Monday, February 25, 2008

stitches 2008 (catchy title. i know.)

If you didn't grow up with Romper Room, this is going to make no sense at all.

Oooooooooooooooh!!!!
I see...KarenTheDancingLurker, and MissSharon, my dancing buddies.....
I see Carolyn, and Hollis, and Morgaine, some of my favorite proprietresses ever....
I see NoBlogRachel and BeanMama and Jennie....some wonderful friends old and new that I am wishing to spend more time with (I must organize a knit-in soon)....

Seriously, kiddies.
Seeing people at Stitches was the best part of it all.
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Heavy Bags, Light Wallet

I actually didn't do too much damage this year, suprisingly. I went with a list, and I pretty much stuck to it.


1) Plain Sock Yarn.
An inspection of my stash last week revealed to me why I haven't been knitting many socks lately. I want to be knitting complex cable patterns, and all of my sock yarn is variegated. The colors will detract from the pattern. So Saturday I went looking for a couple skeins of solid colors and decided on these:


ShiBui sock yarn from the Artfibers booth, in purple and green (the blue is something else). What I love about this yarn, besides is squishy goodness, is that even though it is dyed a solid color, it isn't "flat". It is ever so slightly variegated which I think will add a lovely quality.


2) Summer Suitable Fiber
My stash was also devoid of anything that I would knit up for summer wear. I need that now that I have moved to a part of the Bay Area where it's cookin' in summertime. Underneath that sock yarn up there is the blue stuff. It's Bonsai Bamboo from Argosy. It's a silk/bamboo/merino blend. They had it sampled in a modified version of the Beaded Cami, and I'm going to try my hand at adapting the pattern to get a good fit on my frame.


3) Buttons
I wanted to find a couple of buttons for Juliet (the cropped cardigan I am working on right now). Instead, I walked away with this, from the "Button Lady":

A big ol' vintage lucite button. I just adore it, although it won't be for my current project. Juliet needs at least two, maybe three, buttons. I have a couple of patterns I am looking at that all have one closing the front though, and this will go on the one I finally decide on.


4) A Shawl Pin
I joined a shawl/lace knitting club that starts in a couple of weeks, and we will be making 4 shawls this year (yes, you can laugh now). I actually have quite a difficult time wearing shawls (long drapey items don't typically jive with crutches and wheelchairs). So if I hope to actually wear any of these shawls (which may have to all become gifts), it would definitely help if I had decent a shawl pin. I wanted something that would go with all four shawls, and that's tough, because I don't have a frickin' clue what any of them look like yet!!
So I chose this:

This ended up being my biggest splurge. It's real silver though, handcrafted, and even better? It's reversible:


Even if I don't keep the shawls, the pin will look great on a sweater or scarf, maybe even a hat. I love it.


5) Goodies From Ravelry
I bought tote bags and buttons, some for me, and some as a gift. I also bought these...
....so I can turn the ripping out all of my UFO's into a drinking game.


6) A New Knitting Bag

I bought one of those Bagsmith Bags. I think I like it. I think. It sure seems mighty functional, but it's so non-chic, I'm not feeling the love yet. What I bought it for though, is road trip knitting in the van, and for that, I think it is going to be the perfect bag. Don't you see me by the campfire with it?



I bought the black version.
Ya' know, now that I think of it, I had a flimsy wood and plaid fabric version of this when I was knitting back in my early 20's. That must have been part of the appeal. Sentimental me.


7) Suede Slipper Bottoms for Felted Fuzzy Feet
No luck. The only thing on my list I didn't find, and of course the most needed. I do know where to order them online, though.



Of course there were a couple of items not in the list, but I didn't stray far:

Two patterns
, one for a summer tank, and another for teeny tiny socks small enough to become earrings (although that is not what I intend do with them...I have something else in mind).

Knitting needles for MyFK (in hopes it would inspire him to take up knitting again):

Oh. And a bumper sticker.


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Tour complete.

I'm a bit behind on replying to comments, but should be caught up by tomorrow.
XO!

13 comments:

The Bon said...

Mmm. Seaweed, and what's the color in the front? It looks similar to peony, but darker, more purple. It's great. Also, I totally have one of those bagsmith bags. In black. It was a gift from my mom a couple of years ago. I like it. It has lots of handy pockets.

Kim Ayres said...

You're right! It made no sense at all

kasiaiscarly said...

omg, love the colors of the sock yarn. and, since the pin is reversible, that really means it is half price for each side, right?

Mouse said...

Pirate knitting needles!! *squee!* OMG.. those are too awesome. If that doesn't get him knitting.. I don't know what will. Looks like you got some really nice stuff!

JohnK said...

that post kinda made me want to go out, shopping.

I'm holding out though for spending at the Philadelphia Flower Show.

~Donna~ said...

ooooh!!! I used to sit glued to the TV during Romper Room...just waiting for her to say my name...and one day she did! I was so excited...

Heh heh...frogging as a drinking game...love it...everyone has to take a shot every time Donna swears...you'd all be ripped in no time! HAH!

I have the beige knitting bag in my living room...I call him Mr Stuffles...he's very handy. I was thinking of jazzing him up with some embroidery...and of course beads.

LOVE all your stuff!!

MsAmpuTeeHee said...

the bon ~ It's kinda eggplant-ish. Auuuuubergeeeeeene.

kim ~ Miss Nancy is offended.

kasiaiscarly ~ Even at that discount it was a wee bit pricey. But thanks for trying LOL.

mouse ~ Well, he said, "cool" and I think has no intention of ever knitting with them. Maybe I'll ask him if we can pass them along.

john ~ shopping is shopping is shopping!

donna ~ I don't think she ever said my name :-(

Anonymous said...

What great finds! I love it all! I'm in search for a good shawl pin too. Either I'll end up making one (out of hammered wire) or maybe find one at Black Sheep.

Lynda the Guppy said...

LOL I had totally forgotten about Romper Room and her Magic Mirror. LOLOL. Thanks for dredging that up out of the corners of my brain.

And the Shibui sock yarn is really nice. Soft and squishy like Koigu (but better, imnsvho), and fantastic colors. One of the things I like about it is they purposely dye the yarn in coordinating colors. So making solid heels/toes is a no-brainer.

All that said, I'm using 8 skeins of it in the Peacock colorway to make my Jeanie shawl from the current Knitty.com.

M-H said...

I love that shawl pin. I collect what you guys call pins and we call brooches when I'm travelling. That one is stunning.

MsAmpuTeeHee said...

Jodie ~ ooooo, I cant wait to see what you come up with!

Lynda ~ yeah well, I caught myself actually typing, "I saw (this person), I saw (that person)..." and I actually sounded like Miss Nancy in my own head! Scary. LOL Oh, and your Jeanie is going to be gorgeous in that yarn!

m-h ~ We use the term brooch, too...but usually to describe jewelry that has the pin affixed to the back.

Jennie said...

I think you have finally healed my Miss-Nancy-Never-Said-My-Name wound from oh, so long ago.

It was so great to see you at Stitches! Sorry I was such a downer. Maybe next time we can talk about HIV or leukemia or something *really* upbeat.

I so freaking LOVE that shawl pin. You will have to carefully protect it if I see it on you.

Warrior Knitter said...

romper stomper bomper boo


Great haul!