Stitches West 2008: Part I

I will warn you this post is long the yarn pictures are towards the end.

First off, I was so excited to be going to Stitches West with ItShe. I was even more excited when Big A said that I could go and take some classes (super wonderful husband, that man deserves a sweater). So ItShe and I decided on some classes (more on that later) did our homework, packed our bags and headed to the airport at 4:45 am, yes before the sun rises.

We got to the airport (it was still dark) and through security without incident (not unlike Hawaii), and sat at the gate until they called our flight and our seating order-thingy (gotta love Southwest). Our flight was maybe 1/3 full so everyone could have an entire isle to themselves, we taxied for what seemed forever, I swear we were in Orange County before we took off. Finally the plane took off and we landed in San Jose about an hour and a half later.

I had done some research before and figured out that we could take the bus and light rail to get to our hotel. It cost us $1.75 so we didn't have to rent a car or pay for a $25 cab ride (more money for yarn). We got to our hotel and checked in at 9:15. We stayed at the Hyatt Regency Santa Clara, it was a very nice hotel but the best part was that it was attached to the convention center. We dropped our bags and went to the Opening Ceremony program. The program was all about socks (one of our favorite things!) Cat Bordi, Lucy Neatby and Sandi Rosner all spoke. It was very interesting, Cat talked about her new architectures and how they differ from all other socks. Lucy talked about her first very cool and colorful sock and how she thinks about color. And Sandi talked about an entralac technique with self-striping sock yarn.

Then we had a luncheon, the food was actually good for hotel food (hummus and pita, Greek chicken skewers and a very good multi-grain rice nut mixture). Then off to our first class Don't Fear Lace with Debbie Radtke. The first part of class was how to read a chart, which we knew, but she went over an edging technique that was very nice and useful. It was very helpful for me to see the technique in person. When it comes to knitting I do much better if I can see it in motion.

Class ended at 4:30, then it was off to the Ravelry party. It was so cool to finally find some knitters our age that didn't have a tapestry bag with cats on it (not that there is anything wrong with it). We stayed there for a bit (it was super cool to see Casey and Jess) and then back up to the room to drop off stuff and get "ready to rumble" I mean shop. The market opened at 7 and we had 3 hours to shop.

ItShe and I knew that we wanted something to eat so we decided to grab some sushi to go so we could stand in line for the Market. Let's just say the sushi was good, it wasn't super expensive but it took forever considering that not one piece of it had to be cooked (over 40 mins of waiting). Once we got our food it was off to stand in line behind 150 people that were already there. While we waited in line the group in front of us started to chat with us. They were from the OC and we got to chatting but we were interrupted by the Market opening.

Now I knew I wanted all the Ravelry swag a girl could ask for, and I also knew that I wanted a Passport, they were only giving out a certain number per day and I wanted one. So that's the first booth I hit, I grab ItShe and I a passport and then bought a bag, a Bob head pin (I LOVE IT!). Here is a picture

Here is the picture of my Ravelry Passport and Bob Sticker

After the Ravelry bag was secured and Passport in hand we went shopping. It might have been the best fiber shopping opportunity that I have EVER had! There were over 250 vendors there there were a lot of things to see but I never felt overwhelmed just underfunded (hahaha). ItShe had a great idea of only getting things that we couldn't get on line or could never find (that ItShe is so smart) or just had to have. We also thought that doing most of the shopping Thursday night when there was far less people there was the way to go (and it was). So with map in hand we were off shopping.

We weren't allowed to bring cameras into the Market (sorry no pictures) but here is what I bought on Thursday night.

First up the bag I have had my eyes on for some time, it's the Knitter's Satchel by Jordana Paige, I bought her very first black bag she offered (at the time it was the only one) and I loved it and have been looking for another one of her bags since. I really like that snap closure and the pockets and all the stuff I can put in it.



Second Interlacements Tiny Toes, the same people that make Toasty Toes:

Third Shibui sock yarn 100% super soft merino in color Jewel which the website describes as Mulberry, Wisteria, Emerald and Wasabi (love the wasabi!).


Fourth KnitWhits Jewel Sock Kit, love the way this sock looks, and the yarn in the kit is Louet (which I love) I need to take a Fairisle class before I start this kit. The lady who owns KnitWhits was at the booth she was very nice and all her designs were wonderful. ItShe got a couple of things from there too, check them out.
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Fifth is some Claudia Handpainted fingering in Midnight. I kept seeing this yarn and picking it up over and over again, I must have picked it up at least 5 times and the price was good so I bought it.


Sixth Brooks Farms Primero which is 100% Kid Mohair, love it, so soft and very cool colorway (which I have no idea what it is, it wasn't on the label and there were only two skeins).


That was the shopping that we did in 2 hours and 55 mins (we had 5 mins to spare) not bad huh? After the market ItShe and I needed a glass of wine and some late night snacks (calamari and a crab cake). We were hanging out in the hotel lobby and the OC crew that we had met earlier was there too. So we hung out and chatted with them and knitted and drank until about 12:30, and then headed up to bed.

Presents from ItShe

I know I have a ton of posting to do from Stitches but I first wanted to make sure that I posted some pictures of the wonderful Christmas presents and birthday present that I got from ItShe. They are so wonderful that they deserve a post of their own.

I got this book and I can't wait to make some of them, the designs are so me (if you don't know what the designs are you should go and look on Amazon) and I can't wait to get a stitching.

The second thing is this wonderful yarn that she got me for Christmas it's wonderful and soft and it's part wool and part . . . possum and merino. Pretty cool huh? And the color is great.

The last Christmas present that ItShe made for me was very proper tea cozy she used a melon stitch and made out of a tweedy maroon yarn. Very proper indeed, and to go along with my tea cozy a Brown Betty tea pot. It's one of the best gifts ever!

For my birthday present ItShe made me a wonderfully warm and beautiful handmade blanket. See I love it! As a matter of fact I'm sitting on my couch right now snuggled up in it writing this post. It's my go-to blanket! Thank you so much ItShe!!!

My Mom's Sercret Gift

I'm working on a Tuscany Shawl for my Mom. Lace and I had a very difficult beginning, I attempted to knit a very complicated piece of lace very early in my knitting career. It was too much too soon and I didn't know how to correct my mistakes without ripping the entire project (so very frustrating and tear-inducing). So needless to say I have gathered a few more knitting skills and decided that I would give it another try. I knew that I wanted to start with something easy that had a purl row between every lace row. I found just that in Amy Singer's No Sheep for You book, which ItShe gave me as a birthday present last year.

The pattern is straight forward and since you add a stitch on each side every row progress is made every row (which is nice). Here is a picture of the lace pattern up close:

Here is a picture of the shawl at 5 1/2 repeats (I have about 8 1/2 done right now)

I decided to knit this with Handmaiden Sea Silk (not the Silken that was called for in the pattern) in color Capri and I'm knitting this on Addi Turbo Lace Needles size 5 in a 32" length.

There is progress being made in my knitting and school work (which is good).

Rockin' Sock Club First Installment

WARNING THERE ARE PICTURES OF THE 1st INSTALLMENT OF THE ROCKIN' SOCK CLUB FOR 2008.




My very first Rockin' Sock Club installment has arrived and I must say I love it! I have a passion for the color red and after reading that Tina was overexposed to red as a child (and as a result doesn't really love it, hence the reason there isn't a lot of just red colorways in Blue Moon yarn) I'm even more excited and honored that she did different shades of red. I love red, my alma mater's colors were Scarlet and White, GO BU! So I was very excited to see the shades of red.

The colorway is called Dragon Dance and it's inspired by the red of Chinese New Year. The patter is called Serendipity by Adrienne Fong and it looks lovely, a little lace pattern and an interesting heel. I also ordered the binder which came with notes from the Dyer, a Sock Gauge Diary, a sock journal, how to measure your feet, a work area and a log of family and friends and their foot measurements. Of course the package also came with 2 buttons, a sticker, and the ever so cute and smile-inducing emergency sock yarn skein.

I'm so glad and very excited to be a part of the club even though I'm not casting on, I think I will try and wait till school is over and keeping the installments until I'm done will be a nice reward for me in the end. Let's keep our fingers crossed that I can resist.

Thank You Blue Moon, I love it!!!

Long Time No Blog, or if it's Tuesday it must be San Diego/Boston/Philly/Boston/San Diego/Hawaii/San Diego

I have been so busy it hasn't even been funny. Let's just say I went to all of the places in the title of this post in about little over 2 weeks. So instead of recapping (trust me it would be to long of a post) all that has happened, let's just say that out of the 26 days in January I have been home for 11 of them. Craziness I tell you. Also in only 6 days I went from Boston where is was a balmy 0 degrees, to San Diego where it was about 65 degrees to Hawaii where it was a nice happy wonderful 75 degrees.
Here is a picture from the Hawaii vacation:

And during the 6 days I was home I also went to a workshop that Cat Borhdi was having at Common Threads to discuss her new sock methods, it was so much fun hanging out with Grape and ItShe all day in Encinitas knitting, trust me we had a great time.

One thing that hasn't changed is the lack of work on my thesis, I got so stressed out about it . . . it has sort of become this monster, but hopefully after my meeting with my Prof. on Monday I will at least have a plan of action, here's hoping.

Since I still have no idea where I am, what time zone I'm in or for that matter what city I live in (I mean San Diego verses Boston, sad I know), I will focus on knitting.

I have FINALLY finished socks for my mom (Socks that Rock in Lightweight Lucy, Jaywalkers) they are really cute and hope that she likes them. I also ordered her a mini sock blocker and I have already made her a mini sock out of the same yarn her big socks are made out of. Here is a picture:

I have also started another mystery project for her I started it while we were in Hawaii and I can't wait to give it to her. I will post about this when it gets a little farther along.

I got some great presents for Christmas this year and this is one of them. Let me introduce you to Sparkles the Peacock.

This is the perfect accessory to those that have the Knitcellaneous mini-sock blocker keychain, which ItShe got me for my birthday last year. The mini-socks were super addictive I never got around to knitting mini socks out of my left overs before but now I'm all caught up. These little sock were just what I needed, a small quick project to feel a large sense of accomplishment.

In total I made six socks from my left overs I had and then 2 more for thank you notes to ItShe and her parents for the awesome trip to Hawaii.

ItShe also got me very cool yarn it's part possum, can you believe it? It's very cool and I don't know what I'll do with it besides pet it (which I have been doing a lot of) but I will have to search Ravelry for a pattern. I also need to take a picture of it and post it and put in my Ravelry too.

That's all for now the next post will be the first Blue Moon Fiber Arts Rockin' Sock Club for '08 installment, and my mom's next present progress update.

I'm In!

It is official, I'm a member of the 2008 Rockin' Sock Club. I know it's a lot of money but hopefully part of it will be my birthday present from my mom (keep your fingers crossed). I'm very excited I can't wait to get the packages and the new colors, but the thing that pushed me over the edge to sign-up was the designers, I can't wait!

I don't know if I will have time to knit them because I have procrastinated on my thesis (it would be great if it could just start/write itself) but I know I can stash them away and have something to look forward to when I'm finished, what a treat that will be.

I was nervous that I wasn't going to get in since I waited until the 6th to send in my paperwork but it looked like more than a few people did not renew their membership.

I can't wait to get the first package in the mail, mail-carriers watch out of Socks that Rock addicts!

A HUGE Stash Enhancement!

For a very long time I was very good about not adding to the stash . . . but it seems that I might have caught the YarnHarlot's falling down and standing back up with purchased yarn, but in my defense I have been planning this for a while, and I purchased over a long period of time, it's my own sock yarn tasting.

This whole thing started with the acquisition of Vesper Sock Yarn, as previously stated I had been stalking this yarn for over a year and finally the correct planetary alignment took place (i.e. there was yarn when I checked her site) and so I bought me a skein. Then I was looking into investing in a sock yarn club the idea of getting yarn and a pattern in the mail was intoxicating. But I didn't want to invest that much money into something I had never tried (my justification techniques are amazing) and there were "brands" out there that I had wanted to try.

First up Socks that Rock lightweight in colorway Lucy, this is not new yarn but I wanted to make a pair of socks out of this for my mom for her birthday at the end of the month, and we used to have a cat that looked a lot like Lucy so I know she will love the colorway.

Second, Socks that Rock lightweight in colorway Dixie Chick, not something I would normally pick but as ItShe says it's good to go outside your "safety zone". I love how bright the colors are.

Third, Koigu KPPPM in colorway Eggplant Berry #527, I chose this to make me a pair of CookieA Monkey Socks with a picot edge, can't wait to cast-on.

Fourth, Red Rocks Fiber Works, in colorway Two Tickets, found this at Knitting in La Jolla, it was at the time exclusive to two or three shops in the country, I love her colorways and would love to get more.

Fifth, Scout' Swag in colorway Zulu Knitty, which I have coveted ever since it was made, love the colors.

Sixth, Yarn Pirate in colorway Culture Club, I'm a child of the 80's and this brings me right back to the days of jelly shoes and Garbage Pail Kids. This colorway is so bright I gotta wear shades, no seriously look at the pink it's so bright it reflecting off the beige chair, all on its own.

So after all this stash enhancement, I'm so excited I have such great yarns to choose from for the next few sock patterns, but what I think I really want is to be a member of the Rock'n Sock Club, by Blue Moon Fiber Arts, because frankly I have always been in love with their yarn and the 4 designers that have signed on this year might just push me over the edge. Stay Tuned!