Yarncentrick and MDSW

 Amber came to visit, rather, I picked her up from Reagan, we spent 1 night near Frederick for Yarncentrick, then we drove down to RVA for a few days, road a bus to/from MDSW and then chilled in RVA for a little bit more after that.

Aimee Gille was the special guest speaker at Yarncentrick.

She has always been a great inspiration to me.  I never imagined I'd know (another) Korean American fiber artist like her!  I really enjoyed learning about the history of her business and how it has evolved over the years in tandem with her growing family.

I hope one day Xena will look up to me as much as she has looked up to her mom (who is no longer alive) over the years.

 

It's always a pleasure to see Aimee  (the other Aimee, lol)  & Brian from Little Fox out in the field.  This was the first time Amber and I attended Yarncentrick and Amber definitely took advantage of being able to squish some Vixen IRL.  We enjoyed this event, especially the "free" food.  I would definitely go again.  I feel that being so close to MD, there really is no excuse not to go.  

 

I also saw my new fiber arts friend, Misti from Recycled Yarn!  I get compliments on the mini-hank earrings she made every time I wear them.

We didn't plan to match our outfits but it looks like we did!

 

We're having a La Bien Aimee trunk show at DWW next month and the Forever Doylestown spread at Yarncentrick was like a pre-party.

 

I enjoyed having the opportunity to squish these iconic contemporary patterns IRL.

 

Amber and I continue to celebrate sun with an equal amount of shade and welcome any opportunity to sit and knit and talk sh*t together, as NYers do.  

We tried some great new restaurants and I also took her to some of my favorite old stand-bys.

It rained almost all day at MDSW.

Thankfully a lot of the vendors and exhibits were indoors.

I enjoyed all of the fashion show submissions.

I don't know.  Maybe I've just been overexposed to fiber arts festivals lately but I wasn't overly impressed with MDSW.  A lot of it definitely had to do with the weather and the fact that I was braindead after having to wake up at 4:30AM just to be able to catch the 6AM bus there.

There was an excellent selection of yarn.

I've realized that if the weather is wet, it's hard for me to truly enjoy outdoor festivals.  I'm just too much of a germaphobe; I can't deal with repeatedly touching and/or sitting on wet and muddy objects and mildew stench drives me insane.

Moisture in general just doesn't really go with processed yarn.

I would definitely attend this event again.

I'd just do it differently and probably spend 2 nights right by the fairgrounds and avoid the bus altogether instead.

If the weather was nice, I think Xena would've love it.

I definitely want to bring her next year.

I didn't take many photos because the lighting was so bad.

I keep seeing that poncho with the diamonds on it and I'm starting to feel as though it's calling to me.

Some bright and exciting stranded colorwork samples.

Shelly and Sheila, 2 of my RVA buddies.

Amber and I tried posing by our favorite breeds.

Here I am with Cormo. :D

The little bahhhh's were so cute!

Marie Greene Returned - Knitting Light

Hot on the heels of the JRYC, Marie Greene returned to promote her new book, Knitting Light.  It was a really delightful event and one of the busiest nights we've ever worked at the shop. Aimee from Little Fox was also present with a very attractive medley of her sport weight 70% merino/30% hemp base, Willow.

It was so nice to see Marie again.  She is a truly beloved patron of our shop.

 

It was fantastic to see so many sport weight samples knit in Willow as well as every single sample that was used in Marie's new book.

The shoppers at this event had the opportunity of shopping the patterns with the designer and custom color guidance from the DWW staff and Aimee, to get the best match of yarn for their specific size(s).

It felt more like I was attending an art exhibit.  My eyes felt so at ease.

 

This was such an unique experience.  I am really glad to have been there.

 

Just think of all of the hours, yarn, physical prowess and sheer brainpower that went into making all of those samples.

That day was also particularly magical because it was the day that we started carrying Sandnes Garn!!!

The James River Yarn Crawl, been there, done that and now it's dead.

Last year I attended the JRYC for my first time, but this year was my first year working it!

 

The Crawl was fun but it would've been A LOT more fun if both of my ears hadn't been plugged from allergies since Easter.  I basically spent the entire event in an allergy pill/Dayquil/Nyquil fueled haze.  You can see the pain I was in just looking at this photo.

 

But the real highlight, same as last year, was petting and hugging the live alpaca at Center of the Yarniverse.

 

There was no shortage of "fiber drama" throughout The Crawl and sadly as result, this year will be the final year of this most coveted special event.  There are even bigger and better events in the works to replace this epic VA-based fiber arts festival but as far as the JRYC goes, as it's been known, it's now done forever.  R.I.P.

 

Knit Ritual Dyes Wild Carrot Maven Socks & Ritual Dyes Trunk Show at DWW

Looking back at my notes, although I posted these socks on IG after I finished them, I forgot to blog about them.  I just added them to my Ravelry projects.

  

Maven is one of my favorite Ritual Dyes bases. It's American grown, custom milled, 100% non-superwash Rambouillet.  The reason I like this yarn so much is because it's so spongey, soft and springy.

My yarn arrived at the end of February and this a photo of it against all of the fallen leaves in my backyard.

I love the way these muted stripes turned out.

I also love this yarn because it's so breathable.

I do have to admit that the yardage on this specific hank wasn't great.  

I had only just enough yarn to finish these socks for my super tiny feet.

I doubt that one hank alone would be enough yarn for an average adult size pair of socks.

I knit these socks in anticipation of the Ritual Dyes trunk show we hosted at DWW.

The trunk show was AMAZING and we were able to keep it through the JRYC.  I bought a ton of yarn but I've already stashed it away.  I have big plans for it but I'm not quite ready to share them yet.