Another Year's Stitches is Over

It's such a bittersweet occasion -- the end of Stitches Midwest. I'm sad for the fun to end, but I'm also ready to go home, and have always spent too much money.

This year was no different. I did fulfil my prophecy that I would not buy as much yarn this year, but I certainly bought other things.

I bought needles:
...needles I couldn't find last year. Here we see two sets of Addi short needles in 1.5us and 0us. I had only rarely seen these before, so I snapped them up, but I have a hunch they'll be easier and easier to find as time goes on. The other three sets are HiyaHiya stainless steel needles, but somehow they must be hollow, because they're very light. I used the set of 1s to cast on some new sock yarn, and had to go back to get another set, I loved them so much, and they're inexpensive, too. Last year I was looking for sturdy sock needles, and found none. This year, I obviously didn't have a problem. I even found smaller sets, down to 0000-0000 or 8-0s. They were ridiculously thin; they didn't even really have points. Nothing I need, but interesting to see.

I also bought patterns. From left to right: a sweater from Interlacements called "Squirrel Monkey" (??), a cape from The Elegant Ewe called "Anatolian Rose Garden Wrap", a small bag from Black Water Abbey (for which I also bought some charcoal yarn and a button), and a Harley Davidson sock.

Along with the sock pattern, I got motorcycle stitch markers:
Hee!

I also bought some very fun organizer bags for my knitting accessories. My old bag was bursting at the seams, and kind of a mess. Now everything is neat in a bag that will stand up on its own.
Pretty!

Of course, I did buy some sock yarn: limited edition Tofutsies and the new line from Regia designed by Kaffe Fassett:


Some lace from Tess' Designer Yarns: (superwash merino)


And our old friends Linda and Jim at Pajolo Alpacas were back. I bought some charcoal sportweight for a scarf(?) and some laceweight just because it's purple.


I also took a class from Nancy Bush, my idol. The class was called "Baltic Braids and Bobbles" and we learned how to make all of the braids and bobbles on these wrist-warmers. I almost finished one of them in class, then made the second one that night.
I so rocked the FO. And they came in handy because....

Speaking of Nancy Bush, Pajolo Alpacas and finished objects that provide warmth, I brought my Madli's Shawl to show to Nancy, seeing as how she designed it. During class, we were gathered around her at the front of class to observe and she mentioned that the Estonian bobbles we were learning were different than the bobbles in the Estonian lace patterns, so I volunteered my shawl as a sample. After much ooo-ing and ahh-ing and admiration, someone pointed out that

THERE'S A HOLE IN MADLI'S SHAWL.


I carefully folded it up and clutched it to my chest until it was time to sit down again. I'm just broken-hearted. I'm going to have to buck up and mend it, but I'm not sure I'm up to the job. Oh, it sucks the will out of me just thinking about it. I don't know how it happened.


I also got some knitting done, aside from the wrist warmers. The sock pictured above, and the start of the Trellis Scarf, from Interweave a couple years ago. I already have a glaring error, but I'm going to leave it, because it won't be obvious in the long run.
I'm using the new AddiTurbo lace needles, and they're very handy for the k7tog in this pattern.

So that's all I have to say for now. My travelling companions were Gwen, Suzie, and Carmen. Check 'em out. I'm sure they have wide and varied stories to tell. They might even have pictures. And they definitely bought more yarn than I did.