Wednesday, February 27, 2013

The Stitches Goods

The very best thing about Stitches is the hugs and hellos from some of my favorite people.  The next very best thing is the chance to see all the wonderful yarns and fibers and tools and things and more things.  ALL THE THINGS.

As a vendor who can barely leave the booth for a pee break, I don't really get a chance to shop, but I still manage to do a little wallet damage and bring home a few goodies.  This is what came home with me this year.

Yarn (of course).  A skein of Sock! by Lisa Souza, who lives here in my new hometown of Placerville, CA.  The colorway is White Noise.  I just had to have it.  Then a really scrumptious skein of Floating by A Verb For Keeping Warm.  It's 70% Superfine Alpaca, 20% Silk, and 10% Cashmere.  Did I say scrumptious?  Verb won the Prettiest Booth contest this year, and it was well deserved.  Last, several skeins of hand dyed Natural Shetland Fingering by Jeane de Coster of Elemental Affects.  I've mentioned my buddie Jeane and her dye operation before.  I've got a new design featuring Natural Shetland Fingering which will be released soon; the yarn was such a joy to work with that I decided that I really needed a few more colors for my stash.

 

 
Needle tools and face/body care.  From the lovely Saremy of Chicken Boots, I purchased a straight needle case and some needle keepers.  It seems I've always got multiple projects going on DPNs, so I thought I'd try her stretchy endcap style.  I always stock up on Face Pudding and Lo-Lo body bars from Kismet of Bar-Maids whenever I'm at a show with her.  She makes all of her products in small batches using natural ingredients, and they are beyond fabulous.
 



Hand Care and Yarn Care.  My hands are really shot from all of the show prep over the last few months, so I grabbed a tub of Topricin from the Carolina Homespun booth.  This is a great natural remedy that's good for tendinitis, muscle soreness and the like.  And from the Buffy Ann Designs booth, I picked up a few more Yarn Cozy's.  I like this little gizmo for keeping yarn cakes nice and tidy and free from the cat hair that's always floating around my place.



Shawl Pin.  I couldn't resist this beautiful sterling pin by Rosemary Hill/Designs by Romi (shown sitting on the awesome Ida Lace Cowl, by Debbi Stone).



And my really big splurge, a Blending Board by Clemes and Clemes.  I saw one being loaded up by Mr. Clemes as I was zipping down his aisle, and stopped in my tracks to watch him pull off a gorgeous blended rolag.  I was hooked.  This will be great for making batts for myself with things like angelina and silk noils, without having to worry about contaminating my drum card which I use to produce my natural fiber batts.  (That's my story and I'm sticking to it.) 



I had a great time at Stitches this year, as always.  Many thanks to all the wonderful folks who came by my booth!