AUTHOR: Knitti-me TITLE: DATE: 5:45:00 PM ----- BODY:

Go West Young Man - Stitches West that is! Yes folks, I spent a very satisfying day wandering in a fibery bliss at Stitches West in Oakland. I drove two hours in anxious anticipation of meeting some fellow knit-bloggers for breakfast at Jack's Bistro. It was such a pleasure to be in the company of so many creative and talented ladies. Left to right is Hedi, Mariko's friend, Yvette a four-year veteran of Stitches West, Super Eggplant Mariko, Rachael of My Glass House, and Elizabeth of runonsentences Once breakfast was over, it was off to the Market! For those of us who were not registered as students, we had to stand in line for about 40 minutes just to get in the door! Ah, we can finally see the ticket booth. It was amazing to see so many creative garments and accessories all in one place - that was just on the attendees! And you KNOW they were all hand-made. Then there were the vendor booths. All I can say is WOW! Elizabeth and I wandered around together, admitting that we were just a bit overwhelmed. Occasionally we would bump into Rachael. Here we are at the Yarn Lady's stash diving frenzy. After about three hours of drinking in all the wonders of the Market, we met up for lunch. We were joined by Red Silvia and Joanna of J Strizzy. Once lunch was over, it was time to SHOP! Here is the yarn and pattern for a ponch-ette. It's a sign of a good sales person when you can strike up a conversation, end up trying on some of their sample garments, then walking off with your purchase. And yes, that's Ally-Do's hind end sitting on my pattern. Of course I couldn't resist casting on and knitting a couple of inches when I got home. I just can't seem to resist shiny, sparkly pretties and I bought a ball of S. Charles Ritratto to knit a pair of fingerless mitts. If you look really close, you can see two buttons, which will be used a wrist closures. It is quite wonderful when you are standing in a booth admiring a beautiful stole or wrap or sweater only to realize that you're standing next to the designer! I bought two more patterns just from having conversations with these talented women (and I just happen to have the yarn in my stash - hehe). Rant on...The only negative experience was at one booth where I was admiring a v-neck pullover with interesting ribbed shaping and I asked to see the pattern. The sales woman seemed a bit relunctant, but finally produces said pattern. When I determined that it would fit my dimensions, I asked to purchase said pattern. "Oh, we only sell the patterns with yarn purchase." Uh, OK. So we walk over to the bin with the specified yarn. Each skein was $21.00 and I would need 17 skeins for my size! She then reminded me that the patterns were not sold separately. Oh yeah. No thank you you snooty little yarn sales person...Rant off. So I pulled into my driveway after 12 hours of total fibery bliss, despite snooty yarn lady. Boy did I sleep well that night! Tomorrow - ROSEDALE!

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