Day 3 ~ Until we meet again

As tiring as it was, I don't think any of us wanted the weekend to end. We woke Sunday morning to sunshine, but still chilly outside. We had to make a quick decision; catch the 10am train as originally planned, or change our departure from Stitches West to the 1pm train. Once arriving back home at the train station, my daughter still had another 20 miles to drive to drop me off at my house, and from there, another two hours to her home. We wanted to make sure she had enough time for the two hours, and still have time to spend with her other children that evening. Doing the math, it was all still do-able if we took the later train home. We scurried about getting showers, collecting our belongings in our hotel room, grabbing a muffin/fresh fruit and coffee breakfast, and still made it to market when the doors opened at 10am. Having perused the aisles for the previous two days, I knew exactly what I was after and set out to make my purchases. My first stop was at the Webs booth, where I wanted to get some cones of laceweight 2/10 merino tencel (Colrain lace). I already had some in a red back home, which gives me a total of 6,160 yds. to get knitted up this year. I think the stash is pretty well stocked up on laceweight now.

My daughter had seen a very cute project bag at the banquet the night before, that my friend Tracy (lilred on Ravelry) had purchased. These were a must have, except that Tracy and her sister couldn't remember where they purchased them at. They knew it was a booth towards the backside of the market, so that helped. Aimee managed to find it and called me to meet her there. Not only did Laura have the cutest bags and other gadgets, she also had some of the cutest buttons I had ever seen. She has a store on Etsy and you can find her on Ravelry at slippedstitch0604, which she has linked with her website.(Disclaimer: I don't know her personally, so my endorsement is strictly based on my purchases from her at Stitches West.) I bought the bag called "Knitmare", and check out the cute beads on the drawstrings!

Beads on the ends of the drawstrings

I love this button..'cuz you know everyone wants to touch a knitter!

My next stop was over to the Sanguine Gryphon booth. I mean, honestly, who could pass up some Bugga?!!? This fingering weight yarn is 70% superwash merino, 20% cashmere, and 10% nylon. I bought two skeins and each has 412 yards of yummy goodness, that I'm thinking might possibly turn into small shawls. That remains to be seen. Either way, this beautiful yarn will feel luxurious on the feet or around the shoulders. I chose the colorways, Experimental Love Child (on the right), and Autumn Tiger Beetle. Again, the same disclaimer as above applies here.

As promised in my Day 2 post, here is a pic of the t-shirts I bought for the three of us. If you're interested, I believe you can order them from yarndogs.com, located in Los Gatos, CA. Also, if you order online, you have to have Microsoft Outlook, so if you would rather call, their number is 408-399-1909.

The last purchase I have to share with you is some of the best moisturizer I have ever used! Like most people, I tend to be prone to dry skin in the winter months, and have to moisturize frequently, especially my heels and hands. When my granddaughter, Alex, showed me her Lo-Lo bar by Bar-maids, I practically sprinted to their booth! What a yummy array of products that can be used many different ways. Not only can my lo lo bar be used to soften my skin, I can also run my fingers through my hair after using it on me, to tame any frizz or wild hairs. When my hair is exposed to humidity or rain, it goes curly on me, so after I flat iron it, I now run my fingers through it and it's perfect...and stays that way without a greasy feeling!!! I use body spray from Victoria's Secret more than I do perfume, and my favorite flavor is called Love Spell. Well, "lo" (pun intended) and behold, I was able to get my lo-lo bar in one called, My Love Spells, which smells the same. I LOVE it!!! They also have a product called Face Pudding, Lo-lo Body Scrub, Lo-lo lips, and yes, they have Lo-lo for men! Oh, and another perk is, it's all natural and environmentally safe. A plus for me, since I'm prone to eczema. I will definitely be ordering more of this product. I love my orange juice flavored lip balm and my Lo-lo to go bar for my purse or knitting bag!

Our trip back to the train station in Santa Clara was a nightmare, but the fabulous long weekend we had made up for it!!!. We got on our train, had a fun trip home laughing and marveling at our goodies, and already making plans for next year. If you have never been to a Stitches event, I highly recommend it. However, if you can't get to one, there are now so many different knitting/crocheting events popping up all over the country. Even podcasters are now holding their own fiber retreats. Too. Much. Fun!!!