Stitches West 2010

Saturday I spent all day at Stitches West 2010 at the Santa Clara convention Center. As the Examiner put it, "Stitches West is the knitter's version of Willie Wonka's Chocolate Factory." Actually better, no calories involved, but yarn diets do go out the windows very fast because yarn fumes make any resolution dissolve into thin air.

I had a map with booths marked on my map and a plan, but of course, after few hours, plan? which plan?

Brooks Farm Fibers, from Texas, does not have storefront, if you want to touch and feel their yarn, you need to catch them at a show, so 2 skeins of Acero: 60% Super Wash Wool, 20% Silk, 20% Viscose (Rayon), Fingering / 4 ply (14 wpi), on sale!



Maple Creek Farm, a new find (their first time at Stitches West.) Small farm in Telford, Pennsylvania (you will notice a trend here, I visit and buy from small operation booths.) Alexandria sock yarn in a  masculine color (I made the mistake of making socks for my father and my father-in-law and now I keep getting requests):



Lisa Souza, one of my favorites, I always buy something from them at Stitches. Both my father-in-law's and my father's latest socks were knit with some of her yarns, but this time I got something for me, Hardtwist Merino in Blackbewwie:



And then someone walked by me wearing this:



and I was in love. I never heard of this Wagtail Yarns before (they from Australia), but their colors are spectacular. And they did not flinch not even a little bit at me stroking their yarns allover my face to make sure their mohair would not make me itch.



And I got a free sample too:



Almost done. From Unwind I bought 2 skeins of Unisono by Zitron:



I have been looking for some long repeats sock yarn to make Gaia, and this is perfect.
My last purchase of the day was not yarn but a shawl pin from www.shawlpins.com:



The shawl is the Little Purple Shawl I made in five days after I frogged the Purple Charlotte:


Yarn: Nature's Palette Fingering by Hand Jive Knits

Pattern: December Little Shawl by Lucia Tedesco from Maglia!
Ravelry project page here.