Stitches West 2015

Per usual, I did a lot of damage this year at Stitches. It was made worse by believing that I'd only get to visit on one of the days. I ended up going three out of four days... As you can see that was a bit of a problem. So without further ado, I give you the 2015 Stitches West damage report.

This year we'll go though everything in the four columns that I've arranged.
In the top left we have two skeins of Twisted Elegance. I was gifted them by my friends Janet and Jennie as a belated birthday gift. (It doesn't count as a purchase, right?) Jennie has recently bought a yarn shop in Medford, Oregon. I can't wait to see what she's done with the place.
Below is a bowl from Jennie the Potter and a neat measuring tape from YOTH yarns that allows you to measure your bust on your own. Pretty nifty.
Below the gown and measuring tape is my annual Thundercloud-colored fiber from Red Fish. I just can't help myself. Every year I need to buy roving that looks like a Thundercloud. This year's blend is 50%Camel and 50%Silk.

In the next column we'll start with the 5 red skeins of Rockwell in the Bing Cherry colorway. I fell down hard at Jill Draper's booth. Below the five red skeins are four more skeins of Rockwell. (Darkest Roast, Lichen, and two skeins in Pacific.) And to procure all this yarn, I visited her booth three times. The first time I got the two skeins of Pacific to make Connor a scarf. The next day I ran into Carol, showed her the booth, sighed over the red. She asked me the magic words, "Do you need a wedding gift?" Who am I to say no to yarn? Thank Carol! After I parted ways with Carol, I snuck over and bought the skein of Darkest Roast and Lichen. I didn't want to seem ungrateful. But I needed those skeins for my own scarf.
Underneath all the Rockwell are six skeins from White Birch Fiber Arts. I was signed up to help at Amy's booth (Canon Hand Dyes) but Lisa (the booth next door) needed the help. I ended up buying the three skeins on the left, but she gifted me the three skeins on the right after I helped he keep up with restocking on Thursday. It was a madhouse! The color ways from left to right are: Sugarbush, Strangefire, Wild Thai Ryder, My Rainbow Can Beat Your Honor Student, Fade to Black, and Does This Rainbow Make My Black Look Big.

The next column has a soap dish and Utensil pot from Kunihiro Pottery. So pretty. The soap dish went to my Mum because her's had fallen apart. The pot went to my future kitchen.
Below that is a pattern for No. 002. I saw the sample at the YOTH booth. Samples work. I usually don't buy patterns, but I got that one.
Next are three skeins from Canon Hand Dyes. From left to right is Silver, Yoga For Elephants, and Etude No.120. I bought the Yoga for Elephants and Silver because I can't find my Yoga For Elephants socks! A tragedy. So really I only bought 1 new skeins because replacement skeins don't count as stash.
Below that are two skeins of Spincycle Yarn's new colorway, Mississippi Marsala in the Dyed In The Wool base. I couldn't help myself. Their yarn is so pretty.

In the last column we start with two cups from the Yarnover truck. Connor and I had been meaning to get reusable cups for tea. I wanted to have cups that didn't have a particular brand of coffee house on it.
Below that is a Japanese Stitch dictionary. I quite liked the patterns in this one, therefore it had to be mine.
Next are three skeins from Anzula. I asked Connor if he'd like a scarf. He said yes, so I handed him two skeins. It seemed especially appropriate because it is in the "For Better Or Worsted" base. He chose the Mariana color way. I got a skein of Squishy in Spruce since I realized I was running short for my wedding shawl. Last are two skeins procured from the Yarnover Truck from Baah La Jolla in the California Poppy and Grape Vine color ways.

So all in all it was a great yarn year. I bought another collection of yarn for a very good friend who reads this blog. Once the package makes it to her, I'll add the additional skeins to this post. I chose well. Connor was tempted to keep a skein for himself.

Edit: The package has now arrived, so here is her haul.

In the top corner is a ball of Opal in the Geographer color way. It was based on Le Petit Prince. The next skein to the right of the Opal is Anzula's Squishy in the Keola colorway. Next up is Dragonfly Fibers in the Dragon Sock base. The coloway is Tourmaline. That one seems to shimmer with color. Next is Miss Babs' Yummy in the Coffee Break colorway. Last in the top row is a skein of Spincycle, Dyed in the Wool in the colorway Venus In Furs. On the bottom left is a skein of White Birch Fiber Arts in the Electric Slide colorway. And at the very bottom are two skeins in the Charles base from Canon Hand Dyes. The top skein is I Am All Astonishment and below that is Yoga For Elephants. It was a lot of fun putting that package together!

The Wedding Shawl

It has begun. The wedding shawl. The wedding shawl that needs to be done in 15 days. After waffling over several patterns, I went with the Frozen Leaves pattern, but I'm using the (rav id) like2makethings variant. I almost went with the Kristen TenDyke Leaves Shawl, but decided that the leaves weren't high enough on the shawl. I still like the pattern. I still bought the pattern too... maybe when the wedding craziness is over I'll have time for it.

I'm using two skeins of Anzula Squishy in the Spruce color way. And I'm switching skeins every two rows to make sure it is blended. One skein I got was bluer than the other, but I decided that it was a blessing in disguise. I love the skeins that are more yellow, but they don't look as good against my skin.

Now the question is, can I do it? Can I have a shawl knit and blocked by the wedding even though I have absolutely no time to do it. Well, we won't know if I don't give it a go.

Oma Approved

January's adventure involved a road trip to see my Oma. After meeting all of Connor's family, we felt it was important that he meet more of mine. Plus, he needed to be Oma-approved. 

We drove up our usual route with the traditional pit-stop in Weed for ice cream and french fries. Mount Shasta had a good dousing of snow since I'd last been by. 

We had a great time driving up. I had hoped that Christopher would be the driver when we reached the Oregon state sign because I knew he would be willing to pull over on the highway. Mum allowed us one take before we all ran back to the car. Thank goodness we got it on the first go.

I had a feeling Oma would like Connor, but I didn't realize that she would be an enthusiastic supporter. They hit it off. Yay!

Also note that Oma is wearing the sweater I made her. She didn't know we were coming. She wears it because she loves it. I think it suits her quite well.

After a few days of visiting we drove back down, although this time we took the coastal route. I knew that this would all be new to Connor. What I didn't realize was that Christopher hadn't seen much of the coast either. We stopped to see the cobra plants. Of course at this point Christopher had to imitate the "Purple Cobra" thing from the Dodgeball movie.

As it turns out, not only do Connor and Christopher get on well, they egg each other on. Their bromance went to 11 on this trip. I almost felt like the third wheel.

 Just look at these guys.

We continued on and stopped by the Trees of Mystery. This time around we realized two things that no one in the family had noticed before:

1. Paul Bunyan is not wearing a black shirt. It is his chest hair. 

2. You won't see it in this picture because Connor is in front, but Babe is definitely a male ox. 

Shenanigans continued as we stopped for dinner in Eureka.

And they didn't end the whole trip. We weren't sure anyone was going to get any sleep that night in the hotel. There was far too much laughter.

Christmas In Kentucky

Back in December, I flew out with Connor to spend two weeks in Kentucky with his family for Christmas. After landing, Connor's brother picked us up. Unfortunately we took a wrong turn and accidentally ended up in Indiana.

We took advantage of it and had a look at a nearby fossil bed that was along the Falls of the Ohio State Park.

It was a work trip for Connor, but he still had a few days off to spend on adventures. His brother, cousin, and I went to Natural Bridge on a particularly beautiful day. But, I got to spend plenty of time with different family members while Connor was working. An adventure that stands out is the day Connor's brother and cousin took me out on an excursion that ended with me falling into a river (because of my own pride). Luckily I had packed extra clothes. Also, there aren't pictures because I had enough sense to leave the camera in the car so as to keep it dry.

On a different day, Connor's Mum and I went off to Buffalo Trace distillery. It was fascination to learn about how the distillery was one of three that was allowed to remain open during Prohibition in order to manufacture alcohol for "medicinal" purposes. We also learned that there are remnants of laws from Prohibition that allow pharmacies to sell liquor because of its medicinal qualities.

Last year was the first year I ever had a Christmas tree. But this year I joined the family to cut down one. It was quite an adventure. I fell into a creek during that excursion as well...

I also learned how to chop wood. Connor told me it would be tough because much of what we had to chop was Hedge Apple. I chopped and chopped. Eventually I looked at the axe and noticed that it was pretty flat. I told Connor, "I'm no expert, but is the axe suppose to look like that?" To which Connor replied, "That is the dullest axe I've ever seen." 

We told his Dad about it later and I was asked if Connor had been hazing me. Connor replied that it was chopping wood on "hard mode."

I had a fantastic time out in Kentucky. The only thing I missed was snow. The day we left the temperature dropped. Ah well, I'm sure I'll get to see it in the future.