The Weekend in Pictures

I went to the Knit and Crochet Show in Oakland this weekend. It was momentous not only because I took Friday off for the occassion, but also because it was the one exception I made to my yarn fast. I fully expected to gorge myself on all the yummy yarn I could stuff into the ginormous goodie bags we were given -- there were plenty of opportunities to do so -- but I did pretty well. I bought only things I really wanted, after thinking about them carefully. All but the laceweight are for projects I had been kicking around for a while. [ETA: Oooh, I just figured out what to knit with the laceweight! Muir. Totally.]



Back: 4 skeins of Rio de la Plata, hand-dyed, handspun wool from Uruguay (for Adult Surprise Jacket)

Right: Two skeins of Argosy Zen 4 Ply, hand-dyed cashmere (for feather and fan scarf of my own devising - kinda like the chevron scarf concept, but lacier). The lone greenie behind them is a ball of Moda Dea washable wool, the one gem from the goodie bag. I am going to use it in the Knitted Ruana from Folk Shawls.

Left: Weavette hand-held loom

Center-ish: Sushi Wallet Kit, Yarn Place "Graceful" Laceweight in a subtly variegated green.

Front: Unfortunately you can't see these too well. These are Abalone shell buttons, one of which is destined for my Capecho. I couldn't decide between them, so got both.



The three tweedy hanks are Peruvian Tweed, 100% alpaca, light worsted, for a Pi Are Square Shawl. I got tons, actually, so there is at least one other project in there too. On top of them are a hank of Tilli Tomas "Rock Star" with glass beads, and a hank of Tilli Tomas "Pure and Simple," both going into my Knitted Ruana. The needles are Asciano rosewood, handmade and absolutely gorgeous. I am saving them for the cashmere f&f scarf. On the plate are antique pewter buttons for my Juno sweater, a Gita Maria sheep shawl pin, and an Abalone/ebony shawl pin.

I also had classes on Friday (Fine Finishing with Nancie Wiseman) and Sunday (Disaster Recovery with JC Briar). Both were excellent. I had never taken a knitting class before, and being a self-taught knitter, I had a lingering belief that there was no knitting skill I couldn't teach myself if I wanted or needed to do so. However, there is something about being in a classroom setting that forced me to do things step by step, and not try to devise shortcuts for doing things by the book. I found I got better results than I might have done on my own. I also found that I have a little more confidence and less resentment about finishing things properly, now that I have seen for myself that it can be done, and isn't as painful as I imagined. The excellent results are worth the additional effort.

Among other things, the Disaster Recovery class inspired me to finally recondition some yarn I'd frogged a few months back. It is the Andean Silk I am using for my Capecho. I doubt I will need it for the Capecho, but it would be a nice addition to the Knitted Ruana when I get to that.