Stitches West 2012

This evening I spent a lovely time at the knitting event of the year - Stitches West 2012 with my friend Sharon of Knits are for Kids blog. 

That's me on the left, that's adorable Sharon on the right.  Ysolda had a "photo booth" in her display booth.  We could not restrain ourselves from trying on some of her awesome knitwear samples and jumping in front of the camera. 

We had a blast, and Sharon even confessed to me that there may be hope to convert her over to becoming a quilter!

I also took a finishing class (if you don't knit, it basically means they teach you how to seam knit pieces together) with Chris Bylsma which I really enjoyed.  It's nice to learn the 'right' way to do things and to pick up an important skill like how to put the pieces together.

Some quick impressions:

• Verb: not that I'm biased (since I teach quilting there) - best booth, most beautiful yarn, fiber to die for, nuf said.

• Lisa Souza Dye Works: some cool colors here.  I could not help but grab a little lace weight yarn.

• Sincere Sheep - more yarn that is dyed using natural plant-based dyes.  Soft wonderful colors.

• Becoming Art:  Their sock yarn is not only perhaps the softest thing at the entire show, but may also keep me entertained for perhaps years to come.  Seeing Alana (of Coastal Knits fame) in their booth was a treat - she's sooooo adorable and friendly.

• Podcasters:  One could not go anywhere without meeting up with some pretty incredible podcasters:
  • 2 Knit Lit Chicks - we ran into them and they were super cool.  I'm their newest fan.
  • FiberBeat - The oh so talented Michael Wade was there as well. 
  • Knitmore girls - I wasn't expecting to see them, but they were there with the new Knitmore baby (teenie, adorable)

Don't forget to comment on my give-away post!  Time is running out.