Here's my impression of Stitches West Market or Friday 2/11/2005
Things I fell in Love with so I now talk like a valley girl.
Like. O. M. G!
- Tess Yarns is like crack. Seriously beautiful yarn. You really have to see this in person. Bring your glasses and squish their yarn. And save your pennies. It's not extremely out of my price range, but uhm, it's almost Rowan range.
- Habu Bamboo. They had the nicest bamboo. It was just like silk. And possibly one of their larger gauges since you could probably knit it on US size 5 needles.
- Brooks Farm had soooo much. I need to go in there when it is a bit less full 'cause their booth is seriously shove packed with hand dyed yarns. My gosh. The sheen.
- Ellen’s 1/2 pint farm had tussah silk, hand dyed yarn, and spinning supplies.
- Seaport Yarn has the hard to find (stateside) Daiketo yarns from Japan and the Lobster Pot yarn.
- WEBS - You people who can claim WEBS as a semi-LYS. You. LUCKY. PUNK! They brought my favorite "import compact car" yarn. Still affordable but a good yardage and excellent staple. They advertised it as 'You'll forget about Manos' and I must say, the malabrigo yarn Kettle Dyed Pure Merino Wool is so squishably soft and in so many wonderful colors. They sold out of the Olivia (green) they'd used as a display so I snagged the last in Indigo (blue). $12 for 225 yards of a heavy worsted. And unlike some other yarns there, it doesn't smell like vinegar.
- Jade Sapphire Cashmere in soooo many colors. Too bad at $30 a skein, 150 yards, is a bit out of my price range.
- Newcomer Zukii Designs reminds me of ArtFibers. In fact, her yarns are also named after cities. Yes, there was a kyoto, tokyo, venice... I'm not sure whether to think she could have been a bit more original, or to applaud the fact that there is a competitor of some sort.
- Misti Baby Alpaca Chunky was a brand, not a booth, but this yarn deserves a mention. So very soft and squishable.
Traffic trends- I arrived at 11:30 and it was the busiest from arrival to about 2 when the crowd dispersed a bit. You can turn on Tasmin and into the lot across the street since the Convention center lot was completely full at 11:30 am.
Where'd it go? Things I did and didn't see.
Did See- crystal palace, addi turbo needles, addi nartura, brittany birch double pointed needles, alpaca, cashmere, and clover needles.
Why didn't anyone bring this stuff, was there too much high price competition?- Rowan Yarns, Mission Falls yarns, Non-Kureyon Noro, Plymouth needles, Weekend Knitting, Bernat Aero (hey, canadian companies, I would have bought at least a few) circular knitting needles
The moment I would have kicked myself- Nancy Bush was sitting at the Yarn Barn doing a signing except nobody was getting her book signed. Then it hit me two hours later. Nancy Bush of the Folk Knitting in Estonia book much loved by the Yarn Harlot I wish I had recognized the name sooner so I could tell this woman that a goodly sized online community idolized her and ask her to make an autograph out to the "Yarn Harlot and Harloteer's" :)
Newbies- Newbies unite. There were several there. Yeek. Talk about plunging in.
All in all I'd have to say this is the largest body of women I've been near in a long long time, especially since many were grandma aged. At least 40%. The Grandpa dude at the lace knitting booth going at this beautiful lace blanket. You so Rock. Dude. Really.
I will now stop showing my Californian roots. Oh hush, I'm off to knit. And yes, today's trip deserved front page retail space on my blog. If you slept through this post, well, wake up. You're drooling on your keyboard.