Shopping at the Knitter's Frolic

My dear husband delivered my purse to me at the Knitter's Frolic. With credit cards intact, I might add. What a good guy. And do you know what he said as he handed it off? "Have fun!" I think I've gotta keep him.

So with that admonition in mind, Phyllis and I began our serious shopping. Up til now, we'd just been browsing. Mind you, at a show like this it is best to browse first and then shop. It wasn't as though not having my credit card was a hardship until this point.

The yarn haul all came from Good Buy Yarns. At substantial discounts, I might add. In the upper left you see Magic Garden super-wash wool in a lovely aqua colour. It begged me to become a sweet sweater for my neice Emery. She is expecting a baby brister (brother or sister, we don't know which) this fall and I want to be sure that she knows that she is still loved. Heck -- I want to be sure that she remembers me. So the wool came home.

Followed by enough Zara (upper right) to become a sweater for myself. At Christmas I made some fingerless gloves for my daughter and really loved the wool. At 45% off, who could resist?

The lower left wool is three balls of Rowan Kid Classic. I *THINK* it will become a scarf, but ... it was too delightful to leave behind.

The green wool is called Smart super-wash. There are actually 17 balls of it, destined to become a sweater for my wonderful hubby. After all, a guy who drives 1.5 hours (with gas at $1.06 a litre) to deliver a purse with credit cards and says "have fun" deserves something nice. Green is his favorite colour, and he has pronounced this green will do. (Whew!)

But wait! That's not all! I also scored the Yarn Harlot's newest book, "Knitting Rules." It is hysterically funny. Phyllis and I browsed through it a bit and laughed. Loudly and long. Well worth the cash. I also picked up the Great American Afghan pattern. I've been reading about it on-line ... and the squares are too delightful to pass up. In fact, one or more of them will become the basis of sweaters.

I had also promised myself another pair of Addi Turbos in a size 2, which I did manage to find at last year's price. Nice touch, that. I was also looking for an visual/audio instructional aid for learning to use my drop spindle -- imagine that, the same booth from which I acquired my spindle had an instructional DVD.

The video from Philosopher's Wool? A door prize. Which I won. Can you imagine that?!? I was flabbergasted. (We won't mention that Phyllis won 2 door prizes, OK?) I have not yet watched the video, but am anticipating it greatly. Delayed gratification -- of which I seem to be a master -- makes the winning that much sweeter.

But wait! That's not all! The biggest coup of the day -- and also the biggest surprise -- is
I don't wear shawls. Really. I don't wear shawls. But when I fondled this Silver Cloud Alpaca lace-weight wool ... I wavered. I continued browsing. I went back and fondled. I wavered some more. And then I went looking for a pattern. I figure that even if I don't actually knit up the scarf, the purchase will have been worth it. The teen daughters are hoping to fondle my alpaca when I'm not around. Perhaps this will inspire my daughter to take up knitting? In any event, I have begun the slow descent into shawls. We'll have to see how far I go.

Quite a haul. Managed to fit all my purchases into the large plastic bags provided by Good Buy Yarns. I did sacrifice my knitting bag so that Phyllis could get her goodies home on the VIA train. Next year? We'll bring larger suitcases and more bags.