Swag

I like swag bags, especially when they are full of yarn. It is sad when that yarn is 100% wool, since I am allergic to it, but a bag of free yarn and patterns means happiness nonetheless.

I gave the brown and green balls to Alice, because she didn't get a swag bag since she's not a Knitter's Connection member (I got a member so that I could pre-reg. And get the swag). The grey was 100% wool and quite coarse, to I handed it off to some lovely ladies I met and chatted with out in the common area who were not plagued by the allergy to wool that Alice and I share. The pink yarns are either acrylic or merino; I can sometimes use merino if it's really fine, though that large ball of Gems might be a bit of a stretch for me. I think I'll be okay with the sock yarn, though.

The books are pattern books (well, one of them is; the other is a catalog for patterns). There are lots of very pretty pictures that I'll probably use for resources, since I don't actually use patterns.

Sadly, I didn't get to go to any of the classes offered (just plain couldn't afford it, especially after what I bought today, but that's another story). I did get to go to the Ravelry presentation last night. I learned some things about the site that I didn't know, and I also got to breath the same air as Jess, Casey, Mary-Heather, and Cate Bordie (I'm sure there were others, but they were the only ones who got introduced).

The Market Place (the main reason Alice and I attended) was really much smaller than I thought it would be. After going to TNNA last year, I thought we'd get at least one whole room, but we only got about 3/4 of one. What really irriated me though was that 95% of the fiber for sale was all wool! Alice had trouble even going in there because her lanolin allergy is so severe, but there was very little I could afford that wasn't all wool (I was *this close* to walking away with a $45 hank of silk laceweight though). Instead of collecting yarn, we collected business cards so that maybe when we have more money we can look them up and buy some of their products. For the time being however, we will have to stick with lower end yarns.

However, that brings me to part un of my purchases:



A drop spindle and 1.5 oz of natural alpaca fiber. We've both been wanting to learn to spin, and I figured that (what with the wool allergy) this was a good basic fiber to learn on, and with it being natural in color, I could experiment with dying, too. It was a really excellant price--$13 for the spindle, and only $7.50 for the fiber (I'll edit this later and put in the company--I have to find her business card, if I remembered to grab one).

Now, that certainly isn't enough to break the bank. But part deux of my shopping is (at least for me): fabric. Now, the two yards each of satin and tulle aren't a huge deal. Not at all. The entire bolt of 45" muslin (25 yds) was. Don't tell my mom I spent $70 on fabric today, kay?). My credit card was screaming, and I was almost in tears, but I need it for school (I consoled myself by saying I could write it off for my taxes. Hey, it is for my senior thesis show). The muslin will be used for several projects: 1) backing the Peace Project, as well as going in between the individual flags. 2) A series of embroidery projects that I have planned. 3) leftovers will become test subjects for my dye pot. Cool-aide dyed fabric, anyone? 4) If I manage to scrap together enough money for batik supplies, I'll be using it for that, too.