A mad time was had by all

Stitches South 2009. Well that was pretty fantastic, but also pretty exhausting. I took three classes, and slept through one.

First was yarn substitution, which was really helpful. Discussed the math and science into making swatches, getting gauge, and having things fit.

Second class was knit alterations, which was great, except I didn't bring swatches. But I think I now have some tools to make sweaters fit better if at the end they are not.

Third class was sweater finishing. I have to say I found this class a bit disorganized and confusing. I did learn one really great technique about a different way of performing the kitchener stitch.

Overall I learned that I absolutely must swatch for garments, and be sure to wash and weight those swatches. I always thought swatches were not washed when measuring for gauge, but apparently they are. So I hope this will all help in making new garments.

I worry because I have such expensive yarns, that I sometimes feel like I shouldn't knit with them until I get more experienced. But then I don't really want to go buy cheap yarn to knit with. So I guess I need to dive into some of my stash and go for it. I also bought tons of yarn from http://www.sanguinegryphon.com/. She is now officially my new favorite handdyer. And she is quite lovely as well.

The market was really overwhelming and a money pit. There were handdyers, acessories, kits, yarn shops, etc, etc. Probably around a few hundred of them. And I also went to the fashion show which I really enjoyed. So I also helped my friend Erin athttp://www.eatsleepknit.com/ pack orders from her big sale. But to be honest, I didn't have a whole lot of time to offer up. And I met Erin's friend Sally, who I thought was just great.

Another great event was a dinner at Scalini's restaurant sponsored by the Knitwitch, about 100 stitches attendees and it was great fun.