preciousowl: Knit Hotdish Cardigan Designed by Larkspur Knits in Little Fox Vixen Yarn and VKL in NYC

I enjoyed knitting the Hotdish Cardigan designed by Larkspur Knits aka Lindsey Fowler so much, I went in for a second serving. This time I used some local yarn, from Little Fox that I bought on sale at DWW. I used Aimee's Vixen base which is 400 luxurious yards of 80% SWM/20% silk fingering weight yarn. The pattern is designed for marling so I held the yarn double. The MC is the "well that's ranunculus" colorway and the CC's are "Lemon Squeezy" and "Raven's Wing".

When I'm working a top down raglan, before I put my sleeves on hold, I always try my garment on naked(!), especially if I'm knitting a cardigan. The reason I do this is because I hate bras. This might be TMI but I frequently wear cardigans indoors and braless. I like my cardigans to be cozy and not too constricting. A good fit check always re-energizes me and makes me excited to finish my pattern.

I started this pattern in early December and probably would've finished it a lot quicker if it wasn't for all of the winter holidays and Xena's break from school but I digress. I was still furiously trying to finish it so I could wear it at VKL last weekend didn't actually finish it until 2 days after the fact.

This was my first time attending VKL on the East Coast. The overall vibe definitely seemed quite different than on the West Coast; in NYC the atmosphere felt more high fashion and commercially focused. The funniest thing about VKL in NYC is that it was held in the same hotel that I last stayed in while working the NY2016 International Stamp Show. The last time I dined in the Marriott Marquis hotel bar/restaurant was in the company of our British/Czech philatelic friends, the Kirke family where I met Nick's brother, Simon, the drummer of Bad Company, for the first time. He was not impressed with the hotel, at all. At the very least, even I think the circle of randomly assigned elevators is confusing.

For this trip, I stayed with my friend Lisa in NJ. We met at Rhinebeck a few years ago. We rode a NJ Transit bus into the city which was great until my motion sickness kicked in and I could no longer sit and knit and instead was forced to just close my eyes and anxiously brace myself for a quick arrival at Port Authority.

It was fabulous to be reunited with Amber again! Speaking of Amber, we just booked our tix for Yarncentrick and MDSW in May. Amber's been to MDSW but it will be our first time for Yarncentrick and my first MDSW ever! I am SO stoked!

I got to see my former boss, Amanda, the owner of Atelier in SF/Marin. I can't believe it was already over a year since we saw each other IRL.

I didn't take many photos at VKL because in many cases, the lighting was terrible.

I also didn't get to see a bunch of people I had hoped to see but since I was only there for a few hours on Saturday afternoon, I suppose that's why. Maybe next year I'll make more of a trip out of it. I've just been so busy with work and parenting in general that I didn't want to be out of town any longer and Matt's dad just died the week before VKL...

One of my favorite things to buy is vintage buttons. Dusty's had a phenomenal selection!

If you're gonna take the time to knit a garment, don't skimp on buttons. Use the good ones. Every time you button and unbutton your garment, you will thank yourself.

I only bought products that we don't sell at DWW or new things that I'd never seen/heard before.

I can't wait to try these Prym crochet hooks. Some of the self-striping yarns are gifts but all of that luscious Wandering Flock is mine, mine, MINE! Details on the colorways are on IG. I am hoping to cast on a sweater using some of this new stuff before the end of the weekend. Currently I'm working on a test crochet sample for the JRYC and a consignment for my friend, Todd so I am really gagging to cast on something new and majorly cool for myself!

I used these hand carved Mother of Pearl VTG buttons from Dusty's on my cardi and they are just perfect!

I try to sew buttons on with matching yarn whenever possible although it doesn't always work if the holes are too small. This time I got lucky but it was still a very tight squeeze.

I only very gently steam blocked this sweater. As with the previous one, I used US size 5 and 6 needles. I knit size 6 of the pattern.

In other news, things are starting to look really SWEET at work. Everyone loves Keyser's Valentine's Day display. I am so thankful to work in such a cheerful and loving environment!

This Saturday saw the kick off of our Cesium Yarn trunk show at DWW. They are based in Roanoke, VA.

It was wonderful to meet Cat IRL. She is a woman of many talents, a chemist, dyer, crocheter, knitter, pattern designer and super nice person all around.