There’s so much to share with you regarding Stitches West, but I’m going to break it up into several posts so I don’t overload your systems with photos.
We left the house Thursday morning and drove from Southern California to Northern California. We were lucky enough to be staying at the Santa Clara Hyatt Regency hotel which is attached to the Santa Clara Convention Center where the Stitches classes and shopping are. The hotel is very nice as are the rooms, but it seems like they tried to make everything a little bit contemporary which made for poor room functionality.
The bathroom had a wonderful shower curtain rod that bowed out so that you felt like you had more space in the shower, but the sink in the bathroom had the faucet mounted to the left of the sink which turned out to be very awkward to use.
After getting settled into our room, I went to the hotel lobby to meet up with a Laura and a few friends from the Anaheim Hills Knit Night on Mondays, so that we could attend the Ravelry meet-up together. Actually if it weren’t for Ravelry, there would not be a Monday knit night with these incredible women. It was interesting to see so many Ravelry users in one room, and I loved finally seeing Jess and Casey in person (from obviously a distance).
The only downside to the event was the cash bar. Obviously nobody told catering that knitters do indeed drink, and so there was only one small bar with one bartender. There was a continuous line for that bar for at least an hour. I felt so sorry for the bartender. After the Ravelry meet-up I met my husband at the hotel sushi bar for a bite to eat to fortify myself for the 3 hour shopping spree I was about to participate in. The area was crowded, understaffed, and slow as mud, but luckily the sushi was quite good. We finished dinner just in time to race to the market area to meet up with friends.
Most everyone was stopping at the Raverly booth first to pick up their Passports (more detail on that in a future post), but hubby went there for me as I raced to the Blue Moon fiber Arts booth. I grabbed a lot of skeins of lightweight sock yarn as I made my way through the mass of knitters in the booth. Since the purchase line was really long hubby waited in line for me while I figured out what I wanted. I think there were 7 skeins of yarn in my hands when I met up with him, but when I saw there will Mill Ends for about $7 less a skein than the regular skeins, I dumped most of the yarn I had and grabbed 3 skeins of it. I handed hubby enough money to make the purchase for me, and then told him I’d meet him at the next booth. Do I have the perfect husband or what?
I ended up with 3 skeins of Socks That Rock Mill Ends (1 skein of lightweight and 2 skeins of mediumweight), and 1 skein of Socks That Rock Silkie in Valkyrie. I just noticed yesterday that the Blue Moon logo is backwards on the labels and there are no colorways written on them so who knows what they are. I guess I’ll just call them gorgeous!
Next, I was off to Purlescence Yarns to purchase the Tulip Baby Cardigan kit. It was a bit more money than I’d normally spend on a baby cardigan, but I believe I’ll be using the pattern over and over again since there never seems to be a shortage of women having babies.
My final purchase for the evening was at Chameleon Colorworks for a skein of her beautiful Bambino yarn. I first saw her hand-dyed yarn at TNNA and instantly fell in love with the Twinkle Toes, Bambino and Evolution yarns. The Loopy Ewe just added the Bambino and Evolution yarns to her store today, so I suggest you get over there and pick some up. Believe me, you won’t regret it.
The market was open for 3 hours, but frankly after only getting 3 1/2 hours of sleep the night before, I was too exhausted to continue on and wanted to rest up for my class with Cat Bordhi. I think I fell asleep the moment my head hit the pillow.
Sounds like your hubby is definitely a keeper! Can’t wait to hear how the class with Cat Bordhi was.
Oh, it’s so much fun reading everyone’s posts about Stitches West, I almost feel like I was there. Hmmmm, Pea’s never stood in a yarn line for me – I think you win for best husband ever. (Although I’ll have to let Pea know so he can put in more of an effort.) 🙂 Your purchases are awesome – can’t wait to see your next post!!
I wish I lived out west, loks like you had a great time!
Ohhhhhh, your stitches sounds like it was fun fun!
Whats the total damage? Aren’t I mean today?
Looks like you had a lot of fun at Stitches. The Tulip Baby Cardigan is too cute and I’m sure your friends will love them!!
I’m jealous! That’s two years in a row your husband has accompanied you to Stitches, isn’t it? What a man! 🙂
Loved seeing your purchases! I think I need that baby cardi kit. They don’t sell just the pattern, do they? Can’t wait to see the STR Silkie knit up. I didn’t buy any — wasn’t sure about it. But the mill ends — wow! I got one skein of MW Gems and I am so excited!
Looking forward to more updates.
Lucky you! Great purchases. I so wished I could have gone and it plagued me all weekend. I just had to suck it up and realize that my life is changing! I am glad you had a great time….what a weird sink!
I am so jealous of your stash!
So wish I could have been there. 😦 Maybe next year!
Looks like you had lots of fun. Some serious stash enhancement! And your hubby is definitely a keeper… 🙂
Interesting faucet arrangement. And what is the deal with these new fabric things across the ends of beds in hotel rooms. It’s not a bedspread, it’s not a blanket, what exactly is it’s purpose? LOL
excellent purchases.
You do, indeed, have the most fabulous husband. Mine will sit in an LYS and wait for me while I shop, but I think the idea of not only going to a place like the Stitches marketplace but actually standing in line to buy yarn would send him running for the hills!
Love the STR you got. I understand the whole concept of mill ends, but in my opinion you got an amazing deal — any sock yarn Tina dyes is amazing, even if it’s not up to her (extremely high) standards!
Yup, perfect!
Looks like you made the most of your first day. Boo-tiful yarns!
Man. I’m really wishing I’d picked up a hank of that Silkie STR. Oooh. Oh well. I can always get some later. We had fun that first night, didn’t we? 🙂
Kristie,
It was great to meet you guys at Stitches and yes your husband is one of the best ever, such a keeper that man of yours!
And in your photo of Casey and Jess from “a far” I noticed that you guys were sitting at the table behind me and Rebecca (this was before we met you guys in line to the Market) the only reason why I know is because that’s me in the lower right-hand corner of the picture wearing my Central Park Hoodie.
Can’t wait to hang out with you guys again soon.
What fun goodies you bought! So jealous.
Your Hubby is so helpful! You’ll love the Tulip sweater – I saw one that a friend made and it looks so adorable.