I went all the way to Stitches and all I got

Posted on September 26, 2005 by knittingpatterns4you | 3 Comments

was more KOIGU! (are you surprised?)

There are some colors here that I'd never seen before! These came from 4 different vendors, I walked into each booth saying, "I really don't need to buy anything" and yet, somehow, spent more than twice what I had planned on spending!

The reason Stitches was totally worth it for me this year is not merchandise-related: I got to meet the Harlot and Cassandra! They even complimented me on Tramonto, and we walked around some booths together petting yarn. They're both really funny and friendly people, I felt like I'd known them my whole life after only a minute in their company! Stephanie's new book had completely sold out of the show by the time I found her, but she was signing copies of the first one. People kept coming up to her and she was always friendly and gracious -- one woman walked up and said, "I laughed so hard last night I snorted!" Congratulations on your success Stephanie! And nice to meet you both! (no pictures b/c they told us they were confiscating cameras. I think they were trying to stop Marilyn!)

Aside from the great company, I enjoyed petting lots of yarns and seeing lots of nice people. I wore my shawl and got lots of compliments, gave out the Chiagu name and URL, and made other business contacts.

I also bought this book, which I'd never heard of before:

This is the perfect book for me, I can't believe I didn't know it existed! It shows pictures of knitwear from runway shows, everything from thin machine knits like the dress on the cover to big chunky pullovers that could have been handknit. I've only had time to flip through it and look at the pictures so far, but there's lots of writing in the book, too. It talks about the history of knits, the construction and development, and even has a whole section towards the back that is art kniting, with installations and necklaces and furniture. It also identifies all the designers and where each piece came from -- I can see that I'll need to look up those designers online so I can see the full collections!

This is of course not a pattern book, but rather an idea and history book. I'd recommend it to anyone who loves fashion and likes to flip through books looking for inspiration. And the knee socks on the back cover are not to be missed!

Posted in Knitting Books, Koigu