Hangin’ with my Yarnies. Stitches West.
March 13th, 2011 § 3 Comments
Stitches West. Ok, ok, so it was a month ago, but I at least I am finally getting to it. With a neck that isn’t functioning, and my mandatory knitcation, I finally have time to get up to date.
So, before I proceed, I’d like to define two terms that I have created in my wooly webbed world.
1. to Yarn (verb): the act of working with, or playing with yarn of any type. Ex. As I wrote an email to each of my sisters, I was unaware that my cat was yarning with 183 yards of fingerling weight superwash merino wool, and then I had to spend 45 minutes sorting, collecting, and re-winding it.
2. Yarnie (noun): A person, or creature, who yarns. Ex. Me, both of my cats, but primarily the fat one, and anyone who knits, crochets, spins, or weaves.
I understand that Yarnies sounds a lot like Carnies, you know, the fine, weird folk from the Carnival. It is not meant to be insulting, but, lets be honest here, yarn people, much including myself, tend a little more to be the black sheep of the flock. I have called people who yarn, Yarnies, for quite some time, but never in public, as I haven’t wanted to offend anyone. However, at the Ravelry.com Happy Hour, just after the market preview, I did meet a woman with a beard gloating over her yarn purchases before the flocks of yarnies could rush the market hall during general admission the following day.
I did meet some great folks at the happy hour. Though, in traditional Yarnie fashion, the happy hour happened from 8–9:30 pm, which, in my book, is a weeeee bit late for happy hour, and more like, well, dinner time.
The following day I had a strict plan of previewing, making notes, taking pictures, and gathering information to bring home, dwell on for the evening, then return the following day to make my purchase. Well, we all knew that my plan had only a chance in hell of being fulfilled, but I lied to myself to try to make it through. Overall, I did really well, only purchasing a few small things that day, and I did, in fact, ruminate over my notes and ideas on Friday evening, and returned on Saturday to make my well thought out purchases.
I have to admit that I was disappointed not to see many of the big yarn manufactures there. In fact, I only saw a few. Cascade Yarns was one of them, and I made good friends, but no Plymouth, no Malibrigo, no Berocco, and well, really no one else. There were many small manufactures there, which was great. Fun to get to see and touch unique fibers and colors that you really can’t find anywhere else. I was also disappointed to see many signs saying “No Photography,” which meant that I lugged my 5lb Nikon D200 around all day as an exercise weight. I guess the yarnie vendors are worried about you seeing a knit garment/blanket/accessory/what-have-you and taking a picture and re-creating. But really, no pictures of a hank of yarn? Really? Bummertown. Thus, all of the pictures in this post, the few that there are, are crappy sneaky/hidden iPhone pics. Bummertown about the quality, sorry.
One of my favorite was Tess Designer Yarns. Such luxurious yarns and amazing colorways. I couldn’t keep my paws off of them. I made one impulse buy from Tess, and another for a specific project. I resisted the cashmere that I really, really wanted, as I felt that $225 pre tax was more than someone who is unemployed should be spending on a sweater.
Caption: Impulse buy baby blanket. No, I know I don’t have a baby, but it was just so beautiful that I bought the yarn to make one. It will be waiting for the day, but in my yarn-stash none-the-less.
At the Ravelry dinner-time happy hour I heard stories about The Sanguine Gryphon and made my way over to the booth, which, sadly was hidden sort of near the back. The gals working the booth were dressed in ren-faire costume, and the yarns and samples at the booth were even more impressive than the yarn wenches. After some bad experiences I am trying to stay away from variegated yarns, and even though The Sanguine Gryphon had some of the greets variegated colorways I have seen yet, I only bought a solid color, enough to do a cute, lightweight sweater.
Caption: Not the yarn I bought, but a notable yarnie item at the Sanguine Gryphon booth.
Then, around 4 o’clock on Friday, it hit me. I had over-yarned. I found myself just wandering through the market halls, glassy-eyed and parched. I forgot to bring water, even though I did remember my glut ten free sandwich and a yogurt. The yarnies running Stitches West weren’t accommodating an audience with a glutten allergy, so I was glad I planned ahead. Knowing it was time to go, I left, arriving back at home in a heap, unable to review my notes until after getting dinner, and a margarita.
In addition to the many yarn vendor booths, there were also some vendors of other varieties, though most all related to yarn. Looks like I am not the only one who has trouble with their cats yarning.
All in all it was a great event, and I was so happy that I learned about it in January, so that I was able to attend. During the Happy Hour, I a yarnie—not the one with the beard—tried for about 20 minutes to convince me that Stitches West is unlike any trade-show I had ever been to before, though she never really stated why, just “You’ll see! You’ll see.” I have to disagree with her assessment. I have been to enough trade-shows in enough different segments of the consumer world to know that they are all the same, just the goods change, and the genders/ages/weights/general demographics of the die-hard enthusiasts at the show.
So, in total:
Bearded Ladies: 1
Dogs in Knit Handbags: 2
Booths for removal of cat hair from yarn projects: 1
People who stopped me to comment on my Subway Hat: 50+
Great yarn: too much to count.
Days until the next Stitches West: 325, give or take.
I snuck out to Stitches West for a while Sunday afternoon and got my yarn fix. I got some interesting multi-fibre pink stuff with a lurex thread for a scarf. It was a steal, half-off and I took her last 4 balls. I also got a beautiful multi-toned Blue Leicester wool for a tank or pullover. I don’t usually buy variegated yarns but this one was singing a siren song. Whatcha gonna do?
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