Stitches West 2007: Part 3 (Saturday)

Are you getting tired yet of Stitches West recaps? Well this is the very last post about it (at least for THIS year).

Saturday morning I woke with excitement, but I was also a bit sad since I knew this was my last day at Stitches. When we arrived at the convention center, we soon discovered that there was some type of dance competition going in the ballroom which was the floor above the vendor booth area. I sat DH in a comfy chair next to an end table in a quiet corner (too bad there's no photo of it) and he set up the laptop with a movie and his headphones. I knew he'd be entertained for quite a few hours since he was watching Pirates of the Caribbean (for the millionth time).

The convention center was PACKED with people & the line to get tickets for admission to the Stitches Market was LONG! As I walked in, I noticed the crowds today were about 3 or 4 times that of the first night. WOW! Good thing I got most of my shopping and browsing completed on Thursday and Friday. I stopped back at the YarnDogs booth where I'd spied the sock blocker keychain the day before & purchased it as well as some KnitKlips. I then went to the Stitch Diva booth for help on my felted clogs. Sitting in the middle of the convention floor walkway was the Curiously Clever Clogs pattern designer, Jennifer, crocheting an afghan with the largest crochet hook I've ever seen. I stepped into their booth and told one of the workers of my dilemma with the pattern and she stated I'd have to speak with Jennifer since she'd never knitted them. Of course there was a smallish crowd around her, and since I had class, I decided to stop back later.

Since teaching my little sister to knit via the internet and telephone, and then attempting to teach my left-handed aunt to knit, and then being asked by my step-daughter for knitting lessons, I decided I should probably take a "how to teach knitting" class. Since I'd never formally taken any knitting lessons I wasn't sure how to approach teaching another person without frustrating them and me (as in the case with my aunt), so I decided to learn from a professional. The class was a one-hour market session named Teaching Learn-To-Knit by Beth Whiteside. Overall the class was great, but there was one student who slowed us all down a bit and it seemed like Beth had to rush through some of the things she was trying to convey. It wasn't the students fault though since she was hard of hearing, and although she sat in the front row, the noise level was horrible. Unfortunately the market session classes were in the vendor area of the convention center in screened off rooms, and not only did you have the noise from that, but then there was the noise from all the announcements on the PA system. Although I enjoyed the class immensely and learned a GREAT DEAL of useful information, I probably won't take another market session class again unless they move it out of the vendor area and into regular classrooms.



After class, I figured DH was still entertaining himself with his movie & that I may have a moment or two to do some last-minute shopping. I ended up at the perfect booth for some lace-weight yarn to start a project from Victorian Lace Today. The first skein I purchased is 903 yards of Graceful, a 100% fine lace wool, and the second skein is 3100 yards of Heaven, a tencel and merino wool blend. Unfortunately the photo doesn't show you the stunning sheen on the skein of Heaven, but if it knits up as beautifully as I hope, I will buy a skein of this in every color!

Unfortunately I got so side-tracked by all the beautiful lace-weight yarn, I completely forget to go back to the Stitch Diva booth for help on the clog pattern. DUH! I'd carried the darn half-knitted clog and pattern instructions around with me for two days, and completely forgot! I'm blaming it on all the yarn tempting my eyes & screwing with my brain.

That's it for my adventures at Stitches. I can't WAIT for next year! By the way, I think tomorrow I'll have a FO Friday!