When I teach an all-day class, there is a long lunch break so that we can eat in a leisurely manner….ha!  Just kidding.  We all go to the market and shop.  When class starts again, one of my favorite things is to see what people bought over lunch. It’s Show and Tell time!

At Stitches West, the Slipped Stitch Studio booth was busy all weekend.  Many people (including me) stocked up on bags to put our various projects in.  They come in all shapes and sizes, custom fabrics, and knitters can’t get enough of them.  I find it interesting that when knitters talk about  SSS bags, the word “quality” always pops up in the first few sentences.  Sure, they are cute and handy, but it is the quality of the fabric, stitching and details that prompt repeat buying… and buying.  Stock went fast, and as I didn’t get there until Saturday, all of the Minion fabric was gone, and there wasn’t a full set of anything left.  But I did grab this cute bag – the squirrels and trees remind me of Sunriver.  People who don’t knit don’t understand why we need fancy bags for all of our projects, but it makes it so easy to find things. I know that my pi shawl WIP is in the red bag with white sheep, for instance. Saves distress over losing a project (this is IMPORTANT, people!)

I had severe bag envy over a student who had SSS bags with Firefly sayings all over it.  I begged Laura (owner and Goddess of SSS) to bring this one back.  I NEED a Firefly bag! She has a club, in case you are interested, and I bought my daughter a Dr. Who set of bags for Christmas last year.  Laura really knows what makes us happy.  Yep, she is all about customer service.  (Note to Laura, design Firefly fabric)

Laura with Heatherly Walker (YarnYenta), my good friend who was helping Laura over the event.It’s a little blurry, because they were working hard in the Slipped Stiches booth and rarely stopped moving!

I am going to be teaching a Craftsy class, and for the class I have been working with Lion Brand yarn, and quite enjoying it. So I stopped at the Lion Brand booth and picked up some sock yarn and some stainless steel, to knit this cute vest from Knitters #112.  Then I got home and couldn’t find my magazine ( I know it is here somewhere.  My library is getting out of control) so I bought a copy from Zinio and printed it out.  Crisis averted.  Not that I will be casting it on, anytime soon, but I like to keep patterns and yarn together, to be prepared.  It’s going to be fun to knit, I think.

Amy, at Canon Hand Dyes, had a Downtown Abbey colorway kit with my name on it.  Well, that is my story and I am sticking to it.  This has Annetarsia possibilities all over it, and I had to have it.  Every color is named for a character from the series.

Amy wandered over with me to the Plucky Knitter booth, and we checked out the small bin of yarn marked down.  Amy, who is obviously a Yarn Whisperer, reached in and said, this is a skein of Bella.  Bella has cashmere in it and NEVER goes on sale.  There were actually 2 of them, and Amy (remember that she is a master hand dyer) felt she could live without it, and let me nab them.  Of course, I can’t stay with a single color, so found another skein to go with it, for full price.  Still, what a deal!  happy dance.

Students told me about the little bags at Knitters Brewing Company with the pouches on the side, for yarn.  They were a steal at $5.  I went to get one, and saw the kits for Drinking mitts, and got that kit, too.

Such yarny goodness, and it is such a kick to trade stories with the students about market adventures.  It is so huge that you really can’t take it all in, so sharing the experiences of other knitters is really one of my favorite things.