Day 2 of year 3 ~Thank you, Jasmine!!

Saturday morning came quickly, and even though the weather was so icky, we opted to walk across the street to the convention center. I think the three of us had it in mind that we were going to hit the market hard, because there was still a lot to do before the fashion show that night. Aimee (daughter) still had a sleeve to knit on her tunic, plus seam it together. Granddaughter Alex, still had half of a sleeve to knit and seam her dress. Going to market is one of those things where you split up after agreeing upon a designated meeting place at a certain time. Or at least for us, that's what we decided to do. We each had our own agenda, and kept in contact via cell phones, if we saw something we knew the other was looking for. At one point, the three of us hooked up at a booth that was selling t-shirts and part of the proceeds went for breast cancer research. I ran out of battery juice before I could get a picture of them, but once my battery is recharged, I'll put up a picture of the ones I bought for us.

  My new Schacht Hi-Lo drop spindle with 4 ounces of  Polwarth... LOVE it!!

 Four ounces of beautiful  50/50 tencel wool blend in the colorway Peacock Plume from Nancy Finn of Chasing Rainbow Dyeworks from Willits, CA. I can hardly wait to spin it!!

Before I knew it, it was time to get in line for the meet 'n greet with Jasmine and Gigi, of the Knitmore Girls podcast. I met them three years ago at my first Stitches West, and I never miss seeing them. This year, Dr. Gemma of the Cogknitive podcast, joined them, as well as Andrew (Jasmine's hubby), and Gregory who occasionally hijack the microphone when Jasmine and Gigi aren't looking, and record an episode. They are all wonderful people, and I learned first hand what a great enabler Jasmine is (pics above...see what I mean?)!  I mentioned to her that I wanted to purchase my first drop spindle, and she immediately recommended I walk straight over to Carolina Homespun and ask Morgaine for a Schacht Hi-Lo. The people there were all very helpful and friendly, and I picked out some very pretty wool tencel blend roving, a total of four ounces. Just as I was about to pay for my new spindle and fiber, Jasmine came up and asked the lady to hold onto what I had, because we also needed to get four ounces of Polwarth. I'm so glad I did! Just as Jasmine said, it's great to practice with. I was so lost and said I had no clue what I was doing. She said if I would meet her over in the area with the tables and chairs near the food area at 3:30, she would work with me and show me what to do. How sweet was that?!?! I have been practicing since and absolutely love it!!!! I'm still just making "art yarn", but I'm understanding more each time I pick it up. Who knows? maybe eventually, I'll graduate to an actual wheel! For now, I'm enjoying my spindle and am having so much fun with it! Oh, and as an added bonus, Jasmine and Gigi give out great swag bags at their meet 'n greets! You actually only got one skein of the Lamb's Pride Bulky, but Alex didn't want hers, so she gave it to me. Now I can knit my clogs I've been wanting. Last but not least, I don't know how I could've nearly forgotten, but while waiting to get my hugs from Jasmine, Gigi, and Gemma, I purchased a skein of fingering weight superwash merino that Susan from Abstract Fiber named the Knitmore colorway. This past year, Gigi had some pretty major issues with her heart and had to have surgery. In honor of her, $2. of each purchase gets donated to the American Heart Association. Sweeeet!!

       I'm thinking this 382 yds. wants to be knitted up into the Citron shawl.

The Regia is probably going to be knitted into some socks for grandchildren

While I was waiting to meet up with Jasmine for my lesson, I had the opportunity to meet and talk with Jess and Casey, the founders of Ravelry, along with one of their assistants, Sarah. What wonderfully, sweet people, and Jess looks adorable and glowing with her pregnancy! A real treat to meet them, for sure!!

While I was working with Jasmine, Aimee and Alex were knitting furiously on their garments. We agreed we would head back over to our hotel room at 5pm to seam everything up, and get ready for the banquet and show. Talk about cutting it close!!!! While I seamed up the sides and one sleeve of Aimee's tunic, she seamed up the other sleeve. A lot of knitters dread the finishing aspect, but I am one of those that doesn't mind it at all. Then the major snafu was discovered....I forgot the entire sweater was knitted in reverse stockinette and I had seamed the sleeve inside out!!! To cut to the chase, Aimee unpicked it, stitched it back up the right way, and while she was freshening up her makeup, etc., I set the sleeves in and seamed the tunic the rest of the way. I finished at 6:33pm and the banquet started at 6:30!!!! Alex had already finished her dress and looked stunning in it. A gorgeous teal lacy mohair with white hearts encircling the sleeve cuffs and the hem. We raced downstairs to the hotel desk and asked them to please call us a cab, as it was pouring down rain and none of us wanted to walk into dinner looking like drowned rats and smelling of wet dogs.

We had the most awesome time, and lucked out getting seats at the same table as my friend Tracy from home, and her sister and niece. Tracy has a knitting club at the elementary school she teaches at, just 5 houses or so down the street from my house. She is just the sweetest person...she could tell I needed a glass of wine, so she bought both of us a glass of the best red wine I've ever had. It went perfect with the filet Mignon (I made an exception to my no meat diet), salad, veggies, and bread we were served. Thank you, Tracy!!!

The fashion show...well, what can I say? This is the one where Stitches attendees get to model or show off  their knitted or crocheted items. AMAZING!!! We are already looking forward to next year!!! And of course, Rick Mondragon with XRX is always a hilarious riot!! We got out of there about 9:30, and headed back over to our hotel. When we walked in, we had a straightforward shot of the lounge/bar, and could see my friend Lew sitting at the head of a large round table, getting more attention than he could handle. Just too funny! There was an after-market party going on, and we ran to pull up some chairs to join the Blue Mountain Fiber Arts (Socks that Rock) ladies, Lew, and a few other ladies we've made friends with and agreed we would have to meet up with again next year. Lew even insisted he had to have some pictures of Alex in her dress. Sixteen years old, and she said she had a blast on the runway. She was definitely rockin' the show!!! I have pictures, but I won't post them until I ask for permission.

It was the perfect ending to a very long day, and we were having the best time ever. The lounge closed up at 11pm, so we parted ways with each other's Ravelry names, and said goodnight. The three of us headed upstairs to our room trying to decide if we wanted to catch a later train than originally planned, so we could do more shopping. Before we nodded off, it was agreed we would take a later afternoon train, even though it meant getting up and getting ready so we could be back across the street when the doors opened at 10am for market. The exhilaration of the whole experience overtook us, and we quickly fell into a deep slumber. zzzzzzzzzz!