2016 Fiber Fest

2015 was the first time I attended Fiber Fest at the Irving Convention Center. With the closing of one of my favorite local yarn stores, Madtosh Crafts, I was hankering to browse some beautiful yarns.

Before I went on Saturday, I took some time to look through my Evernote crochet folder, Ravelry, my own notes, and Etsy, for some ideas of what to work on next.

After the success of my Granite Cape sweater, I've gained some confidence and am still wanting to work on a more fitted sweater. I shortlisted two that I've had in my notes for a while now:

• The Araucaria Cardigan needs about 2500 yards of dk 8 ply yarn
• The Aruna Cardigan needs about 2000 yards of worsted 10 ply yarn

The only trick here is finding that much yarn in the same dye lot at once. Usually most stores recommend ordering it directly from the maker. So really I needed to browse to see what I liked for these. As I would want to modify the Aruna quite a bit (to make it longer), I was leaning towards working on the Araucaria one first.

All kind of yarn and people at the show. If I had a dollar for every not standard hair color...

As I figured, I didn't actually get any yarn for a sweater...most of the yarn there is hand dyed and I did not feel like spending close to $400 in yarn for a sweater I may or may not like. Got some really good advice on perhaps using just say three skeins of some hand made yarn for the detail edging and doing the main body in a commercial yarn though.

It was good to get to talk to professionals who also understand my limitations and budget. And I really loved her yarns and colors. Next year perhaps I'll be a bit more bold.

Wandering the vendor hall, it was so hard not to just buy all the Madtosh yarn in my favorite colorway, Mandala, but as I had no project in mind, I moved on...

large area to just sit and knit in the middle of the hall

I've also really wanted to make something gigantic...like a huge plushie of some kind. Again, that would require quite a bit of yarn. Not sure why, but I keep coming back to this giant sleepy cat thing by Nekoyama named Amari-san. Apparently he's a large version of a smaller cat toy named Amineko by the same designer. Based on the finished projects (I was especially looking at MrsDanvers' as it was so nicely photographed) it looked like I would need about 900 yards if I wanted to use a worsted of some kind. Unfortunately, Miss Babs Yarn wasn't there this year, from which I had planned to get a few of her giant skeins for this cat.

In the end I did get some yarn, but for another project altogether. I've been wanting to make this Juliette Shawl for a while, and so kept my eye out for a set of ombre yarns in a color I liked. I found it in this set of yarn called Teal Deer by Vice Yarns. I also went out on a limb and got a small bag of clear silver beads. I am going to try to add a few beads to the last couple of rows just to give it a little shine! Keep an eye out for a post on this shawl in the future.

Last but not least, you might have noticed a little silver item in that picture as well. It is a shawl pin made of white bronze and cast from a piece of grape vine from a brand called Jül Designs. I love how organic the shape was and I had to have it. Figure it will look lovely on my pineapple shawl and anything else I use it with.

Till next year!

Scarves for a Good Cause

The DFW Fiber Fest, a local yarn/knitter/crocheter convention that was this weekend which I also attended last year, chose Knit Your Bit as their charity program this year to provide scarves to our local veterans groups. It was developed in 2006 by the National World War II Museum in New Orleans, and provides Veterans across the country with scarves. The Museum has sample patterns on its website if you need some ideas, or you can choose any appropriate pattern you like to knit or crochet. Pretty sure they accept them all year round if you feel like making and sending some over.

As the Museum asks you to include your Name, City, State, and care instructions with each scarf so I made up some little tags. I printed mine off on cardstock I had lying around and punched holes and tied them on to the finished scarves. Fiber fest also as some for download if you don't want to make your own tags.

V For Victory
I picked out two free patterns to try. First up: V for Victory which I worked up in I Love This Yarn in Dark Olive. First off, of course, I started with a foundation double crochet row of 23 stitches rather than the chain and work into method. Once you have the foundation rows done, you start working the V. The pattern however just assumes you know where and how to skip, as well as where to place the dcs in the center of the V shape in order to end up with the right look across the rows. I can see how a novice would find this very confusing. For example, row 12 should really read: ch 2 (counts as first dc), dc in next, 4dc in chain space, 11dc across, 4dc in chain space, 2dc, which equals 23 dc across.

Then you just work a ton of rows for length, then do the V rows again, but backwards, followed by the end rows and done! I used up about half of the skein for the first, so I made a second with the V only on one end. That second one ended up being a bit short, even for a scarf, so I turned it into a cowl by seaming up the end. Each scarf was totally easy, aside from the assumptions, and took about 3 hours each.

After finishing the Proud to be one, I whipped up one more V for Victory scarf in the rest of the blue skein, as I wasn't sure if they really wanted cowls and I wanted to make sure I donating three scarves. Ya know, after looking at the one in blue I can't help but think that I could make a bunch for our school... for the Vikings!

Proud to Be
As I also had red, white and blue on hand the second pattern I tried was the Proud to Be scarf. I did not have a full skein of white to use, but I figured I had enough to make one of the white blocks with an S on it (from USA). My plan then was to make one set of the letter blocks and then make the rest of the scarf in solid red, since that's what I have the most of.

Since this scarf is worked in sc it takes a lot longer to work up. I got into the 10th row and had maybe 2 inches of scarf done, but the front post double crochet worked into the second row down is a cool way to get dense raised areas. It's like making cables, but without the open area behind that normally occurs; very cool, but super time consuming.

Once I got the three blocks of USA completed, I decided to be done with the letters. I switched over to double crochet and worked a row of white, then blue then finished out the rest of the scarf in red, making it as long as the skein lasted. Time to complete: 8 hours

While doing these projects, I am starting to realize that it is not so much the materials that I am donating, but the time, which is far more valuable and meaningful.

Blue Spider Lattice

A local knitting instructor passed away in December and one of the local yarn stores she taught at, Jennings Street, informed their customers in an email that she would have what amounted to a yarn estate sale. We went the first day mostly out of curiosity, and I ended up leaving with a bunch of new stuff.

Pretty but I actually dislike using them a lot.

I got four rosewood crochet hooks, and two bags of yarn, one with about five skeins of Issac Mizrahi Craft yarn in pink with gold sequins, and another with five skeins of a sparkly blue all for $23! The pink I figure I will use to make something for my sister, as the yarn kind of screamed her name, but the blue I thought I could make into something fun.

The blue yarn is called "Sunshine" by Trendsetter Yarns and is made in France... fancy. It seems to be discontinued and the label has not much info on it. Ravelry to the rescue as they have all the info like weight category and hook size. It says worsted, but it feels thinner than a regular worsted and has this kind of odd metallic crispness to it.

That crisp feeling made me think I would not like it as a scarf, although I did think about it since some of the reviews said this yarn made great fringe. Instead I ended up trying out the Spider Lattice Stole pattern by Cathy Campbell which is free on Ravelry. When starting to work on the initial foundation sc row I think I made the right decision.

The pattern itself is eight repeating rows and once you do them once it is a no brainer to work the rest with no reference to the pattern. I love ones like that. However it is a bit boring, so I was able to listen to an audio book while working it up and that made it go much faster.

The sheen of the fabric it creates is a bit odd to look at. I have to think any smaller stitch or details would get lost in the texture of the yarn, so the large, uncomplicated, open work pattern suited it well.
The shine makes it kind of pretty and a bit more like evening wear or something you might throw over a black dress.

I had a lot of fun making this quick and easy stole.

Difficulty: Easy
Time to complete: 8 hours
Finished size: 12" x 56"

2015 Fiber Fest

I've reviewed all the yarn shops I've been to, but if you are keeping track, that is only three. With the lack of choices of places to shop an event like Fiber Fest is great opportunity to spend some money and see what is really out there.

I went with my family on Saturday to the Irving Convention Center and for a mere $5 you can get into the vendor hall. I guess from the few other conventions I have attended (A-kon and Gencon) I expected it to be a larger affair. After spending the better part of the day there, I was amazed at the amount of yarn, crafts, and people in there.

This is the full vendor hall. A good size and PACKED with yarn.

As a crochet person, I did feel a tiny bit left out. Most vendors carried knitting items, had knitting patterns and knitted samples. Clearly I am missing out. I did manage to find the no.10 crochet hook I wanted though and I did see a one or two crochet samples worked up, but saw no patterns at all. Thank goodness that yarn is universal.

I was also absolutely amazed at the amount of booths selling raw fiber and spinning items. That is a whole realm of yarn crafting that I cannot even fathom getting into. Especially not when there is no lack of amazingly cool yarns ready for purchase.

Yarn, as far as the eye can see.

I wanted to mention that Cascade Yarns, whom I love for their very reasonable prices and great quality, had a booth and were helpful in choosing the best yarn from their array for a few projects I might like to tackle in the future. They are on the far right in that picture above.

Speaking of which, I wanted to share a few vendors in particular that I really liked.

Tumbleweed Yarn, I was drawn to mostly because of the names of the yarns at first, which are all Texas towns, so I had to take a closer look at Marfa. Once I was in the booth, I really started to appreciate the colorways she had. I was looking for a sport weight yarn, which nearly no one had, but I took her card to keep an eye on as she mentioned they might be working on some in the future.

Miss Babs was probably one of the largest booths in the hall. Not only that, it was packed with a ton of yarn. They also had giant skeins of yarn for really excellent prices, talking 560 yards for $38! This booth was also one of the few to have sport weight yarns in it. These also came in giant skeins of 700 yards for $44, but as I needed four of the same colorway for the project I had in mind, I did not leave with any. I am going to keep an eye online though, as I might break down and get some from them eventually. I am pretty sure the one I was looking at was called Killington, but I cannot seem to find it online... odd. Both of my companions bought yarn from them on this trip and I feel like perhaps I missed out, but I can't justify buying yarn without a pattern for it. Especially when my stash is already so large.

Fishknits is the only booth I actually bought yarn from this weekend; shocking, I know. I got one skein of a yarn I fell in love with. I had gone in to the show wanting to get a sock yarn for some crochet socks (which I hear is a rare thing) and found their selection stunning. I ended up with a self striping fingering yarn in "Dark Side, No Moon". It is a superwash merino wool with a little nylon and a tiny bit of "Stellina" which gives it just a hint of sparkle. Can't wait to use it. 

This was a great little show and I can only hope that it persists and grows. Perhaps next year I will stick around longer and join some of the classes they had going on. Between seeing all the creative people, quite a few of which had odd colored hair like me, all the raffles and door prizes, demonstrations and selection, and free cake, I will for sure be back again next year.

Jenning Street Yarns

Time for another yarn store review! I needed to get a few new yarns for upcoming projects and as I am not heading to Austin or Houston anytime soon, I decided to give a new yarn store in Fort Worth a try.

Not sure how I found Jenning Street Yarns, but I am glad I did.

Comfy chairs to the left, Pattern area to the right.

I must admit the store is a tiny bit hard to find, in that the area is not one of the more populated areas of Fort Worth. In terms of space, it must be similar in size to Madtosh, but is so much more densely packed that they have almost everything you could want! Even with their huge selection of yarn there was space with a large table for classes, a mini library of patterns and a table and chairs for that area, and a few comfy chairs.

Lots of books too, and clearance bins!

My list consisted of Cascade Heritage in Pine, a small bit of gold, Cascade Heritage in Black,
and something for a tunisian vest that I am learning to make from a Craftsy online class. I needed about 1200 yards of a worsted weight wool.

Very nice organization by colors and brand.

They did indeed have the Cascade in Pine, and the lady helped me find a lovely and cost-effective blue yarn for the vest in Encore Tweed in by Plymouth Yarns. I needed about 6 skeins to make sure I had enough, so the cost came in at about $50. Which is not bad at all!

I will for sure be back again! And check out the sentiment on the tote bag... certainly my kind of store.

PS: If you are wondering, I am still looking for a good black sock yarn, and I got a tiny skein of Madtosh fingering weight yarn in Dandelion for the "gold" while in Fort Worth.

Twisted Yarns

Went to visit my siblings in Houston for an evening dinner, but on the way back I stopped in at a small yarn store in Old Town Spring about 30 minutes north of Houston proper. I went with the idea of perhaps finding a good quality, not too expensive, dk weight yarn, but when you need almost 2,000 yards of something it is pretty much impossible to find in a store.

Twisted Yarns was pretty cool all around. They had a small table for groups and looks like they have classes and meet ups. While I was there a lady came in and had one of the workers help her figure out a pattern she was in the middle of working on, which just seemed so helpful. They also can order anything you find online for you in bulk and ship it, which I might just have to do for the project I have in mind.

I was standing near clearance (far left side) and Noro yarns (far right side).

The staff was really knowledgeable and helpful. This being the third yarn store I have been to, I can't help compare it to the two others now I have visited. (Hill Country and Madtosh Crafts) It is smaller than both other stores, but seems to have the same amount, if not a little more, yarn than Madtosh. They carried a lot of the specialty hand dyed brands like Noro and Koigu, but also some more reasonably priced brands like Berroco.

They had a winder out for everyone to use. Here we see tons of sock yarns.

They also have a cool loyalty program where you get $20 off once you have spent a $200, which is pretty easy to do. That is the kind of thing that will ensure I stop by every time I go down and back to Houston. They also give you a cute tiny measuring tape, which is a nice touch.

The white desk in the center is the check out by the door, beyond that is the table area. Great selection of hooks!

Since they didn't have anything I wanted to use for the big project, I looked around for stuff for smaller projects. Found a manly gray for some gloves for a friend. Also found some really nice sport weight yarns. I got three colors with the thought that I would use them for gloves, perhaps for presents at some point. All the yarn is by Cascade Yarns, which I did not realize till I got home. The three brown, white and tan are 220 Superwash Sport and the gray is Heritage sock yarn. Even though they were in different sections, I guess I know what I like.

My purchases came out to about $32.00. Not bad!

Overall, this was a friendly, great little store and I will be back when I pass through.

Modtosh Crafts Store

Finally got around to going to the only actual yarn store in Fort Worth: Madtosh Crafts
UPDATE: Madtosh Crafts has closed as of December 2015. *insert sobbing here*

My sister in law and I went, as she needed to pick out yarn for a hat I am planning to make her for a christmas present. I of course went along to help color choices and to see their selection.

I was going with one real goal in mind, which was to see if they had any Berroco Weekend DK yarn to add to my triangle crocodile shawl which is a bit small. Unfortunately, they did not carry that brand at all, so that project will still get to wait to be done.

Entry way view to the back of the store.

The store is a pretty good size and has a lovely sitting area and tables. The selection seems to be exclusively yarn that is hand spun, hand dyed or both. That makes it a bit of an advanced selection in my opinion as most hand made yarns have lots of little wispy bits and bumps that makes quick smooth crocheting hard. They also tend to felt together really fast, making ripping out and starting over not possible.

The other side effect of all hand made yarns is that they are all pretty pricy. That kept me from buying everything I saw, because when spending that much for yarn I want to absolutely love the colors and know that the pattern I am making is a good one. I don't want to end up with another shrug that I won't wear...

From the back corner to the front.

With that said, I still managed to want a lot of what they carried. The colors were amazing and some of the textures were just lovely to feel. I know that when I feel more comfortable in my skills (and have more spending money) that I could graduate to some of those yarns.

They also had a few books, a lot of knitting accessories like bags and tools and scissors. Of course they had a good selection of hooks and needles as well... some with really cool looking ergonomic handles.

Koigu yarn in Painters Palette

I did leave with one small skein of yarn for my own reasons. It is Koigu Wool Designs brand. Color is "Painter's Palette" meaning each dye lot is hand painted and different: P128 dye code and lot 106. It is 100% Merino Wool and is hand wash only. It is a very fine weight yarn as it takes a 3mm hook. At 50 grams, it had just enough yardage to work up the pattern I had in mind. The colors were about as close as I think I could find to my inspiration piece. At $14.00 I didn't feel like I was spending too much either. Next post will be about what I made with it.

Hill Country Weavers

For a little change of pace I am going to review a yarn store today. Well maybe review is not the right word, perhaps praise would work better.

In DFW, if you want yarn you go to Joanne Fabrics, Michaels or Hobby Lobby. If you want good yarn I hear there is a small place in Fort Worth that is good, but I have no idea where it is or what it's called.

Doing a search of Austin for "yarn" on Google and you get the same sort of results, but put in Knitting and that is a different matter. This is the second time I have been to Austin, and I walked up and down South Congress Street for days and did not see this gem sitting there plain as day. Well perhaps because it looks like a house, or perhaps because I was on the opposite side of the street, I did not see it until the second day of my trip.

Hill Country Weavers
1701 South Congress Ave, Austin, TX 78704

Entering the home, as clearly it once was, you are faced with the staggering good smells of yarn and wood. And your eyes immediately have to adjust to the COLORS.

The Entry.

They don't mess around in here. You had better know what you want: color, thickness, purpose, amount, fiber content, etc. I had two upcoming projects in mind so I got out of the store spending under $100, but with no plan or focus I could have bought everything.

Each room of the home is full, floor to ceiling with bins and boxes and cubbies of whatever you could want. Prices seem to range from the low end of about $8 a skein (though I bought some on sale for 6.25) to $50 a skein, or more.

Part of a room.

You can see not only is there yarn, but samples of nearly everything worked up for you to see and feel how it will look or hang, unlike the tiny squares in "craft stores". They also had an entire wall of threads, I assume for quilting or embroidery.

Each room had chairs and some of the women seemed to just be hanging out as much as shopping. One lady sat chatting and knitting near the register, it was both odd and perfect. The staff is very knowledgeable. Even though I knew what I wanted, I did not have a clue on how to find it, except to look at everything. Once I had, I asked to be sure I located all my options.

Another room.

They also had a wall of needles, hooks and all kinds of yarn crafts needs. Cute project bags and carrying cases, fancy stitch markers, etc. It's like a candy store. In the back room there is a corner with markdowns and sale items. They also had a building next door which said Outlet, so I can only assume there is even more, but I had to leave before I spent anything else...

Yet another room.

In one room I sat while my purchase was balled for me. The skeins on the shelf are not really friendly to working from, so they have a machine which will ball the yarn for you... that does mean that you cannot return it then, but why would I and that saves me a lot of work later on. While I waited I looked through their collection of books. I must say that this store does cater more towards knitting folks in that regard, but their range of crochet books was very good, just less large than knit. Also their signs on the porch say knitting, spinning and weaving... :(  As a "hooker" I felt only a little saddened to be left out.

So, what did I buy? And for what?

What I got.

Well I am still in the middle of a project at the moment, a tunic sweater, but these yarns are for the two projects after...

The dark blue, purple, gray, green yarn is Madeline Tosh, Tosh DK in "Stargazing", 100% superwash merino wool. A dk weight is similar to a worsted weight. It can be machine washed, but has to air dry. It is dyed in Texas and made in South Africa. I plan to use it to make Otachi. This yarn was the most expensive of the three I got, but the colors were too perfect for what I had in mind for his color scheme to not get.

The middle blue, single skein, is Nature Spun, worsted weight wool in "Fanciful Blue". It is made by the Brown Sheep Company in Nebraska. I plan to use this for the glow spots on Otachi, but I might use the lightest one I got if I have leftovers... I got this one because it was in the sale bin, close to the color I wanted and $3. And I can always make a little headband or something with it, if I don't use it for my kaiju.

The lightest blue is Berroco Weekend DK. The color for this yarn is 2982 or "Coast". It is 75% Acrylic 25% Peruvian Cotton, and can also be machine washed but air dryed. That was important to me because this yarn is for this Lion Brand Open Air Shrug pattern. Note: you might need a Lion Brand login to see/download this pattern. This yarn was very reasonable at the 6.50 a skein, and of much better quality and feel, in my opinion, than say a Red Heart or Vanna's Choice, and for something that I am going to wear and have on my skin, I want it to feel good. They had a sweater made up from it that really sold me on how it would look and wear.

So basically this place is heaven. Tips for a visit:
1. Have a Budget.
2. Have a Pattern/Plan/List.
3. Ask for help.
4. Be inspired.