Stitches Swag!

Here are my goodies from Stitches South. As you can see, I actually did have some self control.

First up, the blue and burgundy are for a vest for Keith. He likes vests during the winter, and I decided that I needed to knit one for him. The yarn is Vintage by Berroco. It's a blend of acrylic, wool, and nylon. It feels very soft and is machine washable.


I had been thinking about his vest for awhile now, and I'd looked at a very nice superwash merino from Plymouth Yarn that Needle Nook carries. While it had a great price and looks like a really wonderful yarn, many of the colors are more solid. The Vintage ones are more heathery with bits of the burgundy in the blue and blue in the burgundy.

I found the yarn at Webs' booth, and they give you a discount if you spend a certain amount. The Vintage is a moderately priced yarn, so I went and picked up enough in this heathery green to make a vest for myself too.

While strolling along, Alma and I were enticed by some of the amazing weaving of Neal the Weaver. She let us gush about her weaving, and she said that while she'd sell them, that she was really there to sell yarn. Well, we were already fondling her lovely hand-dyed silk yarns. She had Tussah silk and a smoother, spun silk, and it is quite interesting to see how they dye up differently. What you see is the Tussah silk that I got. It's much more orange and brighter in real life. Of course what you see on your monitor will vary.

I also stopped by The Sanguine Gryphon. Her yarns, especially Bugga, are some of those that are nearly impossible to get. I bought some last year that is still hibernating in a yarn bin, but honestly, I couldn't pass up an opportunity to get a bit more. It's not all Bugga. I purchase an Eidos and Skinny bugga too.

I was at Stitches both Friday and Saturday. It was great to be able to see people I've not seen in some time. I had two friends mention that I've not been blogging lately. Oops!

I have been busy with Keith. Today we're off to get the fertilizer, vermiculite and some sulfur for the garden. I may have mentioned that my soil was more towards the neutral to alkaline that I would have ever dreamed it was. As veggies actually prefer it a bit more acid, I'll add the sulfur to slightly lower the pH. This should be interesting. I've never done this type of gardening before where I test the soil and add nutrients accordingly. With the canning class early this summer, I'm quite looking forward to growing some of our own food. I doubt we'll replace the farmer's market, but to be able to supplement our diet with homegrown will be great. I'd prefer to keep it all organic, so after menu planning for this week, I'll be calculating amounts and finding what the best organic sources are for soil building.

I do have more photos, but blogger was so very slow that I'll have to add them later. Have a great Sunday!