I figured I'd get this part out of the way first. SAFF is a small, but growing, fiber festival held in North Carolina every fall. Last year I didn't make many purchases. This year, I decided that I would only look for shawl pins, interesting buttons, and useful knitting tools. I only purchased one thing that fits in these categories:
This is Nancy Shroyer's Knee-sel, an ingenious and utterly necessary tool for any knitter who follows any kind of pattern/chart. It made knitting in the car on the way home a breeze. I never have to worry about having a flat surface to hold my chart; the Knee-sel is always there, always standing at the ready. I love this thing and am so thankful to Nancy for making and marketing it.
So what else did I buy? Why yarn, of course.
From Jojoland comes Melody, a variegated fingering weight wool. I got two skeins in a beautiful blue/brown colorway. It will become either socks (hand wash only, but lovely) or a scarf. Very soft and lucious--and 220 yards on a ball.
I also purchased an Entrelac Shawl pattern from this vendor. I liked the way the model draped, but will likely use a different yarn than the pattern calls for.
Next, we have Just Our Yarn's Almaza:
This is a laceweight tencel yarn. I fell in love with the colors in this skein, particularly since the yarn's properties catch the light. I see a shawl, of course.
I purchased 2 skeins of sportweight from Bovidae Farms in black. I have two cones of a deep red in sport that I bought a couple of years ago from Webs. I'm hoping for a sweater with some stranded work on the cuffs, yoke, and waist. No pic or web--it's almost like it's top secret! Nice stuff, though...trust me!
What did I do before Brooks Farm? I can't believe I was restrained enough to walk out with just two skeins.
On the right we have Four Play, a merino/silk blend hand-dyed and utterly gorgeous. These folks know how to work some color.
On the left is Acero, a new yarn for Brooks Farm. It's a wool/silk/viscose blend and it's Just. Freakin. Gorgeous. I touched this stuff for two days. I want to make a pair of pajamas from it. This photo doesn't even begin to illustrate how this yarn catches the light.
Scarves, I think, from both, or a small shoulder shawl from the Acero, since the skein has a generous 420+ yards of sporty goodness.
From Interlacements, I purchased a kit for their beaded scarf. I bought a silvery grey yarn with black beads.
Now, the yarn purchases were fun and lovely and all, but there was one thing that I was absolutely OBSESSED with getting my hands on this year. About 1 hour after we left SAFF on Sunday afternoon, we got half a dozen of these babies:
Frog Jam is the best damn thing in the universe. Fig, Raspberry, Orange and Ginger--can you stand the flavor explosion that's happening in your head right now? This morning we made whole wheat biscuits and enjoyed a bit of this delicacy on them. MMMMM!
Next time: Classes and Knitters!
This calendar hangs on my kitchen door. I've got these French ads all over my apartment, so the calendar seemed like a good idea. I particularly like the Dutch Girl "chasing dirt" with her stick...I can just imagine what's happening on the other side of the can as the dirt huddles, terrified that it's about to get a good whack!