Cappuccino camel-silk by Greenwood Fiberworks; Sunset merino-bamboo-silk by Greenwood Fiberworks; Spice Market Glitter Roving by Greenwood Fiberworks; Color 142 merino-tencel by Shirsty Cat; Pink Alpaca Blend by Ranch of the Oaks;
R3: Under the Sea bamboo-silk by Huckleberry Knits ; Charred Beyond yarn and Teals Beyond Minis by Invictus Yarns; Wild Berries Serenity yarn by Stunning String Studio; Hawaii Simple Sock Bundle by Greenwood Fiberworks;
R4: Raven's Wing Color Shift / Meridian Gradient Set and Radient Gradient (Boomerang) pattern from Seven Sisters Arts ; Color 1447 Geek yarn by Zombie Yarns; Stitch Marker Bracelet from Michelle's Assortment; Shawl pin with Abalone from Michelle's Assortment; Gold locking stitch markers from Stunning String Studio
R5: Sheep needle minder from A Needle Runs Through It; Felted Dryer Balls from Ranch of the Oaks; Sock Ruler from Invictus Yarns; Handy Thread Twister, purple Chibi, and tape measure from Clover; "for the zen of it" t-shirt by knitbaahpurl.

No comments:

WIP-it Wednesday...

...a little of this, a little of that.  No photos this week. Things look pretty much the same. WIPs Roll Call Worked On: Dreaming ...