2010 Yarnover

Phew! What an awesome event the Yarnover was! Hosted by the Minnesota Knitters' Guild, of which I am a proud new member as of 2010, the lineup of instructors was astonishing. As one of the vendor tables above was cleverly featuring, Meg Swansen, Jared Flood, Lucy Neatby, Cookie A, and Cat Bordhi were all there. There were many other brilliant knitters and designers there of which I spotted Franklin Habit, Stephen West and Lily Chin. For me to get up, drive to the suburbs and be present, awake and excited by 7:30 on a Saturday morning, it would have to be a really engaging event.

And, engaging it was. The day started out with Cat Bordhi's keynote speech. During her speech she made very entertaining statements such as, "knitting is like fusilli pasta...on a stick!". (For those of you not in the know, Minnesota has a reputation for loving things served on a stick. The Minnesota State Fair website offers "on a stick" as a searchable food category.)

In addition to the keynote address and the marketplace, there were also lots and lots of classes offered. There were so many awesome teachers and class subjects that I wished for the ability to clone myself so as to attend more than one at a time. But, alas, I had to chose one and I chose A Dabble into Double with Lucy Neatby.

The class description was:
Make a voyage of discovery to achieve a deeper understanding of your knitting! Try a variety of types of Double Knitting to produce two-layer fabrics. Starting with tubular knitting on straight needles, moving on to tubes within tubes and the double-knit pocket trick. DK color patterning techniques will include positive / negative, and quilting for added texture and warmth.

What the description does not mention is the extremely colorful presence of Lucy! She even brought a suitcase full of gorgeous knits for us to browse and admire. And, that accent! I have to admit that the subject and the accent were both factors in my choice to put A Dabble into Double as my first choice class.

I was pleased with the class and, as promised, my mind has a deeper understanding of my knitting. I think double knitting is a technique I will explore more in the future. I hope to knit Lucy's Sizzling Hot Hat pattern. There are all sorts of amazing colorwork patterns underneath that hat brim. When I knit it, I will show you that part, too.

Perhaps I was influenced by all of the color, because when I went through the market, I was drawn to this yarn for a project I had planned to do in a solid color. The yarn is Mountain Colors - Twizzle in Sierra. I plan to knit the Loretto Vest with it.

This was the only stash acquisition I made at Yarnover. I showed great restraint in the face of many beautiful, unique yarns and lots of tempting sales. I think part of the reason I was able to hold back is because in a few short weeks, I will be attending the Shepherd's Harvest Sheep and Wool Festival. Minnesota is a great state for knitters!