Oh what a day!

Saturday was the annual knitter's pilgrimage to Kitchener for the K-W Knitter's Guild Fair. There didn't seem to be as many people there this year, but what was missing in quantity was more than made up for in quality. I met so many wonderful people that I know from the internet and this blog, plus yarn store owners and vendors from last year that I wanted to say hi to this year.

My first stop this year was to Ashley and Andy at All Strung Out.  I just had to get a picture for my mom of the yarn pots she made for them:

There were a few other vendor's selling yarn bowls this year, perhaps because of the article in Vogue Knitting a little while back.

I also made a stop at Hubbert Farms to visit Jody. We hit it off:

Get a load of these grand champion, hand-spun color work mittens she made:

They take my breath away. I aspire to this skill level.

Just over in the next booth, I spotted a fellow blogger and we had a spontaneous moment of bloggers blogging bloggers:

Can you guess who's behind the camera? It's Brenda Knits. Ain't she cute?

We also hit it off and had a lovely chat. Then we kept bumping into each other in the booths. She'd turn around and there I'd be. I wasn't stalking you Brenda, honest!

I even met Anne Hanson and stopped to say hello. I'll confess to being a little shy with her, but it was also weird because I felt like I know her. I wanted to ask how David was and if her garden was still producing. Surreal.

And now, what you've all been waiting for, the purchase report. It seemed to me that there wasn't an IT vendor this year. And having just purged the stash I was cautious about purchasing more yarn. You don't really go to the fair to buy a sweater's worth of yarn. It's more about what's new, or a treat, or finding a bargain.

I found myself buying fiber instead. From Hubbert Farms, I bought Jody's hand-prepared Gotland fiber:

From Wellington Fibers a lovely wool/mohair/silk blend that I think wants to be socks:

From Roving Winds Farm I bought 1oz of pure, cream cashmere. No picture because it just doesn't do it justice. I got sucked into buying it when I felt a sample scarf. I don't think you can actually touch cashmere. It's more like the fiber giving you a whisper of a caress. Lovely.

But the big item this year was almost 19oz of Shetland from Michelle at Hopeful Shetlands:

This should be enough to make me a shrug or a vest. I aspire to a hand spun sweater but decided it would be smart to start a bit smaller. I've worked with Michelle's Shetland fiber before and loved it.

So that's it. It was a great day, with great traveling companions, and beautiful weather. I don't think I could handle this much fun more than once a year.

The only downer was that I couldn't wear my newly completed Folklore because it was just too warm. I draped it over my arm and it started some conversation. The zipper installation is great on it, and I'm moderately pleased with the fit. If you'd like to see pictures, head on over to Ravelry.