Knit and the City

Ever wonder what 6:30 a.m. at Rosie's looks like? I never thought I'd know, but fearless Courtney had faith that if we opened the store at the crack of dawn, sold the Koigu millends at a discount, and provided coffee, there would be no brawls, hospitalization or tears.
And, she was right. It wasn't the pushing, shoving, hair yanking smackdown that the Koigu booth at MSW usually is, but a leisurely, loving fingering of the Koigu, the thoughtful mixing of colors, and an all around good time. I definitely need to have more faith in people, or at least in knitters.

And how did I do on my goals? From a knitter's prospective, very well, perfect. From a homeowner, whose boyfriend is moving in, with lot's of house projects underway, and who is supposed to be saving money, um . . . I went a tad over budget. Armed with my Ravelry queue, I pretty much went straight down my list - it was so easy, that I think I traveled too far down the list - I mean, wouldn't I have been satisfied with two sweater quantity purchases, instead of three? Or maybe I wouldn't.

The bus ride down was lovely - I was a little worried, being bus captain and all, but there was no fighting over the blueberry muffins, no squabbling over the raffles, no anxious knitters hassling the bus driver to go faster faster faster, everyone was perfect. And, it was so relaxing pulling into the lot, and not having the pressure of racing to the koigu mosh pit. I had my destination starred, and underlined - and off Kate and I went to Fiber Company in booth 2.

Fiber Company had set up a little forum on Ravelry, announcing what yarns she was bringing to MSW. I had asked her about the Terra, a merino/baby alpaca blend, with the most fabulous color palette. She didn't think she would have sweater quantity of any one color - but since I was planning on Fair Isling, I kept my fingers crossed. And, I wasn't disappointed - 9 Skeins of mint, and 4 other colors to do this 4/inch bohus inspired pullover: , Norah Gaughan's Lite Lopi Pullover from Interweave Knits. As you can see, I've already cast-on, so this will be my first post-MSW project - don't worry, I have every intention of working on the Starmore - it's sooooo close to being steekable. Because the bottom of the pullover is straight stockinette for 15 inches, this is now my carry around knitting, since Starmore has reached a stage of nonportability.
And, just look at these colors! I can't wait to get to the yoke and see what magic happens! Who needs a magic wand when you have addi turbos??
As you can see, the yarn is of the thick/thin variety - and it feels like butter! The texture really makes the subtle color changes pop, and really, there's no store bought sweater that will ever compare to the character of this yarn.






Then, right on schedule, and according to my grand plan, we walked across to building 4, directly across the walkway, to Green Mountain Spinnery, and I bought my yarn for Coraline: Alpaca Elegance in a heathery, charcoal grey.
And, a free tote bag to take the sting out of the bill.

And then I thought, huh, thanks to all of my meticulously planning, within 15 minutes, I had dropped $200, had 2 sweater's worth of yarn, and frankly, at that moment in time, I thought I was done. I could have been done, I was so happy. But, I wasn't . . .

In the Fiber Company building, I ran into authoress, Laura, and she had purchased 2 skeins of Shetland from Davidsons, in the Main Barn. Kate and I were off - and I bought 2 skeins, for the Bird in Hand mittens and a matching hat a la my Anemoi inspired combo: The Bird in Hand mittens were originally worked with Cascade 220, but the gauge is sport to fingering, depending on the size, so I think this yarn will work out fine, and I won't have to struggle with worsted weight on 1's.


The purchasing over, so I thought, it was time for lunch. There's something really sick and disturbing about eating lamb at a Sheep and Wool festival, a celebration of living and breathing livestock, but whatever, it's yummy, and, for my Rhinebeck partner, Kate and I, it's becoming somewhat of a tradition. Thanks for the Gyro's, our fine, woolly friends

And then it was off to Camp Bach, for some socializing, chips with cheese and fresh squeezed lemonade!


It's never too early to start 'em knitting!

I'm not sure to which pooch Knitty D is referring!


Welcome back Robin and Ronnen! Thank goodness there's no sheep whatsoever in the entire state of California, and we can look forward to seeing you every year at MSW!

And for those of you who have never camped at Camp Bach, Camp Bach is just a hop and a little skip from Brooks Farm. This year, Brooks Farm was not not not part of my plan. I already have 3 sweaters of Four Play, and I just thought, I'll branch out. I had intended to buy yarn for Mrs. Darcy at Shadyside Farm, in the Main Building. Shadyside, however, only brought spinning goods, no yarn, so Mrs. Darcy remained unyarned. So, how could I resist when I saw this new-to-me Brooks Farm Tierra - a 70% Lambswool, 30% alpaca blend?????


In the face of this yummy, rasberry colored yarn, I succumbed, and made my last yarn purchase of the day.

I say last yarn, because I wasn't quite done buying. To round out the day, I bought Sweaters from Camp, at the Mannings. You can still get this book on the Schoolhouse Press website, and on Amazon, but Schoolhouse Press warns that it's going out of print, so better get it now!


And, perhaps my favorite purchase of the day:
This is the closest "livestock" will get to 1639 - and isn't little sheepy welcoming!
So that's it - until next year!