Stitches West (Warning- this is long!)

On Our Way to Stitches West!

Don't these ladies look wide awake?? Sarah and the famous hat are on the left, Christina is on the right.

We took Amtrack to Santa Clara. I had to catch the bus in Roseville at 6:45am. This would get me to Sacramento at 7:20am to catch the 7:40am train to Santa Clara. Whew! That was early. Fortunately, I hit Starbuck's on the way out. Amtrack had a special for Stitches, a 10% discount. For those people (including us) that went on Saturday to hit the market, Amtrack set aside a car just for knitters, had gift bags with yarn and Starbuck's gift cards and door prizes. Definitely the way to go! We got to Santa Clara around 10:25am and headed straight to the Market.

The Market is huge. That's my only word to describe it. Lots of people, lots of vendors, yarn and accessories everywhere. Some vendors were having sales. I picked up lots of Wildefoot sock yarn from one vendor. Also picked up some Manos from another. As you can see below, when yarn is on sale, knitters will come.

Manos on SALE!
I was able to find some Mountain Colors Bearfoote too. I am really into sock yarn right now. I know that I am suppose to be on a yarn diet, but I have been purchasing some here and there. Hi, I'm Violet and I'm a yarnaholic.

Brooks Farm
Many of the vendors are specialty vendors. Above is a picture of some of the hand-painted yarns from Brooks Farm Yarn. We were able to pick up hand-painted, 100% kid mohair (Each of us bought some!) from Brooks. Absolutely beautiful. The picture above is a sample of what they offered. I would recommend looking at their website. Great prices and gorgeous yarns.

Sarah and Her Famous Hat

She Sarah's hat? Sarah's hat is famous....at least at the Market it was famous. The hat pattern is from Stitch-n-Bitch and looks absolutely great on Sarah. The hat is great as I was able to easily spot her if I wandered off from the group (also helps that she is 5'8" and I am 5'2"). The hat also had quite a following. Knitters were constantly asking her about the hat: Where did you get that pattern? Where did you find the sequins? Is it hard to make? What kind of yarn did you use? She was quite good natured about it. It also came in handy when I met Nathania! I told her to look for the girl with the shiny hat!

Still Here?
From left to right: Christy, Sarah, and Marin.

At about 3pm, we were completely beat. I was at the point of not being able to focus my eyes. We decided to take a break, rest our feet, and figure out what we wanted to do before we had to catch the train home. So, we made one last round and hit the places that we felt we should see again.

Marin and Her Bounty!
We finally got back to the train and headed home. We tried to knit, but were so tired by the time we on the train. So instead, we decided to look at all of the wonderful yarn we bought. Marin is pictured above. Marin is the organizer for the Stitch-n-Bitch Sacramento group.

Look at What I Got!
Here is my wonderful yarn. Lots of sock yarn (all the Wildfoote) and some fun hand painted yarn. Took me all of Sunday to recover from the trip. Would I do it again? Definitely. Next year, I am taking time off and taking some classes!