Vogue Knitting Live (Part 1)

Those of you who know me in real life know that 2012 is shaping up to be an exceptional year.  I’ll share more about various opportunities as they’re finalized, but one of the best experiences thus far happened this past weekend.  I attended Vogue Knitting Live; I shopped the marketplace (boy, did I shop that marketplace!) and took a spinning class for beginners (the kind with a spindle not a stationary bike). Heading back on the train, I realized that I learned and discovered so much in such a short period of time that it may take the rest of the year to process and appreciate everything I took in.  This blog post contains my initial reactions and recollections, but I will add to and expand upon what I saw, learned and did in the next podcast … which should be complete by the weekend.

We might as well get the shopping out of the way first.  What did I buy? I’m one of those shoppers that has to see everything before they make a purchase.  Take me to the mall, and I will walk the entire thing before I figure out what I will buy then I retrace my steps and buy everything I want in 10 minutes … unless it’s the Mall of America.  That approach doesn’t work there, but that’s another story.  After walking both floors of the marketplace in less than 3 hours, I texted four images to my daughter from Green Mountain Spinnery‘s booth because I knew she would love their yarn and quite frankly, their colors, textures and display kept drawing my eyes and my fingers to their booth.  She chose a green wool worsted yarn called “Dragon Well” which I loved because I’ve had a thing for dragons since I was a kid. That girl asked for a hat to keep her head warm at Lehigh in February, and what knitting Mom could say no?  So, yea, this will be the first thing I knit post-VKL; here’s a photo of the yarn she chose in a lovely mossy green:

Lest you think I only purchased goodies for the girl, fear not!  From Stitchuary, I found the perfect yarn for a Cocoknits pattern called “Everyday Wrap” that @RobinUlrich sent to me a month or two ago when I was pining after ponchos.  The pattern can be found here, and this is the most scrumptious and delicious yarn I have ever owned:

It’s called Painted Lady – draw your own conclusions about that name – and I intend to spend the month of February wallowing in the awesomeness that is this mohair yarn.  The colors appear softer than my iPhone makes them out to be but this gives a sense of the colorway.  Greens and oranges and pinks and purples – my absolute favorite!

The instructor for my Sunday morning spinning class, Donna Panner, was not only extremely knowledgeable but a skilled teacher (and that from another teacher).  It’s not her fault my first attempt is such a mess…

… but I will thank the @knitmoregirls for my choice of drop spindle.  When asked which brand I wanted, the only one I recognized was Schacht from thair podcast so I took that one!  The fiber provided came from Frisky Lamb Farm and was a joy to touch.  Another student had one of Loop Fiber Studio’s Bullseye Bumps, gorgeous and soft, so I visited their booth after class, but I think I need to hone my spinning skills quite a bit before I attempt to spin something so amazing, vibrant, and soft.

I promise an (almost) all knitting podcast this weekend with a lot more of my adventures in New York in subzero weather – thank goodness there’s a Starbucks on every block – along with how technology made paying for all this fiber goodness so easy, some advice on how to dine out at the shore and in Manhattan when you are vegan, and how Maria from the Subway Knits podcast is now my knitting unicorn. Stay Tuned!