Well, That Seems Fair

Knitters' Fair!!!!

So, Mr. Wonderful dropped me off at around 9:05 and there was already a lineup at both doors to get in. I found my place in line and for the next twenty minutes or so people steadily lined up behind me. When the doors opened, we all filed in in an orderly (but excited) fashion and paid our entrance fee.

I grabbed the map and perused it carefully, but it meant nothing to me. (I am a bit impaired that way.) So I did a quick once-round of Room A, only to determine that my desired destination was in fact in Room B, on the other side of a long hallway. So off I went, in search of this...



The Fiddlehead Mitten Kit from Tanis Fiber Arts. Tanis had set aside a kit for me in the regular colours, but offered me a couple of other choices, beautiful choices involving greens and blues, and another with blues and purples. In the end I walked away with the regular one, because if I had let myself take any longer contemplating, I would lose too much valuable shopping time.

Next thing I stopped for was a huge box full of Addi needles, all of them $10 each. (Kara, who was my teacher for all the knitting classes I have taken at Shall We Knit, was there at the booth talking things up. She may actually have been working there. I was in too much of a hurry to check.)



I just grabbed myself a 5.5mm needle in a 40mm length, which I could see translated to a 16" needle in what I thought might be around a US 8. Well, it was a bad guess, in two ways. It's actually a size 9, and I already have an Addi that size. I should have bought the 60mm length instead, because I only have a cheap Aero needle in that size. See, this is why I need a full-featured knitting app on my iPhone!

As I made my way back to Room A, I passed Lise in the hall. We had a 30-second conversation (we were in serious shopping mode; I told her about the $10 Addis and her eyes lit up) then we went our separate ways. I never saw her again...

That spindle you see in the photo was a later purchase. Somewhere about this time I stumbled onto a booth selling Noro Kureyon for 35% off. Well, I got three skeins of that, all in one colourway. A nice bright girly one this time, since I've been mostly concentrating on guy colours for a while.



In the next room I bought some Fleece Artist Big Merino, which was on sale, one for $15.95, two for $29.98. However, the 2/$29.98 was only written very small on the actual price tag. The lady working the cash register went ahead and charged me $15.95 for both skeins, then charged tax at that price. (Boy, was I annoyed when I got home and discovered that they had "cheated" me out of $2.20 that I shouldn't have paid. I could buy breakfast at McDonald's for that. Not that I ever buy breakfast at McDonald's. But still. It's the principle, isn't it?)



I didn't buy any of Heather's wonderful creations, because I am not a sock knitter, so I couldn't use one of her sock blanks, and heaven knows I'm not much of a spinner, so 8 ounces of her beautiful dyed roving would be wasted on me. I did buy something from one of her compatriots, however. This beautiful beaded yarn.



Actually, not only is it beaded (in two sizes of beads), but it also has slubs of silver lurex, similar to the sparkly bits in the Noro Aurora I was knitting with earlier this summer.

So yes, I spent a bit of money on some expensive stuff, which is why I don't have a whole pile of swag to show for my shopping trip. Almost the only spindles I found were at Gemini Fibres. Beautiful things, but as my friend said, quite pricey. That didn't bother me though. The only spindles I have worked with before were made by amateur woodworkers (competent, but amateur) and the one I currently own has some flaws in the materials used to make it. Anyway, I have now spent good money on a good spindle that I am happy with. Pricey, yes. But like buying Addi needles instead of Aero, the price is worth it to me.

***
A related post talks about last year's fair, where I got some mohair for the shawl I eventually knitted up to have ready to take to the hospital with me when I had my surgery this past May. Here, finally, is a photo of the finished shawl. The shawl is HUGE.



I never realized how big it was until I tried to figure out a way to photograph the thing. Hence the bad photo. I still don't really have it figured out yet.