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YarnCon & While She Naps Podcast

This weekend was my favorite fiber show of the year: YarnCon! I went with my friend Lauren (it also happened to be her birthday) and enjoyed checking out the many varied vendors. There were several returning favorites such as Fleur de Fiber, Cloudlover, Yarn Hollow, and Yarn Geek Fiber, plus some new faces, too. YarnCon is always a well-curated affair, and besides having a fantastic range of vendors, they also have lots of interesting classes and other events happening, too.
Cloudlover BFL Roving
I think this is the first time Cooperative Press has had a booth at the show, and I also discovered a brand-new magazine called Chicago Knits - I bought the first issue and will be sure to share my thoughts with you once I'm done reading it!
Somehow I managed not to take any photos while shopping the marketplace - oops! I was apparently focused on the task at hand: increasing my fiber stash as much as possible. I came home with two pounds of fiber from two of the three vendors on my hit list: Cloudlover and Yarn Geek Fibers
I usually try to find fibers from sheep breeds I haven't worked with, but this time, I came home with all BFL fiber. I don't think it was intentional, but it did get me thinking some insane thoughts, such as: what if I knit a version of Martina Behm's Angles blanket made entirely with handspun yarn? Everything I purchased at YarnCon would be an excellent start....so this might actually happen, unless someone talks some sense into me in the next few weeks. 
Angles by Martina Behm
Image © Martina Behm
After YarnCon, a few of my friends came over to knit and catch up - it has been quite a while since we all hung out since we had all been hibernating through the winter and 2013 was kind of a crazy year for all of us. We each brought a special beer to share and ordered pizza - it was the perfect end to the day! 
In other news, I am honored to be one of the guests on today's episode of a fantastic podcast called While She Naps. In fact, I'm in pretty good company: the other guest is one of my favorite crochet designers of all time, Stacey Trock of FreshStitches

We recorded the interview early one morning a few weeks ago, so I have to admit I'm a little nervous to hear it today - I'm really not a morning person! It was so much fun to talk to Abby and Stacey, and I came away from our conversation with lots of ideas and inspiration. I hope you do, too! 

Comments

  1. I'm pretty sure that blanket NEEDS to happen since those are all amazing colors!

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