sharp points: February 2005 Archives

red tote brigade

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I declared this little purse finished a week ago but haven't posted pics. Well, I'm sure you'll see the row that has the mistakes, but I caught it ohhhh, 2" later and it is in laborious seed stitch, which I am so not in the mood to redo. Even James noticed it.

Yarn: 2 balls Crystal Palace Deco Ribbon for a toal of ~$12, 16" #9 needles, and the free pattern Deco Ribbon Bag. Three days later (hey, seed stitch) voila, new bag!

And yes, the V sign is declasse, but as an asian girl wearing a bag on my head as a hat, I felt that this was somehow culturally appropriate. And it was funny.

:/ In any case, I give you the new red handbag on the right with the entire red tote brigade.

and it sometimes masquerades as a hat :)

If I were to go back and fix this, well, February Fix-it month is almost over (hehehahahhaaha!). Two balls juuuust made it and if I had been smarter and paying more attention, I'd have stopped while I still had more of the ball left to bind off and seam. I crocheted the bottom of the bag closed by doing a chain through the bottom loops while the bag was inside out because I felt this was more sturdy.

do not admit defeat

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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.

stitches west checklist

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1. pre-printed ticket - Yup
2. Bag for purchases - Ahuh
3. Camera for snapshops - Check
4. Tea in a leak-resistant container - yupyup
5. Big fat wad of cash? - Ohhhh Yeeeaaah
6. Place for your purchases- hmmm. Uhoh. Maybe if I move that around in my closet... Or put that into my dresser. Or go with Char's garbage can method...

Off to the knitter's convention. Hey, if I don't get to go to Comdex and CES, at least I will have a lot of yarn to keep me happy.

About this Archive

This page is a archive of entries in the sharp points category from February 2005.

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