Frolic 2010

Having missed The DKC Knitter's Frolic last year because of work, I was determined to attend this year.  Wow.  It was huge.  My senses overloaded several times and I had to keep taking breaks to re-group.  There was So Much YARN.  It was everywhere.  All around.  In more colours than you thought existed.  Overwhelming.

I took a dozen pictures but naturally, not one was in focus.  My camera mojo continues to fail me.  Above is a not-too-blurry photo of my favourite booth, The Stoddart Family Farm.  Oddly enough, it was the first booth I visited in the morning and it remained the most compelling to me throughout the day.  The display kept calling me back.  I had a lovely chat with Silvia, who does the hand painting, about her methods and mind set when she works.  Her ideas about the painting evolving as she goes and then knowing when it's done, were so understandable to my equally non-linear brain. She had several knit samples. The colours set each other off and looked just as lovely in the pieces as they did in the skein.  See that green sock weight hanging in the bottom left corner?  I bought it. I also chose, with the help of the Stoddart's little daughter, a gorgeous blue.

The project bag is from the Indigodragonfly booth.  It's handmade by Darby Bayly.  I chose it not only because of the incredible construction, but also because the fabric reminds me of a cute little dress in which I danced several nights away back in Banff when I was in my twenties.  Sigh.  Good times.

Guess what?  I won a door prize!  It was a gift certificate from the Affection Knits booth.  I went straight there and put it toward one skein of Sweaterkits mulberry silk.  So soft....With the value of the gift card, the yarn was practically free!  Free silk!  What could be better?

In the afternoon, I took a short workshop given by Fiona Ellis on How To Alter A Sleeve.  How restful to sit down in a white room for an hour and get schooled.  Here, I learned two important things:  how to properly measure arm length and that I have been attaching sleeves the wrong way all these years.  There was a whole bunch about math and gauge as well.  Remember my overloaded senses and non-linear brain?  I just pretended to get that stuff.