Belated Monday Masterpiece

Since I posted about Stitches South (insert Mr. Yuck face) on Monday, I waited until today to share my weekend masterpiece. Using half of a skein of Berroco Vintage DK in a pretty navy blue with red and purple threads escaping from the yarn strand (50% acrylic/40% wool/10% Nylon)--I know, not my usual exotic choice of yarn!--I knit up the Corinthian Tam by Angela Hahn from my newly purchased emag version of Interweave Accessories 201. I love, love, love being able to download magazines to my Ipad and then being able to take them with me wherever I go!  And since the weather took a turn for the frigid this week, I will get to wear it today!

So, ta-dah!

Stitches South Treasures

First of all, I would just like to say that I MET ANNA ZILBOORG!  Not only that, but I have an autographed mittens-to-socks book, had my picture taken with her, and was treated to an in-person explanation of how to turn double-stranded mittens into double-stranded socks.  How awesome is that?!

And now about the rest of the weekend ...

My mom and I went to the Stitches South 2012 convention this past weekend.  We've been anxiously awaiting this weekend for a year.  After the awesome experience of last year's convention, we were super excited about taking all day on Friday for the market--something we wished we had done last year.  And you know what?  We were SO DISAPPOINTED!!  Almost none of last year's major vendors were there; no Mission Falls, no Yarnmarket, no Webs, no Crystal Palace, no Ravelry!  Craftsy was there, and that was the highlight of our Friday market experience as we were given free t-shirts, bags, and a FREE CLASS ON CRAFTSY! WOOHOO!  Every vendor that was there had only a few pidly things, pretty much all winter colors that they hadn't been able to sell over the winter--LOTS of remnants from last season with not many skeins and not much to choose from.  Some vendors had maybe 25 skeins of yarn in their booths--one had that much and a couple batts of fiber and that's all folks--or they had specialty yarn like muskox that was $80 for 200 yards. I have been holding off on knitting something with last year's possum yarn because I wanted to get another skein or two this year, but even Fantail Fibers was missing from the vendors list.

And you know what was the worst part?  Everyone had cotton. I don't mean they had some cotton and then they had other fiber varieties of yarn, I mean the only thing they had was cotton.  Cotton, cotton, cotton.  If I want to purchase cotton, I'll go to Walmart.  You know? 

Anyway, here's what I took home with me between two days of market time:

3 skeins of hand painted silk from Dragonfly Fibers

an autographed copy of this awesome book

And that's it. Last year I spent $400 in two days.  This year I spent $67.  I mean it.  It was a sad weekend for yarn lovers throughout the South.

Monday Masterpiece: Hiker Chick Socks!

I finally finished the first pair of the Hiker Chick 2-at-a-time Sock pattern that I am testing for release.  You know I've been working on them, and you know that they were being knit in an exclusive new colorway, Copper Kettle, so now it's time to see them completed in all of their knitted glory!

I've already cast on for the smallest size, which I am knitting in another exclusive Zibeline Knits colorway called Little Sister. Rocket watched me cast on and asked "Um, Mom, what are you thinking about doing with those socks when you finish with them?" (insert sweet 8 year-old smile) Apparently, she has her eye on these, even though anyone will tell you that she is a flip-flop-no-socks kind of girl.  I'm taking that as a good sign for this multi, which is a combination of white, a few different pinks, and a burgundy/purple.

Remember, these colorways will be available in a few months exclusively as part of my Hiker Chick sock kits.  These colorways will not be available otherwise.  If you are interested in pre-ordering this kit in one of the three colorways that will debut, contact me and we can work out the advance details.  The final colorway option is, however, still under aesthetic consideration.