I had free tickets to the Creativ Festival that were given to me at the Stitch ‘n Pitch. I hadn’t been to the show in a few years and I’m sorry to say that it hasn’t gotten much better for knitters. There were more booths for sure, but most of them were sponsored by Diamond Yarns so they were all pretty much carrying the same things. And since I can get them at The Purple Purl, I prefer to support my friends by shopping there. If I hadn’t been given the tickets I wouldn’t have wasted my money on the show and unless I get more free ones next year, I’ll sit it out again. I have no interest in a shammy or fancy nail polish or sewing machines or quilting or scrapbooking. If those are your things, then this show is for you. If you’re a knitter or crocheter, you can easily give it a pass and not miss anything.
That being said, I was absolutely delighted to find that my all time favourite alpaca “grower”, Norma from Misty Haven Alpacas was there with some other alpaca folks. They even had two alpacas with them. Unfortunately I left my camera at home, but take it from me, they were adorable (except for the spitting and the meeeeeeeeeeeeeehhhhhhhhhhhhh that the one kept saying)
I picked up some 100% alpaca fibre from her, along with the most glorious
fingering weight yarn. I think I’ll be doing a lace scarf for myself with this –
it’s too lovely to give away!
I also picked up some interesting sock yarn at the Mary Maxim booth. I won’t
be making socks with the brown one though – I bought 3 skeins – enough for a
nice drapey shawl.
I did manage to finish two projects this week – the DK socks for my dad’s
Christmas gift:
and what I swear is my last
Birthday Cowl which I made for a coworker:
I’ve stocked my yarn larder for winter and the drop in temps definitely has
me in the mood to use up some stash on sweaters, mitts and hats.
I had to make yet another unexpected purchase today. My printer (which DH bought for me a jillion years ago) was not compatible with my new laptop (thanks Vista). It worked fine on XP, just not with Vista. So I called HP and they said that they were not updating the driver and I’d have to buy a new printer. I was so ticked off that when I went to the store I told the sales guy that I wanted anything but HP. I refuse to support a hardware company that won’t support me.
Mmmm….Norma’s alpaca is so lovely!! Glad she was there to make the experience worth the journey.
Aaaw, you bought sock yarn for me.
Your alpaca is beautiful.
I’m glad you posted a picture of the cowl, it is a nice pattern.
Your father is going to be happy with those socks.
I love that neckwarmer pattern. Does it have a name?
I hear you on the HP thing. I vowed to never go back after some customer service fiascos, but in the end I caved, as I had no better luck with Epson or Canon.
I really like the socks for your dad. What yarn did you use? I think Cary would like those.
Thanks Sandra – it’s the Austermann Step 6 DK
that was on sale (yeah!) at the Purl. The last time I was in they only
had brown left. They did shrink a bit so I’d suggest the larger size.
My dad has 8.5 feet and now I’m not sure they’ll fit him. They definitely fit me though
Thanks Jessie. It’s the Birthday Cowl that I’ve made 4 of now. I highly suggest dropping your needle size down to at least a 3.75mm with the same number of stitches she has. I’ve tried all permutations and it seems to work the best. For DK I might even reduce the number of stitches by one repeat. You can see all the variations I did in my projects