Life tried very hard to get in the way. Luck and pluck allowed me to finally drive away to Manchester, New Hampshire for the TKGA conference.
I signed up for two of Nancie Wiseman's classes. I told Mr. E that I was taking a Fine Finishing class with the woman who wrote the book. Her small text on finishing techniques is one of the most used items in my knitting library. I also signed up for Continental Knitting with her. Last year gave me the knit stitch. Russian poorl was too gymnastic for this knitter, so I thought to try one more time.
Since I currently hate my cameras, camnesia is a convenient excuse for lack of photographic evidence. The usual suspects were present.
Cheryl, Knitigator and sadly blogless Manise lined up in back with me. There is no photographic evidence of sadly blogless Connie, who sat to my left.
We learned seaming row to row, stitch to stitch, row to stitch, tubular cast-on, and short rows. Some of it was review, and some of it created fireworks in my brain. Ms. Wiseman had a dry sense of humor that punctuated her knitting points. Her teaching was clear and well-paced. She walked around, checking with everyone to make sure we understood what was happening with the knitting.
Ms. Wiseman shows Manise some finer point of finishing, with Kelly Rota in the background.
We allowed our brains to roam more freely, stretching them out after the hard exercise of class, by going to the Marketplace. The retail opportunities were much more subdued this year. Many vendors were absent. The floor space was approximately 60% of last year's Market. No worries. Tess' Yarns was there, Habu was there. I discovered Dreamweaver Yarns, and The Yarn and Fiber Company. The yarn diet ended, as intended, for this event.
Mostly, I bought stuff I had seen on the Web, and had coveted. In New Hampshire, all purchases are tax-free. Dreamweaver Yarns had Tilli Thomas Voile de la Mer (silk 70%/seasilk 30%). I purchased two skeins in 'Atmosphere'. The shawl pattern 'Mystique' was included with the purchase. The link shows the yarn colorway as well as the pattern.
Habu is a dangerous place to visit. Takako sits knitting quietly. She is making tiny needles and impossibly gossamer yarn look like an easy, mindless knit. (Don't be fooled.) Most of us bought some kit or another. I had seen Kit #89 blogged recently. She had a sample there for trying on. The store will wind the linen paper yarn on cones and send the kit to me. I also came home with two skeins of Habu tassar silk.
There are recent FOs to show. The weather is cooler, and now lends itself to posing. Soon.
