This was my first Stitches event and I'm glad to say, the market was bigger than the two Knit & Crochet shows I've attended! It was a lot of fun, even if we did find ourselves passing over several of the "same 'ole, same 'ole" booths rather quickly. I recognized many of the vendors from past Knit & Crochet shows, as well as Granite State Knit-Ins. Of course, there were a lot of CT area vendors as well.
I don't have any pictures from the market floor except for this one...
About two minutes after I snapped a pic of this lovely sweater, they made a "put your cameras and cell phone cameras away!" announcement. Yup, there were no pictures allowed on the market floor. Seriously now? Talk about a ridiculous rule! Lenny Kravitz let us take as many pictures as we darn well pleased on Wednesday night (yes, pics to come soon) and I think his picture is worth way more than any picture I could've snapped at Stitches! Anyway, I thought that sweater was kind of cool, although I can't remember what booth it was at or what it was called (yea, I got the pic... forgot the info).
I went to the show with the intentions of not buying anything that I could readily purchase at my LYS or online. I was looking for something different... something to wow me. I found that at the Still River Mill booth!
The lilac skein is Puppy Love and the blue/multi skein is Puppy Love Gone Wild. Puppy Love is a 30% Samoyed / 20% Milk / 50% Merino blend, with the Samoyed coming from a sled dog team from Cambridge, VT. The Gone Wild version is a mix of yarn ends to produce a multi-color, with no two skeins being the same. This is the first time I've found a dog blend yarn for sale that was not custom made (I'm still saving Zeus' fur... to be spun eventually). I'm told the yarn is wonderfully warm, yet extremely breathable and that it will bloom very nicely. I plan to make a hat from the Gone Wild version (pattern was given with the yarn), but not sure what's in store for the lilac skein just yet.
I also picked up a skein of Lobster Pot Sox in the Beach Plum colorway and Zauberball in a beautiful fall color.
I had eyed skeins of Lobster Pot cashmere in the past, but didn't want to spend the money without a specific project for it, so when I found the new sock yarn I knew I had to bring one home! Sue and I found the Zauberball yarn at one of the first booths we visited and just loved it. It was new and different to me... but we quickly realized that at least 1 or 2 booths in every aisle had some!
My only other purchase was this Nutmeg Mitts kit. The yarn is Koigu KPM.
That's it! I entered with the "only if its different and I love it" mentality and did not spend more than the cash in my wallet, which to me equals a huge success! I did have one more stash enhancement this weekend however.... thanks to Chan! She sent me this gorgeous skein of Mountain Colors Bearfoot as part of my birthday present. Isn't it lovely?
Well, that's a wrap on Stitches East 2009... I hope to be back for the 2010 show next fall!
