Stitches South 2010

Well, I have returned from Stitches South and am happy to say that I stayed within my budget, got some incredible yarns, met a bunch of really cool people and have several really great projects that I'm excited to start working on.

I arrived at the conference center on Friday and did one quick run through the Market while I was waiting for Lindsey to get there. So many vendors, so much incredible fiber, it was hard to concentrate. I had my list and a highlighted map of the vendors I knew I wanted to see, but all my plans flew out the window when I saw everything that was there. I went ahead and got some Malabrigo to make the Central Park Hoodie, which I have had my eye on for a couple of years. That was at least one thing to check off my list.

We went to the Fashion Show and banquet on Friday night, and that was really neat to see. They gave away of ton of door prizes, mostly kits for items in the fashion show, XRX books and gift certificates to vendors. It was equally as fun to see some of the garments that the other attendees wore. Lots of shawls and interesting sweaters! After the banquet, we headed to the lobby for Somebunnylove's pajama party. After eating a HUGE New York Strip, chocolate mousse and a bottle of wine, we were met by buffet tables full of candy bars, trail mix, chips, pretzels, and more... So, we grabbed another bottle of wine and settled into the lobby with about 50 other knitters and hung out until the wee hours of the morning. Most of the people headed up to their rooms around midnight, but we were on a roll with our projects (and our wine...). We ended up sitting with Ben (the CEO of XRX Publishing Company and Knitting Universe) and Rebecca (aka Somebunnylove) and learned a lot about Stitches, the fiber industry and how they came to be in the positions they are. Very interesting stories!

Saturday morning came way to early, and we headed back to the market before our first class started. We both took 2 market sessions - on stranded color (with Beth Whiteside) and continental kniting (with Kellie Nuss) - and learned so much from the instructors in just an hour! We shopped a little more inbetween, and then headed to lunch at Chow Baby with Jessica, who drove in just for the market. A little more shopping, and I called it a day. It was probably a good thing that there were predictions of bad weather, because I got out of there as quickly as I could so that I could get home before the storms. If it had been good weather, I probably would have stayed and spent a lot more $$$!

So, a breakdown of what I got, and what I will be spending the next several months working on...

Malabrigo worsted in Buscando Azul (for the CPH)


Noro Yuzen - for Clapotis (pronounced clap-o-TEE -
it's French - ooh-la-la...)


Cascade Heritage Sock Yarn - maybe for Kernel or a pair of socks?
I won this from Cascade Yarns


Berroco Ultra Alpaca - for Taylor's French Press Slippers


Brooks Farm Yarn - for a yet-to-be-determined project. This is the closest I could find to Spartan green, so now I just have to find the perfect project for it.
(And, now that I've found this perfect shade,
I read this article about the "new" Spartan green.
Oh well, I like the old one better.) :)

I couldn't wait to start working with some of this yarn, so I got a head start on the Clapotis this afternoon. I can't wait to see how it turns out when the twisted stitches are dropped! So far the colors are amazing.