STITCHES MIDWEST

Last week was a very busy one for me.  I spent a lot of time at the Elgin Knit Works.  Tuesday, Teri had her meet and greet for all of her fans, Wednesday was the shop’s Mid-summer’s Eve party, and Thursday I was there to discuss After This Row.  It was a lot of fun and I enjoyed every moment of it. Congratulations to all of my raffle winners!  I know they will be very useful to you.

Thursday night was also very exciting for me.  My friend Debbie arranged something truly exciting.  She arranged for me to meet Paula Emons-Fuessle of the Knitting Pipeline podcast (on Ravelry she’s known as PrairiePiper)! I was very excited and nervous.  Well, Paula is a delight, and so very sweet and nice.  I was so delighted to meet her but I will admit I was (and still am) a little star struck so talking was not coming easily even after we were asked to join her group.  With Paula and her friends, we sat and knitted for a couple of hours, it was a great way to spend the evening. Thank you Paula for inviting us to spend some time with you. Thank you Debbie, I am very blessed to call you my friend!

One more thing… I will put links to Paula’s Ravelry page and website when I get her approval.  Paula has designed some great patterns: 2 shawls (Hyla Brook and Piper’s Journey) both beautiful and a pair of fingerless mitts (Mildred Mitts) that are also very cute).

It’s Friday and we’re goin’ to STITCHES!  Debbie, Teri, Tina and I have our day planned out.  (The weather is a little dreary but we don’t mind, we need the rain and we’re going to be inside all day.)  Anyway, our 1^st order of the day is breakfast.  We need nourishment!  Now we’re off to the convention center, fortunately, it’s not a long drive and we arrive at STITCHES just after it opens.  Don’t you know, a minute after we get out of the van the sky opens up and we all get wet.  Now, I don’t mean a little wet – we get drenched.  My hair has fallen, my make-up has smeared a bit, I am soaked from head to toe and I basically look like a drowned rat.  But, I don’t care I’m at STITCHES and I’m going to shop!

We start in the 1^st aisle – working from the left side of the facility to the right.  This idea seemed very popular as the aisle was packed.  We didn’t stop at every booth as we walked through but every vendor had something beautiful or different to admire.   If you’ve never been to STITCHES, I would describe it as “Sensory Overload”. We always walk through it once before purchasing anything (there are a few exceptions) and then go back through again. It actually works out well this way – the crowd has usually dispersed a little more during the second time around and it’s easier to get a better look.  We stopped for a hot chocolate break and did a little knitting.  Hot chocolate in the middle of August?  Yes, the air conditioning was on high and being wet left me very chilly.  I think it took me all day to dry.  

I didn’t do too much damage to my pocket book but here are a few of my purchases.

Sorry about the picture quality - I couldn't get the picture to rotate the right way.

Yarn purchased from Tucker Woods and The Plucky Knitter and my Blocking Roll.  I also purchased some wool from Webs and a Burr Oak felted mitten pattern by Kate Wright Designs (not pictured).

It was a great day and I can't wait to do again next year!

If you attended STITCHES Midwest I’d love to hear about your experience, was it your first?  What was your favorite purchase and what other treasures did you find?