Wow, I can't believe it's already been a week since Belinda and I were at the Yarn Fest in Loveland. It's been a busy week since I've been home. I had a few random photos left over from our trip and I thought I'd share a bit more about our experiences. Above, is some yarn I was eyeing. I do sort of regret not getting it, but I already have a LOT of sock yarn. It's hard to shop in a huge marketplace such as the Yarn Fest's Marketplace.
I've been to three really big fiber festivals like this and it kind of helps to have a plan. The first time I went to such an event, I was just so overwhelmed; I ended up purchasing a lot of random hanks of sock yarn with no particular plans. Yes, with sock yarn you can always make socks, but having a plan is a good thing.
Last year at the Yarn Fest, Belinda and I were really drawn to the "shop samples" we found on display in the various booths. Above you can see these amazing hand dyed gradient yarns and a little shawlette in pink and black. The color changes very slowly through the yarn, there are no color repeats, and the very beginning of the yarn was dyed especially dark. In this booth, they had a sample knit up so you knew exactly what you could do with this special yarn. Last year, we both ended up buying yarn and planned to make the projects just like we saw knit up in the booths. Last year, we also bought some kits that had the patterns and yarn included.
This year we decided to shop for yarn so we could make particular patterns we've been eyeing. We also wanted to look for more hand dyed sock blanks since we enjoyed buying and knitting socks from them last year.
We ended up finding hand dyed sock blanks at two booths this year and they were Western Sky Knits and Greenwood Fiberworks. The ladies in these booths were especially nice.
Again this year, we were inspired to make purchases based upon samples we saw knit up in the various booths. So I guess my point is that it's hard to stick with your plans when you are overwhelmed and inspired by so much amazing yarn and so many, many choices.
We learned that next year, the Interweave Yarn Fest will be held at a different location. We are curious to hear where exactly it will be held (we heard some where in Denver). I have to say I was disappointed to hear the location is changing since we loved staying at the Embassy Suites and we've really learned the area, restaurant locations, etc. So we are staying positive and hoping that the next location will just be even better.
We liked the Embassy Suites because they have a wonderful free breakfast each morning. We also discovered that each evening, they have a Manager's Reception, which included appetizers and drinks in the hotel's atrium. Since we had late lunches each day and we had snacks in our room, it ended up that the only meals we paid for were lunch. So if you spend less money on eating out, you have more money to spend on YARN!
Another nice thing about our Yarn Fest experience this year is that we stayed two nights (instead of just one night... which is what we did last year). This gave us more time to just hang out, relax, and knit. One afternoon, we decided to sit in the hotel's lobby area where there are lots of small seating areas. Through out the Yarn Fest, you could find participants sitting and knitting in the lobby. Belinda and I sat in an area with four chairs, and soon enough a nice lady, Denise, joined us and we all chatted away. The next day, we met up with Denise again and she brought her friend Jill. Denise brought in this amazing circular shawl she had knit and we enjoyed checking it out. You can't see them well in the photos, but the shawl if full of copper colored beads and pearl beads. Really stunning!
The items we purchased at Yarn Fest will keep us busy for a long while. I look forward to Yarn Fest next year!
