From previous experience, I have prepared myself to not get any of the free goodies the knitting train promises. They always run out by Emeryville where I get on. This year was no exception. We did get some kind of coupon-y thing that might turn itself into a free gift of some kind, but I am skeptical. (man, do I get irrationally upset about not getting free stuff….) We were able to get our hands on some raffle tickets, and though our group was pretty lucky last year (two or three winners, i can’t remember) I didn’t expect things to go as well as they did….. B won a GRAND PRIZE!! A gigantic tote bag FULL of books and kits. Thanks Chronicle books and Craft: magazine! It was really fantastic… and she was nice enough to share with all of us! I took custody of Cozy Crochet which has mostly basic crochet projects. I’ll pass it on when I have mastered the stuff inside.

On to the stitches marketplace! Prepare yourselves, for I exhibited an incredible amount of restraint.

I know you are thinking ‘this is what restraint looks like?’ Yes. This is restraint. click through for notes.

As planned, I bee-lined to the Blue Moon booth, but there was nothing I could do…. it was so picked over. There was no medium weight (my favorite) to be had, and I didn’t see any colors not represented on the website. So I decided that would be better off just ordering what I wanted online. Now I realize there is very little medium weight on the website. Anyone know what is up with that??

I made a pit stop at the Bay Area Co-Op booth to grab some sock patterns, and then I was off to the Brooks Farm booth. Really, they have the nicest yarns… And I resisted them all! I promised myself no single skeins since I wan tto be able to knit more than a scarf. And i have 1 hank of Brooks Farm from last year, so nothing from there for me.

A stop at the Carolina Homespun booth remided me that Morgaine is a really nice person. With a lot of nice stuff. I got two silk hankies for spinning (inspired by abby’s handwarmers). Somebody else was the real big spender there.

Off to the Webs booth, where i opened the flood gates. I got some Nature Wool that I keep putting in my shopping cart online. It is destined to become a Central Park Hoodie from Knitscene. And the thing that i am the most excited about, some Tofutsies sock yarn. They have 2.5% Chitin from crabs and shrimp! You can bet that when I finish these babies there will be photos of me taunting crabs on the beach with them.

I already started knitting a sock (yarn is double-stranded)

edit
I forgot to tell you about the lisa souza booth. I really enjoyed seeing lisa’s yarns in person. they wer etruly lovely and I chose a yellow and blue handpainted skien for myself. Then i discovered abby rummaging in a bin in fromt of the cash register. It was the “Heels and toes” discount bin. Mini skeins of yarn were priced by the ounce. I got a lovely color collection – maybe fr some striped socks. the two particularly big skeins might become a pair of anemoi mittens.

After the whirlwind of shopping was over, we hit the bar. This year we had stiff competition for seats from both fellow knitters, and families that were there for some sort of dance competition upstairs. But we squeezed in and had a few cocktails. It was there that I found out that Debbie won a door prize. You go girl! We were a lucky crowd.

I thoroughly enjoyed the train ride back. It was complete with cozied beverages for maximum relaxation.

Clockwise from the left:

• 2 Skeins of Socks that Rock from Blue Moon Fiber Arts in colors ‘Carbon Dating’ and ‘Marbles.’ i bought the carbon dating first, and then went back later in the day to get the second skein…. by that time, the selection was dwindling and i got the heavyweight so that i could still have a color that i wanted.
• The Denise Needle Companion set is a set of extra extenders, cords and end buttons. I hadn’t yet seen these and i snatched it up. I had been thinking about getting some extra cords, and this set was cheaper than buying a few cords individually.
• From Full Thread Ahead two balls of 50% soy silk 50% wool. It says on the label that it is ‘karaoke’ from SWTC , but it was discounted for some reason, and had a full thread ahead ball band on it. I don’t care what the reason is, I am just happy to try out his yarn at a little bit of a discount. I like how tame the balls look from the outside, and how they are full of color on the inside.
• oh the goodies that they had at the Brook’s farm booth…. they have GIANT (8oz) skeins of the most beautifully dyed mohair blends…. Soft mohair. i forget who it was, but while i was looking around their racks, someone said “it is nice just to be standing in here,” and it was true. The red and black skein is ‘Duet’ a kid mohair/wool blend 500 yds/ 8 oz. the blue and gold one is ‘Primero’ with 100% kid mohair. They are SO SOFT. And shiny. Gen had said “let’s meet at the Brooks Farm booth because we all want to go there,” and i thought ‘who the heck is that?’ But she was right!
• Next, I got a bunch of Jaquard Acid dyes from the Rug and Yarn Hut. (Honestly, dyes were included on my hand-written list even though i forgot to include them on the list I posted here…)
• Finally I got a free magnet from V.I.P. Fibers. If you have never heard of them, it is a truly fascinating place and you should check out their link.

Not pictured i did get my Bryspun #4 DPN’s from Carolina Homespun. I had a heck of a time finding someplace without a hug line that had the two sizes of addis that i wanted, so i didn’t get those
yet.
More on the train and other fun in the next post!