I've got the blues...kind of, but not really

Such a bad blogger. No posts in a while means a lot to show and tell. First off, I've been spinning again! Well, a little bit. A little bit of Spunky Eclectic Moon Flower Almost Solid Merino. A little bit of Merino, on my new little Greensleeves spindle!

That cute little thing marked my first purchase at Stitches. It's so cute, I love it! I think it needs a name. Anyway, I'm not fully into the spinning groove yet, but it's coming. I know it will take practice, but I've been trying to devote some time to spinning, along with my knitting.

I started knitting French Girl's Fifi pattern, which shall be named Josephine, in a bright blue shade of Calmer that I wasn't able to capture very well in these photos. Lighting challenges aside, I still had to give you a taste of the cabley goodness anyway.

Josephine is coming along well, in spite of a minor frogging session (thanks, Knitzalot, for your help!) and a slightly more intensive ripping session this past weekend. But I am not deterred. We're back on track now, and am having a lot of fun knitting her up.

Speaking of cabley goodness, we took a class on Celtic Cables with Melissa Leapman at Stitches. Given my affection for cables already, I was happy to learn more about the Celtic variety, since I haven't had the opportunity to work with them yet. This is sure to change soon, you can count on that.

If I were a good blogger, I would have a bunch of photos to show you my Stitches haul, but as it is, I didn't come away with much of one to begin with, relatively speaking. However, don't let the lack of photos fool you; we had fun again this year. As Dis previously mentioned, it was a bit of a different experience than last year, but still good times, except for the fact that Nasus was feeling under the weather.

On a personal note, I really enjoyed the opportunity to spend time with friends- old and new alike. Besides the time spent with Dis and Nasus, I had a great time hanging out with and getting to know Knitzalot...especially once I realized the luggage and sweater blocking on the desk when I checked into the room belonged to her, and not some random stranger! On Friday, I had the pleasure of bumping into Jillian and Madge (and some of their friends), who I first ran into in person at the fiber festival in Torrance last summer (ladies, we should actually plan to meet up sometime). After a full day, we met up with Marisa and Kris (who, I discovered, also grew up in Hawaii), for dinner on Friday night. We must have been a pretty sad sight, yawning throughout dinner, a stark contrast to the (older) women around us, who were hootin' n hollerin' up and down the halls of the hotel. They put us to shame, but I don't think any of us cared at that point. ;) On Saturday, Dis and I met up with Jennifer for a quick lunch. Jennifer and I then offered each other moral support (or some may call it mutual enabling) at the Interlacements booth, whereupon the 5th or so time I visited this gorgeous handyed Merino, I finally succumbed. I couldn't help it- the green - it's incredible! I couldn't get a photo that would do this color any justice, so I decided to leave it out altogether. I will, however, show you a picture of this, because oh my...

Blue Moon handpainted 50% Mulberry Silk and 50% Superfine Merino roving in Puck's Mischief. Are you drooling yet? I'm sure I will have to build up my skills before I attempt to spin this, but I'm also certain it will be well worth the wait! Yesterday Kat commented that this colorway looks like a fairy tale, and that's exactly what reminded me of when I first saw it. Love.
And, as if I didn't spend enough money at Stitches and then more on a couple of online purchases last week, I spent yet more yesterday at Edna Hart. Not on yarn, however, though that orangey Blue Sky Alpaca sportweight was mighty tempting...I managed to escape yarn and purse-free (this time!), but I bought a pretty yellow cuff instead. As if I need a pretty yellow cuff, but what does "need" have to do with anything, and who could resist cute jewelry anyway? Right, Julia? Edna has way, way too many cute pieces of jewelry in her shop, not to mention the adorable baby section! Julia warned me ahead of time that I would be in trouble in there, and always, she was right. Dangit! Still, numerous temptations aside, it was great to meet Edna and Irene, and knit with Julia and Kat again. A perfect end to a great weekend, if you ask me! Now...jury duty at some point this week...let's hope this good juju can carry over for several more days...