Stitches Midwest 2010

My husband and I went to Illinois with the primary purpose of me attending Stitches Midwest Market. It was an easy sale to get my husband to go along as he grew up in Chicago so planned to have lunch with two of his high school classmates. Here we are after lunch. (I'm the one in the pink shirt.)

The next day I went to Stitches and my husband had lunch with two grade school classmates. I couldn't take pictures at Stitches, so I took this picture in the parking lot.

I went with every intention of spending money, and I did! This is a sock yarn from Kitchen Sink Dyeworks if 60% superwash merino, 30% bamboo, and 10% nylon. Luscious!

This is something new to me! The core is stainless steel which is wrapped in silk. Another choice is to be wrapped in merino. It is called Habu and is like thread. They had a simple scarf displayed but no pattern, so after analyzing it, I came home and have started my scarf, but it is going to be a long process. Also will write up the pattern as I think it will be a nice pattern in any yarn. (Yes, Gloria, you can do it too.)

I met Cheryl Oberle many years ago, so it was fun to get more of her yarn. Today, my thought is to make this into Carol's Clever Little Shawl which is a free pattern on Cheryl's website: www.cheryloberle.com.

A few weeks ago I dug my spinning wheel out and have done a little spinning, but have been very unhappy with the roving I found. It is 10% alpaca, but has so much straw, etc in it, I spend most of my time picking it out and even then the resulting yarn is unusable. So, I'm going to throw all that away and start on this. It is from Karen Poulakos Fiber Arts Studio: www.artofspinning.com.

The necklace is stitch markers made by Jennie the Potter. She is from Minneapolis and makes beautiful pottery, sheep and yarn oriented. Her newest pieces (I think) are yarn bowls which I bought at Yarnover. www.JenniethePotter.com.

Self explanatory: a crochet hook small enough to fit in my fishing tackle accessory box which I carry with me all the time.

I loved this bag! Sorry the picture is sideways.

The sales pitch for this sold me. They are replacements for those rollers with the tape that picks up lint, crumbs, etc. These are made of silicone and can be cleaned by rinsing in water which returns them to their sticky surface. In the demonstration, they picked up seeds, hair, lint, crumbs, a small safety pin and a quarter. I used it last night to touch up a dusty, crumby spot on my hardwood floor. I'm anxious to use it on our screens to get off all the cottonwood seeds.

That part of the trip was enjoyable! Getting there was a challenge! We wanted to stay away from the freeways and tollways, so decided to go down through Decorah, IA and revisit a restaurant we had liked when we were there last fall. From there it was supposed to be a clear shot south, then straight east. But, somehow, we got off on the wrong road and ended up in Prairie du Chein, WI, and a one way street, so didn't know how to turn around and go back. Well, we followed the map and did make it, traveling on little county roads and going through little country roads. Interesting, but it make the drive a little more stressful.