I managed to schedule myself a very full day, between volunteering, helping to organize a podcaster meetup, and my two hour class with Bristol Ivy. That left me just over an hour in the marketplace, which was a good thing for my wallet, but it didn’t leave me enough time to get to know some of the vendors who are not local to Toronto.
First up, I snagged one of the Frolic project bags. The image made me smile and I’ve been using it non-stop. I’m glad I bought it early as they sold out within a couple of hours.
If you saw my last blog post about the shawl I test knit, you will have seen that I borrowed a shawl pin from a friend for the photos. She won it in last year’s Frolic raffle. One of my priorities this year was to get a nice shawl pin that I could wear with many different shawls and sweaters. I ended up with a pin from the same vendor, A. B. Originals. They don’t have a website and unfortunately I didn’t get a card in my bag so I don’t have more information for them.
I had heard about the Yarnit some time ago and was very interested in trying one. I knit a lot away from home. This product acts like a portable yarn bowl. It fits your yarn cake inside, the lid screws on, and you have a choice of holes where the yarn can exit. On top, there are slits where you can park your needles. The red rubber piece is new to this model. It locks the pieces closed. Apparently the creator added this after receiving an email from a woman who was excited to say that her Yarnit had not come apart even when she took it on a roller coaster! The base doubles as a compartment for a darning needle, stitch markers and other notions. There is a removable strap so you can hang it messenger bag style to knit and walk. It fits into a car cup holder if you are knitting in the car. I haven’t tried it yet, but will report back after I do. Many thanks to Unwind Yarn House, the closest local LYS to me that carries the Yarnit. I called them a few days before the Frolic to ask for one.
Another vendor I was anxious to visit was Sweet Fiber Yarns. They traveled all the way from British Columbia to be with us. Oh my, I could have stayed in their booth and squished yarn all day! However, I kept myself on a strict budget this year, which only allowed for the purchase of one skein. I’m grateful to my friend Christine who chose this colour for me. I trust other people’s colour sense more than my own and her reaction to this one up against my face sealed the deal. This is Cashmerino 20 in the colourway Alizarin. It is 70% Superwash Merino, 20% Cashmere, and 10% Nylon in a fingering weight 366m/400yds for 115 grams. 20% Cashmere people! It is so soft, I want to sleep with it.
This is a bonus acquisition. I’ve long admired the self striping yarns from The Cozy Knitter and as Christina is not far from Toronto and was planning a trip to the Frolic, she very kindly offered to bring our purchases to the Frolic to save us the shipping charges (and leave us more money for yarn!) This is the Bye Bye Birdster colourway with a matching solid for heels, toes and cuffs. Bliss Base 80% Superwash Merino, 20% Nylon 115 grams (4oz), 385m/420yds. This was developed in the “dye off” from her podcast Dye Another Day that she co-hosts with another talented indie dyer, Amanda aka The Yarn Enabler. They chose a beautiful image and each of them dyed yarn inspired by the image. I managed to purchase the last available skein. She does have one left for a giveaway prize. If you like it, tune in the podcast for more details. I’m not sure if it will become a regular colourway in her lineup.
I took a beginner’s drop spindling class earlier this year and I wanted to treat myself to some fibre to practice my 15 minutes a day during the Tour de Fleece in July. At the end of the day I found myself with 20 minutes to run back to the marketplace and I bought this beautiful bag of fibre from Gemini Fibres. It’s 100 grams of Corriedale Stripey Sliver in the Natural Fusion colourway. I’m looking forward to getting some practice in on my spindle.
I’m planning to knit the Budding Bluebells shawl from Mina Philipp of the Knitting Expat podcast. I had a few choices in the aqua family for the lace border and wanted to find something to coordinate for the textured body. At the very last minute I found this Manos Del Uruguay Alegria in the Inkwell colourway. It’s 75% superwash merino, 25% polyamide 445yds/425m in 100 grams. My concern is that it is thinner than a lot of fingering weight yarns and people’s top choice for the lace border is my Socks That Rock Lightweight which is a little thicker than a lot of fingering weight yarns. The difference is noticeable to the touch so I will have to figure that out. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
The last acquisitions I have were prizes I won in the raffle. I won a skein of Merino Lace from the generous folks at Sweet Fiber. It is the Spiced Pumpkin colourway and it is 100% Superwash Merino 754m/825yds and weighs 115 grams.
I also won a pattern of my choice from Bristol Ivy. It was a difficult decision, but in the end I went with Winterlong.
I am going to stop there and save the rest for another post. This blogging thing is all new to me so there is much more of a learning curve than I realized. Apologies for some of the fuzzy photos and delayed post.
Happy Knitting!
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