Stitches Midwest Report

Took the Loose Ends Yarn Shop bus to Stitches Midwest on Saturday. And a good time was had by all! Betty served Mimosas and Bloody Marys and muffins and fruit on the way down and Old Fashions on the way home. Some of us had to have a little unwinding on the way back after all the strenuous shopping!

Got my kit for the Tulip Sweater and I am already on the third color! Yay!! This photo is not my sweater-it's Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's but mine is chugging along very well! I also bought some buttons for my Shelagh Sweater. There were were a couple of button/notion vendors that had some really great stuff! Color in Stitches from Arizona was one of the really good ones. I bought some buttons with bugs on them there. Nifty Thrifty Dry Goods from Barrington, R.I. was wonderful! all the neatest trims and buttons and lace; all organized according to color themes. Very Cool! They don't have a web presence but their phone number is 401-246-0863.

I shopped Susan's booth and found my Dear Son Patrick working very hard there! I bought some Mongolian Cashmere from Jade Sapphire in Blueberries & Plum to knit a mobeius cowl for my dear friend Melanie!

Susan talked me into buying some alpaca for a present for Patrick. He was really taken with how soft and wonderful this stuff was and said he wanted a hat and gloves out of it and I kind of pooh poohed the idea and then went back and bought it when he was out of the booth!

These were all the wonderful parts of Stitches Midwest-now for the problems...The venue sucks! There I have said it! Beat up cement floors does not make it pleasant to shop. I had to sit down at the ends of every aisle and rest my knees. I heard that they won't be back there next year. They are going to Schaumberg to a completely new conference center and I say, Thank Goodness. The feeling of being in an underground utility area is not very uptown, if you know what I mean. The food was hugely expensive-I had a sloppy joe for $6.50! A sloppy joe??
Smart people bring their own food but then they have to lug it around the whole time and I really didn't enjoy the people who where dragging their luggage behind them in the aisles either. Luggage is just as unwieldy as a stroller in crowded aisles.
One neat way to rest my knees was the Linus Blanket Mile of Hugs area where I sat and knitted a square for the local branch of this neat charity. It was a nice way to talk to new people and to people watch as well!

Anyway, it was a lovely day and I just wish I was like our friend Mary M. who was able to sleep both ways on the bus. I do so admire someone who is able to relax like that in ANY situation! Many thanks to Loose Ends Yarn shop for sponsoring the bus. It sure made getting there a breeze!
Talk to you later,
Lynda

(Oh I didn't see Franklin of Panopticon there and I was looking! He is an idol of mine in the knitting/blogging world and I would have liked to gush but maybe next year?)