Stitches West 2008, Part 1

I know this update’s a bit late, but I wasn’t able to take stash photos until this afternoon.

So! I went to Stitches West for the first time this year. Unfortunately (or fortunately?) I went slightly over budget on yarn and goodies. But I was still under budget overall, since food cost less than I’d anticipated. And I’m not too worried about how much I spent, actually. I hadn’t bought any yarn since October, and I don’t need to buy any more for at least another few months, so it’ll all even out in the end.

Anyway. Jessimuhka and I flew up last Thursday afternoon. We took the bus and then light rail to the hotel, which went surprisingly smoothly. We checked in and waited for The Nut Graf to join us, and then we all headed down to the Market Preview.

Of course, some purchases were made:

Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock Lightweight in Star Sapphire and Aquaboy, and Silkie Socks that Rock in Sunstone. Believe it or not, I’ve never worked with STR before. I’ve never even bought any before now. But I’m so glad waited until I could buy these in person – I adore the colors! (The Aquaboy’s actually not that true to color in this photo, though; it’s a bit more green than this.)

Claudia Handpainted Fingering Weight in Sharks, from the Purlescence booth. This was on my Stitches shopping list because while I can actually get Claudia’s fingering weight in San Diego, this particular colorway is only available at Purlescence, as far as I can tell from Google. And being a Sharks fan, I absolutely had to have this!

Malabrigo Lace in Purple Mystery, from the ImagiKnit booth. I pretty much loved this yarn at first sight, though believe it or not, I almost didn’t buy it. (I was overly worried about the budget, I think.) Luckily Jessimuhka was there to enable me, though!

I also bought a Ravelry tote bag and sticker. I hadn’t originally planned on getting the tote, but I once I saw it in person I was sold! It’s a nice tote, and it will be perfect for lugging WIPs to knit nights.

This update’s starting to get super long, so part 2 will follow this weekend!