The Haul

The weekend before last, my mom and I went to Stitches West. Since I no longer attend a regular knitting or spinning group, and haven't been to a Spindles and Flyers guild meeting recently, it was great to see so many people I hadn't seen for some time.

Here are this year's purchases.


Malabrigo Rios in Purple Mystery.


Madelinetosh Pashmina in Duchess, to make a cardigan (Atelier).


Pigeonroof Studios Super Sock in Raspberry. My mom bought this so I can make her a pair of fingerless gloves and a scarf.


Pigeonroof Studios Siren Two Sock in Tychian Purple. I've never bought Pigeonroof yarn before, only fiber, so I'm really excited to try these. I love how deep the color is!


Non-yarn purchases included some fat quarters from A Verb for Keeping Warm and stitch markers from Miss Purl.


First up to be knitted is the Malabrigo Rios. Malabrigo March is just around the corner, and I'll be making a Crooked Paths hat.



I'm off to swatch!

New Yarns, New Project

Another Stitches has come and gone. I went on Friday with some friends from Ravelry, and ran into several more while I was there. It was nice to see so many familiar faces, especially considering that two years ago I didn't really know any other knitters in person. Ravelry has certainly changed that.

As for the shopping at Stitches, I pretty much stuck to my plans. Here's what I got:



(I rather like how all the colors go together.)

From left to right we have:

50/50 Silk/Merino fiber in No. 9 from A Verb for Keeping Warm. I know I said I wanted to try something other than merino or merino blends, but this was too pretty to pass up! I think it would be great as a laceweight.

Malabrigo Lace in Paris Night. Actually, I didn't buy this yarn at Stitches. As if going to Stitches wasn't enough yarn shopping for one day, R and I stopped by my LYS (Stash) afterwards. There had been some of the laceweight at Stitches, but I wasn't crazy about the colors, so I figured I was better off checking out my LYS, since they had just received a shipment of Malabrigo (both lace and worsted).

Malabrigo Dos in Indiecita. If you knew the password, the nice folks at the Malabrigo booth gave you a skein of yarn to try! I can't wait to knit this up, probably as a pair of fingerless mitts.

Toots LeBlanc BFL/pygora laceweight in Chocolate. This was the only thing I bought that wasn't on my list, but I figured it was okay because (1) I skipped purchasing something else on my list and (2) I walked the rest of the market first in case I saw something else I would rather have. Toots LeBlanc was my favorite new find (thanks to Stash and Burn); I love that their yarns and fibers are left their natural color.

Black Water Abbey worsted weight in Moss. I'm planning to make a vest with this yarn, and the color is a nice fit for the first color/theme grouping of Project Spectrum: Cardinal Directions, which starts today.

But before I begin my vest, I'm casting on for Malabrigo March! I started working on Ishbel this morning (using Malabrigo Lace in Paris Night).



My progress is a little slow since I keep stopping to pet the oh-so-soft Malabrigo. Mmmmmmm.

Out West

On Friday, I went to Stitches West with a group of Ravelers. We had a great time, and came home with lots of goodies.

The market was overwhelming, as usual, but I managed to restrain myself from spending too much. In fact, except for the tee-shirt I bought, everything I purchased had been on my list.

I bought three skeins of Malabrigo Yarn Merino Worsted, in Violetas, Geranio, and Continental.



Some of the sponsor booths were handing out free samples, so I got a mini skein of Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn and one of Malabrigo lace weight.



Since I'm part of the group Malabrigo Junkies on Ravelry, I also received a test skein of Malabrigo's hopefully-soon-to-be-released sock yarn. Any pattern suggestions? I have a hard time picking patterns for variegated yarns, although these colors look great in the skein.



My non-yarn purchases included Evelyn A. Clark's Knitting Lace Triangles and a set of zero stitch markers.



Of course, the day wouldn't have been complete without stopping by the Ravelry booth. It was great to meet Jess and Casey, and to see all of the Ravelry pins people were wearing around the market. I played along in the passport game, and ended up buying a tee-shirt and a set of buttons.



Stitches may be over, but now I can knit up my new yarn. I've already started an Amanda Hat (pdf) with the Malabrigo in Violetas.



I'm enjoying it so far!