Last Saturday was Stitches South and it was incredibly fun!
The only fiber festival that I had attended before this one was SAFF, so I was obviously excited to check out a new one. It was their maiden voyage and everybody was happy that we Southerners were finally getting a Stitches close to us!
My alarm clock went off entirely too early that morning. I had to be at the meeting spot at 7, so I was up much earlier than normal days. The getting up was hard, but I was a bit more bright eyed and bushy tailed because I was so excited. A day filled with yarn and friends was totally worth getting up early!
The best part about going was that I did not have to drive to Atlanta! I was riding a bus filled with knitters. How fun is that?
Our knitting guild worked with Universal Yarn to sponsor the bus. Some of their employees rode with us and brought tons of goodies. We were given goody bags and contests were held and lots of yarn was given away while we rode.
The coolest thing about taking the bus is that needles and hooks were moving all the way from Charlotte to Atlanta. It was such a fun way to travel!
You can see that almost everybody had a project going.
The drive seemed to take forever, but I made quite a bit of progress on the sock I am knitting. I had my IPod with me and listened to a few podcasts and a chapter or two of Breaking Dawn, which also helped to make the ride quicker.
When we got there, Cristi and I took off and started our shopping.
Our first stop was the Malabrigo booth. There was a codeword that members of their Ravelry group were supposed to use to get a surprise. They were out of whatever that was, but we somehow talked the guy into giving us a skein anyway.
This is the one that I ended up with...
It is such a rich brown! I think that a hat might be in my future.
After wandering around for a bit, the first thing I bought was a bag from To Knit Or Knot.
I love fun sock bags and this one is awesome! They had so many cool fabrics that I had a hard time making up my mind. They had a really cool one with mushrooms and another fun one with trees, but this is the one I ended up getting.
When expanded, this bag will really hold a lot. I think that this one will be a great one to throw my socks into!
As I was checking out, I noticed a sign in their booth that had their address. They are from Houston, Alabama. I asked her where that city was in the state. Come to find out, it is really close to my home town! It really is a small world!
I met up with my pal Jane a little while later. We got to hang out and shop for a bit, which was great! Normally, I just get to see her for a few minutes at different events. This time, I had a chance to really walk around and get to know her.
Naturally, I asked for her to help me find some fun things. Wow.. that was crazy because I was not aware that she is such an enabler!
I noticed the coolest sock while we were walking around. It was on display at one of the booths. The fabric was so neat that it drew me in and I knew that I needed to add that yarn to my stash.
It is called Zauberball. The fabric it makes is a really cool gradual color progression.
I cannot wait to see what kind of socks I can make with this. Does anybody have any suggestions for a fun pattern to use with this yarn?
Our next stop was the Sanguine Gryphon booth. It is so much fun to visit a booth where the workers are clad in medieval or renaissance garb.
Cristi and I had already been and drooled over the Bugga! yarn. We both found a colorway we liked and both ended up getting the one we liked. The yarn is kinda expensive, so it was a nice splurge.
The colorway that I fell in love with is called Autumn Tiger Beetle..
The pictures that I took did not do this yarn justice! It is black yarn with cool colors interspersed throughout the skein. Think any of the Raven series from Socks That Rock and you can get an idea. I love this yarn! I hope that it likes living in my stash as much as I enjoyed bringing it there!
Jane asked me if I had been to the Hiya Hiya booth. I had not, so off we went. I had never heard of Hiya Hiya needles and am happy that I finally have!
They are the coolest things! They are very lightweight and easy to use. I am in love with Knitpicks needles, but I really do like these.
I wanted to really try them, so I picked up two to try with socks. On the way home, I switched my socks off my Knitpicks needles and started using my Hiya Hiyas. What a difference it made! It felt like my sock was flying off the needles!
I will definitely be adding more of these great needles to my collection! If only somebody in my area carried them... <sigh> They are available online all over the place, so I am sure some will be coming to me shortly.
Before we knew it, the time to come back to North Carolina was upon us. I said my goodbyes, took my last breath of fresh yarn fumes and got back on the bus. Needles and hooks came out and away we went.
The Universal Yarn people had even more goodies for us on the way home. I won this sock yarn because they asked how many people had bought needles at Stitches. (Yay, Hiya Hiyas!)
It is their newest sock yarn. I think it will knit up into a nice pair. The yarn is a really neat celery-esque green color, so it will be fun to knit with.
When we finally got home, I was beat. I slept so well that night that I accidentally slept through my alarm for church on Sunday. Ugh.
Stitches South was a great time! Next year's show is on April 22-25 and is already marked on my calendar!
Stay tuned...
