Taking A Break

I snuck in here to take a quick break from packing and thought I would put together a post while I am thinking about it. So far I’ve packed 68 boxes. Basically all that is left is the kitchen, bathroom and clothes in the bedroom. It’s going to take anywhere up to a full week to get our POD delivered once we get to IA; which makes some of the packing decisions a little tricky. We can only take what will fit in the cars, but I envision needing to cram a whole lot of stuff into the cars to make sure we survive the time between our stuff being picked up and delivered. I’ve already had a few oh %#@ moments when I realized that I might actually want something that I already packed but have absolutely no desire to open a box to get it back out… like my sock blockers (duh!). There’s also stuff like the TV that can’t be packed until the very last moment, even though we’ll be packing the stand it sits on before then, I’m thinking it might end up on a box until then??? So you can tell it’s just fun and games here in Nana-land. It’s a good thing that I can knit. And speaking of good things, I promised to tell you about Stitches.

As trips to these big events go, this one was pretty laid back for me. I didn’t attend any classes, I didn’t go to any luncheons, dinners, fashion shows or any of the really cool stuff, but I did go to the market. And I went with a list. And a friend to make sure I stuck to the list. I think I actually did a pretty fair job of not straying too far off my list. Here’s a quick peak at my goodies:

I’ll start with my impulse purchases and then tell you about what else I got.

Impulse purchase #1: as I was standing in line to purchase a beverage for lunch (since I packed a sandwich and didn’t need to purchase overpriced vendor food) I noticed the person behind me wearing a really cute necklace. I complimented her on it and then she told me where she bought it and oh-so casually mentioned that the person had a booth here at the market. Well, I thought it couldn’t hurt to look. I caved…. See:

Impulse purchase #2: you saw the yarn bus in the previous post about the fabled Flying Fingers yarn shop being at the event, well, that booth became a must see… and then they did it… I had not bought one ounce of fiber the entire time we were there, even with tempting offerings around every turn. My friend didn't even have to talk me down from the bargain bin that had five skein bags of Noro Kureyon Sock yarn for HALF price. (pitter-patter). Because I had a LIST. On my list I had given myself permission to purchase yarn if I saw a certain brand and it called my name, well we visited the vendor who sold it and I kind of went “meh” at the colors (sometimes they just don’t talk). I also had a back-up suggestion which I couldn't find. Since I knew I shouldn’t go back for the Kuryeon, when we got to the Flying Fingers booth, it was sort of “game-on” … they had Crazyfoot a new sock yarn by Mountain Colors. I have a secret soft spot for Mountain Color. The Bearfoot sock yarn has a little mohair blended in which makes it really soft, but a little on the fuzzy side. I love the colorways though. So I was casually looking through the bin when a beautiful fall colored skein begged me for a ride home… who could resist that?(see skein on right side of above picture)

Oh, and, the shop was offering a free tote with purchase and it was PURPLE, nothing was going to stop my wallet at that point. So that is  the impulse stuff.

My other purchases were mostly tools of one sort or another.   I bought the Intwined Knitting software, a set of Signature dpns in size 2.25 (my favorite); a new needle case for my interchangeable needle set and cuteness of cuteness in a practical way, the Iddy Diddy Bag from Nantucket bags to use as a take along when the bucket bag is way too much. 

The most amazing thing in my mind, though, for the whole day was the amount of really nice freebies and samples that vendors were giving out.  At the Mission Falls booth they gave out generous samples of each of their yarns.  I made about a 4” cabled swatch out of the cotton.  There was also a mini skein and free pattern from Malabrigo yarns, a mini skein from Miss Babbs and the two most amazing things:  The booth where I bought the software from also had a designer who made pins and accessories out of wire and she was making a stitch picker tool for anyone who came by wearing a Ravelry pin. Mine is heart shaped and my friend got the swirl.  The other amazing thing was that when I got home and started putting away all of my purchases, I discovered that along with the purple tote, Flying Fingers had tucked in a set of purple (size 13) needles with my yarn! (Not that I knit much with that size, but, um, purple... free)

So I feel like I got far more than I planned and stayed well within my budget 

I’m still slogging along on the same two pair of socks I was working on before, not much progress to report.  I finished one Sandalwood sock and am still making my way through the first Staccato.  Both socks have presented me with different challenges calling for much frogging and re-knitting.  But I did do a quick little project for a new baby who made his debut last week.  Sometimes you just need a little instant gratification:

Pattern: Baby Sheep Hat by Melissa Burt

Yarn: KnitPicks Shine Worsted in Grass and Seafoam with some scraps (Sprout and Mission Falls Cotton). 

I suppose I had better go do some more packing now.

Happy Knitting!

Nana