KDO Part 3 - The Market

This is my final installment and the one you've all been waiting for, where I reveal... THE LOOT.

First, here's some stuff that I (mostly) bought. I already mentioned the Seven Things book. I needed some more locking stitch markers, so I grabbed those at The Mannings, too. (I also bought another bobbin for the Ladybug, but I forgot to photograph that before proceeding to put yarn on it.) The notebook is a cutie that I preordered with my registration. Turns out it's a Circa notebook (you know, the kind from Levenger where you can rearrange the pages), which is pretty cool.

And what, might you ask, are those HUGE needles (size US 19) doing there? Well... look closely at my nametag. The "2008" is in blue, which means I won a door prize. The needles were the doorprize. I doubt that I'll ever knit on those, but maybe they will come in useful for something else. Like hanging a banner in the backyard, or ... something. My won made cool fish print banners at nature camp this summer. Something like that.

Remember I made that cap for Caps for Kids? There were so many of them that a Pack-n-Play was needed to gather them!
A few were entered in a competition for best cap (winners to get a $10 gift certificate to the market). That snowperson head is pretty cute.
And finally, there is the yarn. Most of the vendors were ones with which I was not familiar (notable exceptions: The Mannings in East Berlin, PA, and Uncommon Threads in York, PA). I bought some sock yarn at Leaping Lagomorph Rare Breeds, who came all the way from Versailles, Missouri. They had a lot of alpaca stuff, and I was smitten. First, I fell for the Socrates sock yarn (from Alpaca with a Twist, 30% baby alpaca, 30% merino wool, 20% bamboo, 20% nylon). This dreamy color is so muted and soft. I'll knit socks with a cool stitch pattern with this yarn. I'm not sure why Blogger rotated my photo 90 degrees, but you get the idea:
I also bought some Paca Peds sock yarn (from The Alpaca Yarn Company, 20% superfine alpaca, 65% superwash wool, 15% nylon). My lunch companions Julie and Allison were raving about this yarn mere minutes earlier, so when I saw it, I had to take a close look. Even though I have been on an anti-pooling bent lately, I felt I had to give this yarn a chance. It looks just like fall leaves where I live. I talked with the shop owner about pooling and thought it was worth a shot.
I also was susceptible to the roving at the market. So many exhibitors were from small farms in central PA, and they loved talking about their fiber. This lovely little ball of fluff is 70% alpaca, 30% Jacob, from McMahon Fiber in Homer City, PA (4 oz). It's mostly a deep chocolate brown (that's the alpaca) with wispy white streaks running through it (the Jacob). The woman at the booth said that the Jacob would make it easier for a beginning spinner to work with - it should slow the fiber down and not let it slip through my hands so easily. Mmmmmmm:The next three rovings are from Gurdy Run Woolen Mill in Halifax, PA. They had huge trash bags full of roving, which was sold by the pound. I bought a half pound each of several. First, this is called "Heidi's Blues" (the sheep is named Heidi) and it is 100% wool:

Next, this color is called "Bearded Iris" and the fiber content is 90% wool, 10% nylon (that's the sparkly part, hard to see in this photo). I assumed the nylon was to make it good for sock yarn, but she said it's mostly just pretty.And finally, this is called "Mountain Meadow" and it's 55% wool (Corriedale), 45% mohair. The color reminded me of the mittens on the cover of the current Vogue Knitting. You know, the green, cabley ones designed by Jared Flood (Ravel it). Those mittens call for a fingering weight yarn. Maybe I can spin it? We'll see!
Whew! I had a great time at Knitters' Day Out. Sign me up again next year. (Here's the mailing list if you want to be in the loop about next year's event.)