CaysCrafts

Stitches West
Wow! I think this is the only word to describe this event. It was my first time at an event dedicated strictly to the fibre arts and it was almost overwhelming. It was held in the Santa Clara, CA convention center which is huge, and the event took up the entire ground floor. There were over 200 vendors, book signings, demos, fashion show (which I missed) and lots and lots of people.
And Yarn! Oh, the number and kinds of yarn! It is geared more toward knitters, but yarn is yarn. There were beautiful knitting needles and crochet hooks, spinning wheels, yarn winders & swifts. One booth advertised brushing your pet, sending them the hair, and they would make it into yarn and send it back to you. With four cats, you would think I would have gotten their card, but had brain fade.
Many of the vendors had items made up and then sold the supplies in kits. In fact, my friend Kitty bought a kit for a gorgeous sweater in beautful oranges. Not a color that I would have imagined for Kitty, but she said she wanted to expand her horizons.
I saw booths for vendors and yarn suppliers that I have seen online. So nice to be able to see & pet the yarn. Now I have a better idea of what some of them are when I see them mentioned on the web. And the prices! I was so impressed. No wonder Wilma and her daughter, Cathy, came down from Sacramento on the train. I saw her shortly before we left and she said she hadn't really bought any yarn, yet, but her daughter had.
Kitty brought me some handcrafted kettle dyed wool from Uruguay when she went to NYC last week. At the Web's booth, I found Skye Tweed by Classic Elite yarns for 3.99 for 110 yards, so I bought 5 skeins to go with it and am going to make a felted messenger bag from it.The yarn Kitty brought is a copper color and the yarn I bought is kind of a linen color w/small specks of the copper in it. I can't wait to start this project!
Then we were in the demo area and I saw Newton's booth. Big sign $7.00 skein, min 5 skeins. Well, had to go check this out. I got approx 1200 yds of cashmere/merino in a gorgeous yellow tweed. It is so soft. I don't know yet what I'm going to make with this, but it will be for me. The other yarn I got at Newtons is something call Frenchie which is wool/acrylic/rayon in a red. This yarn has a really unique texture and I have no idea what to do with it, but I had to have it.
As expected, saw lots of people walking around in things they had made, all the way from scarfs to skirts. Most of the things were wonderful, but there is always someone who has no sense of color or function. But they are happy with what they did, so that is the important thing.
I am exhausted but happy. Will do this again next year, and will make every effort to get Margaret here from Florida to go with me. She would love it. If you have the chance, go next year.