Stitches South 2009

They didn’t allow cameras inside, but there was much rejoicing and picture-taking outside:

1. Goooood Yarn…, 2. Footless Sock, 3. Doing the Happy Tilli Thomas Yarn Dance, 4. Stitches Loot

Created with fd’s Flickr Toys.

Mom and I got a little high on yarn fumes.

The Stitches Yarn Market took up most of the top floor of the Cobb Galleria Convention Center in Atlanta.   This was probably the same size as all the Dragon*con vendor rooms put together.  Gi-gantic.

Unable to pass up a costuming opportunity, I dressed as Second Sock Syndrome.  (Viva la Single Sock Liberation Movement!)  Still haven’t finished casting on the second footless sock, but I wore my single sock proudly.  Only one person, the genius behind Creatively Dyed, commented.  She was awesome.  The lack of comments I chalk up to 1. visual overstimulus, and 2. polite knitters.

I particularly love that Mom and I apparently wore our favorite colors and then proceeded to buy things that matched what we were wearing, inadvertently.  Creatively Dyed’s SeaWool roving is spectacular.  Zoom in on my photo to really get into the goodness.  The photos on her website are very good, too.  I started spinning it up last night and it’s sooooo soft.  A little slipperyer (yes, that’s a word now) than the coarse Swalesdale I practiced on, so I’m having to get used to it, but the yarn has a gorgeous sheen.

The Loot:

• 8oz Creatively Dyed Seawool roving in the SR3 colorway
• 2 hanks Tilli Thomas Pure and Simple in Jade
• 1 ball Yarn Place Graceful in Violetta
• Pattern for a twisty artsy beret from MissBabs
• Ebony spiral shawl pin
• Magenta felted flower zipper pouch, made by artisans in Nepal

So now I’m obsessing over what to make with my goodies.  I have a few shawl ideas for the Graceful.  There’s 900+ yards in one ball, so there’s lots of it to play with.  I’m thinking Spring Things or Aeolian.

The Tilli Thomas came with a pattern for a fishnetty stole made on big needles.  I started casting on and got annoyed, but it was very hot, and I may give it another try.  The drape on that yarn!  It’s so smooth and soft.  And I LOOOOVE the color.

Earlier in the day I had seen a few booths with a sister yarn to the Pure and Simple, except with beads and sequins, in the same colorway, but I decided I’d rather put the beads into the knitting myself.  So when I found the little kit of Pure and Simple tucked behind a display in another booth, I pounced on it!  And then I wondered if someone else had hidden it there and wanted to come back for it.  The shop ladies teased me that indeed someone had, and that I’d probably have to fight her if she came back and found me buying her yarn.  I’ll have to try to remember where I bought that from, all the ladies there were very funny!

I had no idea how much fun it would be to spend the entire day in the market.  So many ideas, so many sample knits to feel and analyze, so many pretty colors!  I was pretty exhausted by the end of the day.

I did manage to finish my handspun beret around dinnertime though.  I think the Guinness 250 helped.  Yum.

So, conclusion?  It’s definitely worth $6 to get into the Yarn Market at Stitches South.  This was my first fiber convention, and I think one of the bigger ones would be a really fun weekend trip.  Might be even more fun if there are people to chat with at lunchtime, but who wouldn’t mind if we broke off into smaller groups to browse.  It would be way too difficult to wrangle more than 2 or 3 in a group with all the shiny around.