Stitches Shopping

My first Stitches was an experience. It was my first knitting-related large-scale event and I really liked it, for the most part.

The coolest part was seeing all the knitters in, what my friend L termed, their yarn bling. I saw several clapotis, some of the capelets from Shawl Style, lots of lace, some amazing sweaters, hats, scarves and mits. I wanted to ask every person about their creation, but I didn't. If I had, I wouldn't have had time to shop!

And shop I did on Saturday and, briefly, on Sunday.

Sat. afternoon, I met L for shopping. I did pretty good. I made a list of things I was looking for, which helped me focus. I was really overwhelmed at first. It was crowded and I was sort of wandering aimlessly. As the afternoon progressed, the crowd thinned. After reading the reports of Maryland Sheep and Wool, I had imagined mad rushes for the bins and yarn being fought over. But it was very civil. My main issue was getting blocked in some of the booths.

All my loot in a tote.



So, first on my list was to get yarn for manly socks for G. I couldn't decide between two skeins of Mama E's hand dyed stuff, so I got them both. G picked the blue one for his socks.



I found three cool patterns in Rosie' Yarn Cellar's booth and got this pink laceweight merino. It is called "bubblegum." I love it. It's for lace wrap for me. Probably.



Then, I had to have this Noro Blossom from the Woolstock sale bin. It is my first Noro. I normally find the Noro yarn to be too scratchy. The colors are amazing, but I like soft yarn. But this Blossom is a blend of wool, mohair, silk and nylon and and it is soft. I am picturing a shawl. Do I make anything other than shawls? I feel like I can't get enough. :)



And I got this free ball during my class coffee break.



So, Saturday was great. I talked to some lovely women, bought some great stuff and had fun shopping w/ L. I bought more, but don't have time to upload now. Plus I took two classes. I'll talk about those and post about the rest of my purchases next week after we get back from a short trip to Connecticut.

Looks like I need to ask for a yarn swift and ball winder for Christmas ...