Stitches Midwest 2006

I went to my first ever Stitches Midwest event over the weekend. In spite fo the fact that Stitches Midwest has pretty much always been held in the Chicago area, I've never actually made it out there before. Why? Since the time I started getting back into the fiber arts, Stitches has almost always collided with my anniversary. My husband loves me, but draws the line at fiber events on our annversary. This year, however, Stitches is a full two weekends before my anniversary, so with Julie and Bonne Marie, I got a chance to wander through the marketplace and see what goodies were available.

The Goods From Stitches: Two Skeins of STR, Two Two Old Bags Patterns, A Nifty Button and Ribbon Tape with Inch Markers, and Two Batts from Grafton Fibers

Since I really wasn't looking out for any particular yarn, it was pretty easy to be well behaved at Stitches. We made a beeline for the Blue Moon Fiber Arts booth as soon as we got to the marketplace. I picked up a skein of "Rooster Rock" (which has some gorgeous reds and purples that don't show up here) and the second skein is an almost solid colorway called "Sun Stone" -- both are Socks That Rock, medium weight. The Rooster Rock is for me, the Sun Stone does not yet have a destination. Slowly but surely I am building up quite the stash of STR sock yarn.

After the Blue Moon booth, there was a good deal of moseying around.

Roch Button

This button, which is made of polished stone, came from Nifty Thrifty Dry Goods (no website) -- a booth that wins my award for the most engaging. All the buttons and bobs were arranged by color and you could find everything from very vintage to very now as well as a whole collection or ribbons and other kinds of trims. I'm imaging this button on a sweater that only needs a single large closure detail. I buy a lot of buttons not knowing what their final destination will be. I just like to have them around, knowing that someday the right garment will show up. I think it takes me back a little bit to when I was little and I used to dig through and sort the buttons in my mom's button jar. I wonder where that jar is today?

Corriedale Cross Batts from Grafton Fibers

Since I now know that it is pretty unlikely that I will get to Rhinebeck this year, I had given up hope of getting the opportunity to get my hands on some Grafton Fibers batts. I've heard so many good things about them, but I hadn't yet had the opportunity to see the goods for myself. I was totally and pleasantly surprised to find them in the Stitches marketplace. These two bats are right in my favorite color range (the picture above is truer in color than the first picture) and in my favorite fiber type: Corriedale. These batts are clearly beautifully prepared. And what I test drafted was impeccable. These two batts are about 7 ounces of fiber. A respectable amount for a shawl. I'm just itching to get this stuff on my wheel.

And speaking of wheels...

Jensen D-30 "Ultimate" Production Wheel

I now have a new covet wheel. There aren't too many wheels in the Stitches marketplace (no surprise, really, it's not really a spinner's meeting) but since these wheels were parked right across the aisle from the Fold's booth we had no problem finding Carl and Shelby Jaeger's booth which featured Jensen spinning wheels. I'd heard of Jensen wheels -- when I was looking for my first wheel, a couple of folks left comments to tell me about them and said some awfully nice things about them. But since then, I've come to realize that wheels are a very personal thing. A wheel that one person adores may be something that the next spinner hates. There's no substitute for sitting down in front of a wheel yourself and spinning a bit.

This wheel spins very nicely. In fact, you hardly even realize that you are treadling such a big wheel because the motion of the wheel is almost effortless and it stops and starts without hesitation. It has just the right amount of pull and I didn't feel like I was being dragged along for the ride like I have felt with some wheels I've tried. And because it's such a big wheel, you don't have to treadle very fast to keep things moving at a good clip I could have kept spinning on it the entire afternoon.

The D-30 Ultimate Production Wheel is a parlor wheel in the true sense of the word. This is definitely a wheel that would not be moving around the house. It's only the second double drive wheel that I have ever spun on (the first being the Winsome Timbers wheel at the Fold) and I find the fact that the big wheel ultimately controls both flyer speed and bobbin drag rather fascinating. It certainly created a very smooth spinning experience. The wheel he had set up was also perfect for me with the orifice on the left hand side. When I get ready to make my second wheel purchase, this wheel will definitely be in the running. (I also got to try the Tina II wheel and liked it a great deal as well, but since I already have a castle-style wheel, it wasn't quite as interesting for me). Those of you who said nice things about this wheel are definitely right, in the opinion of this newbie spinner!

The last place I want to mention was a place I didn't buy anything from because they didn't have quite what I was looking for on hand -- Homestead Heirlooms LLC. They make all manner of wonderful leather straps that can be used with handbags and baskets. A number of Christmases ago I promised my sister-in-law (the same one I made the original dragon scale socks for) a felted handbag of her choosing. What she wanted wasn't quite like anything I had a pattern for, and since my design inspiration shows up in fits and starts, it's been only recently that I have figured out what direction I want to go with it. One of these straps (the one with the D ring) fits perfectly into my developing vision and I'll definitely be giving the folks at Homestead Heirlooms a call after I figure out the exact dimension and color that I need.