This post is a few days overdue, but I wanted to try to get some pictures of my purchases before posting. Alas, that is not going to happen, so you’ll just have to make do with my overly wordy description of the day. There are no pictures of Stitches itself, because there were no cameras allowed in the Market, and I was worried about taking pictures in my class too.

Lynette and I headed down to Santa Clara on Friday morning, and made it to the convention center just as the market opened. Our first stop of the day was the Blue Moon Fiber Arts booth. I was looking at all the gorgeous yarn (truly, the colors on their website don’t do it justice), when I heard someone say my name - it was Angela! She was there with Steph and Amy (blogless). Even though we’d been planning to meet up at some point during the day, I was pleasantly surprised to run into them right away.

I did some damage at BMFA before heading to Cookie’s booth to buy a couple of sock patterns. Then it was off to get my Victorian Lace Today book signed by Jane Sowerby. Meeting Jane and talking to her briefly was one of the highlights of my day. She was wearing a gorgeous Curved Shawl (my favorite pattern in the book!), and gave me a few tips on yarn selection and knitting/blocking the shawl.

After lunch was my Norwegian Knitting class, taught by Beth Walker-O’Brien. The class was outstanding. Beth had everyone knitting with their non-dominant hand (continental style for me) in about 20 minutes, and knitting two handed in under an hour. Along with teaching techniques for two color knitting and weaving floats, she also gave a great overview of the differences between Norwegian Knitting and Fair Isle (main differences are color/design and finishing techniques), and some brief tips on reading patterns and finishing. I have to admit, I was hesitant about the class and was worried it wouldn’t be worthwhile. I’m happy to say that my worries were completely unfounded - the class definitely exceeded my expectations. Next year I’m hoping to take another class from Beth at Stitches… perhaps the Norwegian/Fair Isle finishing class. (and now I have my eye on this Dale of Norway sweater - is this a bit too ambitious for a first Norwegian project?)

I’ll try to get some pictures of my Stitches schwag posted later this week. I managed to get everything on my list (STR, Sea Silk, and a few patterns) without going too crazy. My biggest unplanned purchase was a super cute knitting bag/purse covered with brightly colored appliqued flowers. Oh, and a couple skeins of Koigu and some inexpensive laceweight merino may also have made their way home with me. Still, not bad!

PS. Steph, thanks for the reminder about my Weekender - watch for a finished bag, zipper pocket and all, soon!