If there is a downside to being consumed by a love of all things fiber it is this: it is way too easy to stay at home for days on end knitting, weaving, spinning and just playing in the stash. If it wasn’t for social obligations (my knitting group!) and a need to go grocery shopping from time to time I could stay home happily for endless blocks of time.
Really, that probably isn’t all that healthy. How nice I also get to toddle off to Kaiser on a regular basis to give blood, pick up prescriptions, and to breathe into machines that measure my lung function. 🙂
Okay, enough of that. This is about knitting and all things fiber after all. I’m talking about the major outing that I took last Friday to go to the Interweave Yarn Fest in Loveland, Colorado. I didn’t sign up for any of the workshops this year (but maybe next year!), but I felt that I absolutely had to go up to hit the Marketplace and to meet up with my friends from Alta Vida Alpacas.
You know, a huge marketplace filled with vendors carrying everything your fiber-loving heart can desire is a dangerous place. I handled it by cruising through the whole place and picking up cards from the vendors that stole my heart. I took a little coffee break with the cards, gave myself a little talking to while checking patterns on Ravelry, and then waded back into the marketplace to spend money. This is what happened:
Having shopped to my heart’s content I moved out into the atrium to find a comfy chair to knit in while I waited for my friends from Alta Vida Alpacas to get out of their workshops. It was wonderful. Fellow knitters stopped to ask about my Joker and the Thief shawl, and I talked to many people about the hand knits that they wore. I made new friends. I could feel myself recharging with inspiration and enthusiasm as each new person stopped to knit and/or talk with me. Sometimes it is easy to forget that each one of us solitary crafters are members of a huge community, but Friday afternoon as the community flowed around me I was at home with my peeps. What a wonderful, wonderful experience.
Eventually I caught up with my friends: we ate more hummus than is wise and swapped stories, observations, and revelations from the Yarn Fest. They had just submitted their first batch of fiber to the mill and we made plans for the yarn that will arrive in a few weeks. The online store launch is right around the corner. It is only a few months to the next summer camp; this year we will focus on weaving.
Finally, long after dark I headed home full of energy and plans. I hugged my new fiber finds as I went into the house. What a great outing. What a wonderful time I had. What a wonderful experience with other people who share my interests.
It is good to be with your peeps.
Yarn, Books & Roses 
LOVE this post! I totally identify with your tendency toward being a homebody. That is exactly me. I’m so happy and comfortable at home where it’s quiet and I have my puppies and my yarn. But then we do something like these festivals and we’re reminded of the wonder of human interaction. I’m so glad you were able to go and meet up with your friends, what a treat! And I love all your goodies–especially that yak roving! OMG that’s stunning. But did you buy the $50 button??? And why was it $50?
I did not buy that button. It hurt to leave it, but I finally used some tough love and let it go. I don’t know why it was so expensive… it had sparkles and maybe took a lot of time to make?
It was beautiful, but I don’t think I could have let myself buy it either.
I was smiling as I read, your happiness with your outing was contagious.
I was still happy when I wrote the post today. Next year I hope to take workshops and I’ll be able to stay a couple of days. How fun that will be!!
Sounds like a great day out. You’re right tho, crafting needs to be balanced with healthy aerobic activity. I’m still working on that part, myself.
Hey, spinning is aerobic, right?
Well, my first thought about the $50 dollar button was how beautiful, does it go in the machine?
I believe hummous is a health food. 🙂
I’d be afraid that I’d lose the button somehow. I never thought about the machine! I hand wash but use the machine to spin the water out.
I don’t think it’s healthy to eat a whole bucket of hummus. 🙂 OK, we weren’t that bad, but it was close…
What a wonderful trip and such gorgeous buys! I shall enjoy seeing them made up😃
Me too! I’m trying to clear out all the WIPS so I can get started on this new stuff.
Sounds like a perfect day out 🙂 I love the baby alpaca colours you have chosen for exploration station, that deep red is just gorgeous. It’s always great to spend time with other crafters that totally ‘get’ the love of knitting and fibre!
It is the best!
It is good to be with your peeps! I’m not a knitter and barely a crocheter but I am a sewer…… that’s how I feel about a fabric store. Love to touch look and enjoy the sensory overload. Trying to use up my stash and stay out of the stores and away from the craft shows…. Unless it’s to get new ideas!
Peeps is peeps. I always get a surge of inspiration when I do these events, but it is hard to not feed the stash. 🙂