Stitches Pics (or Sorry, my camera battery died...)

Whew!!! Stitches was amazing! I had so much fun with Mom and running around seeing all my Peeps! (OK, so I'm not the type of girl to say "Peeps" but, well, you know...)

I SHOPPED, I gawked and I talked A LOT!


I thought I went shopping bananas but in the end I really didn't. Mom, on the other hand, was a shoping maniac! She reminded me of my first visit to Stitches last year with Kara. (Kara bought a "Fixer-Upper" house, BTW, and has since gone MIA).

First things first we hit the Socks That Rock Booth. I must say: WOW!

From Left to right in Mediumweight: Smoky Topaz, Celestine, Thistle, Falcon's Eye & Rock My World. Then in Lightweight on the right: Yosemite and Mist. Above: Sock Candy (96% cotton, 4% elite) in Kabuki.

Next we went to Tess Designer Yarns. I wanted to get some more 50/50 Silk Merino in this beautiful dark grey color but she didn't have enough and unlike Lynae I was not prepared to order $210 worth of yarn right then and there. SO, Mom bought some really yummy Seabreeze Silk and Merino. It's the same color I bought last year and it's going to look lovely on her. (You can see it in the total stash pic above. It's in the botton left corner.)



Third we went to Brooks' Farm. Soooo Beautiful! Above is what I got in Harmony. I still haven't used the Brooks Farm I bought last year, but I'm holding on to it for the perfect project. I love Brooks Farm because they're NOT cheap with their Yardage. 500 yards per hank at $34 for silk, mohair and merino. That's cool.


Next Stash enhancing visit was to the Book Booth (I think it was Village Spinning & Weaving but I always remember it as the book booth).

Here I got EZ's Knitting Workshop book that I have been coveting for a while and some beautiful Superwash Sock Yarn in this yummy Grass Green. I must admit that I picked it up because I've been envying Alyssa's Shamrock Socks since she made them last month. This generous hank has 582.4 yards (it's sold by weight and it's 1/2 lb). I'm hoping, depending on the gauge, to make some Loooong Knee high socks to wear with winter boots.



Finally (for me at least) we went to the Webs Booth. How amazing was that? I got to touch a lot of their Valley Yarns (really soft and lovely), I met the girl on the cover of their catalog (she works there and helped me find something) and bought some Tahki Ghost print that I've been oogling for a specific sweater for along time.

Now. Here's the dilemma. I'm not a little person and I got this faboo SUPER BULKY yarn. But I absolutely LOVE it. It's Tahki Ghost Print in a yummy colorway that I like to call Watermelon cause it's pale beige/green and pink.

There was a pattern in VK in Winter 2004 (It's the blue and sand colored one). It would be nice if I looked like that when it was finished, but then there's that whole reality thing. That being said, of course I'm going to alter it to be a cap-sleeve sweater and a little bigger than the pattern in the book.

I had to ask everyone's opinion about whether a big girl should make a big knit and Lynae finally convinced me by saying "If it makes you look like a house, you can always make it your "at home" sweater for the winter." SOLD!!

I lurve this yarn......

The guy at the Webs Booth was wonderful, too. I didn't know exactly how many balls I would need to make the sweater I wanted and he called the shop at 5:00 and asked one of the women to go look for the VK magazine for me. They couldn't find it in the store so he ran over to the Book Booth an looked for it, too. It wasn't at the book booth but the girl in the shop found it online. They really went above and beyond the call of duty and helped me to get what I need. Thanks WEBS!

So I came home and Swatched for the Sweater. Yes, Alyssa & Josie, I washed AND blocked it (you can see proof in the Summary Stash pic above). My gauge was exactly what it needed to be (2 needle sizes smaller than usual of course, but that's still on US 10's I NEVER get to use 10s). So I'm working on editing the pattern, but I figured out that I will definitely have enough yarn and I've got some of the schematics worked out. So, last night I cast on for the yummy sweater and later I will get you a pic of my progress.

Finally-Finally we stopped at Moving Mudd buttons. I picked up a lovely glass button with a pink center that is going to look great with the Bulky Sweater.

Overall, we had a wonderful time at Stitches Marktet and, like Claire, because this was my second trip to Stitches I already have all the knitting accoutrements that I need so I was able to concentrate on YARN and only yarn that I can't get at my LYS.

I hope you all enjoyed this little trip down Jen's Shopping Spree Lane.

Tomorrow: Mom's Purchases (which she left at my house to ship back to her in Houston what with the crazy airplane situation lately)

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GROUP Night is tonight!! If you want to see the newly acquired yarny goodness in person, feel free to join us at:

Border's Books & Music at Lake and Skokie Blvd. in Wilmette, IL from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. in the Cafe'