Survivors

Stephanie wrote:

Mona and I are still picking up the pieces from Stitches East. It was our third event in four weekends - a crazy, busy time for us. October was a marathon of fiber events, and we lived to tell about it.

For many years Stitches East was held in Baltimore, but this year it moved to Hartford. Now Hartford is practically in our backyard so the change of venue was an easy trip for us.

We arrived on Thursday morning to a jumble of boxes and bins.

After several hours of work and lots of rearranging our booth was presentable and ready for public viewing.

Convention center lighting is pathetic at best so you'll have to excuse the poorly lit shots.

Our inventory had been hit hard during the previous two shows, and we were concerned about being able to fill a double booth. We managed to spread everything out, and it wasn't as sparse as I had imagined it would be.

There was a bit of a draft in our booth so one of the first things I did was weave in the ends on my Harmonia's Rings Cowl.

I wore this for one or two days and received lots of compliments. It was just the thing I needed to keep the chill off my neck.

I'm in love with the beaded edge.

Having an event like this so close to home was a great opportunity for many of our friends to come for a day or the entire weekend. Stitches East offers a chance to take classes, browse the marketplace and hang out with other knitters. And don't forget the never-ending parade of beautiful knit garments - everything from wild and crazy to striking and sophisticated. An event like this is not lacking for inspiration.

Thanks to all of our friends, old and new, who stopped by to chat. That's why we keep the extra chairs handy.

For me the down side of these events was the lack of knitting time. I may have knit a bit in Vermont, but I did not knit one stitch the whole weekend in Rhinebeck. I managed only a couple of sock rounds at Stitches East.

While I feel I've earned the right to sit and knit uninterrupted for a couple of days, my schedule won't allow that. However, I did manage to start a new project.

I lost my fingerless mitts in Vermont and started a replacement pair. Then I had the realization that I owe a special someone a birthday gift this coming Saturday. These are destined to be gifted. While they don't look like much right now, they have a little something extra in the finishing. All will be revealed.

Finally, my color inspiration for the week.

Fingerling potatoes - almost too pretty to eat. This was the last week of our farmers' market, and it will be missed. The seasons they are a-changin'.