Stitches Midwest – crack addict gone wild (pt.2 the shopping)

Originally posted at Which-Crafts

So mom and I have started a tradition of taking a class on Thursday afternoon and then shopping till we drop Thursday night. Friday morning i met Helen and Elizabeth for more shopping in the Stitches Market, and then I couldn’t avoid it Saturday afternoon, durring class break. The result is a fair amount of loot, probably most of my year worth of knitting at the very least. Look behind the cut for hot sticky Yarn Porn (warning: large pics ahead):

I have started knitting socks and while I don’t really like the yarn i am using
(Austermann Step) i am enjoying the pretty cool magic of creating something as structural as a sock with my own little knitting – so I treated myself (probably too much) to a variety of yarn for socks:

Bearfoot yarn from Mountain Colors lovely and soft with a little bit of mohair for cozyness:

the famous Socks that Rock from Blue Moon Fibers Arts in Fire on the Mountain, Sherbert, and Azure Malachite:

Three skeins of sock yarn from Ellen’s Half Pint Farm:

So mom decided she wanted some hand made socks by me, and even though I have told her that I don’t Fair Isle and thati don’t want to do color work, she specifically picked a pattern that was Fair Isle and fairly complicated, so to practice doing 2 color socks, I picked two diads of Koigu to give a shot before I have to do them for someone else – as Helen said – what is stitches for, if not to inspire you to expand your skills *sigh*.

This is the yarn mom picked for her socks, its also from Ellen’s Half Pint Farm, the picture does NOT do it justice most of the blue tones are actually beautiful purples, I just couldn’t get the picture to look right.

I went in to the shopping with a list, one of the items I was shopping for was enough yarn to make a specific sweater pattern from Big Girl Knits. The pattern specifically called for Lorna’s Laces and i found the yarn and didn’t like it all that much, so I went looking for a replacement, and I found this wonderful handpaint 50/50 Merino-Silk from Ellen’s (again – yes she got quite a bit of my money this year)

I also purchased some Noro for another sweater, but I don’t have everything I need for it yet, so I’ll post those pictures later. I also investing a bit in my spinning habit with some fiber and a new spindle:

Grafton added some of their beautiful hand dyed bats and their Swan Spindle in Tulipwood:

Continuing with the sock obession i got a Sheep to Shoe sock yarn spinning kit at The Fold as well as some wonderful Merino-Tussah:

I also purchased the Twisted Sister Sock Workbook and Color in Spinning

I was also lucky enough to try a Jensen Spinning Wheel – specifically a Tina II – boy did that spin like a dream, it was like being an instant expert spinner. The next contract money that comes in, just might get tossed that direction.