This spring I finally attended another fiber event – Interweave Yarn Fest 2023 in Loveland, Colorado! The marketplace was great. I took two classes in new-to-me techniques. But my favorite part of the weekend was the time I made to sit and knit with different groups in the common areas on Friday and Saturday.
This was my first large fiber event post-COVID. I’m very glad I went. Loveland is a little more than a 7-hour drive from my house. I drove solo to the convention center on Friday in time to spend a little time in the marketplace and to sit and knit with a new friend who happened to come from the KC area. I spent all day Saturday in classes with a short break around lunch to visit the marketplace again. Then drove the 7 hours back home on Sunday. I’ll admit that drive is not for the faint of heart. But it was absolutely worth it!
I loved the large map hanging on the convention center wall near the entrance! You’ll notice that I am not the only dot coming from the Flint Hills area of Kansas. I never did find who belonged to that other dot. I’d love to know! You can’t see it in this pic but not only was there a dot in Peru in South America, there was also a dot in Spain which is pretty neat. I’m pretty sure I sat and knit and chatted with the ladies represented by the three dots in northeastern Wyoming on Friday evening. And the lady represented by the far eastern dot in Missouri earlier in the day on Friday.
Here’s a look at the two classes I chose for this event – Thrumming with Bobbi Pendell and An Introduction to Steeks with Kyle Kunnecke. Both classes were great. Plus, it was really nice getting to know the teachers and knitters taking the classes with me. I did learn that for me one class a day is my sweet spot and I start to feel wilted partway into the second class of the day. I’ll remember that for future fiber festivals and events.
I love my thrummed mittens (Ravelry link to the discontinued pattern) and will definitely be wearing them next winter!
It turns out the actual act of steeking is less terrifying than I had imagined with a good teacher and several methods to stabilize the stitches…..but I did learn that I dislike sewing a zipper into my knitting to turn my steeked homework into a bag. It’s awesome that I now know how I would complete the process. And it’s even more awesome that I learned this with my small homework assignment (62 stitches around and less than an hour spent ) instead of on a sweater (220 stitches around and more than 15 hours spent)!! Thank you Kyle for a great class and the knowledge!!!
I made some time to add a bit to the Interweave Community Scarf. My bit is the two side cables with basic stockinette stitch between in white near my hand. Because, of course, when I’m putting my mark on something knitted it’s going to be a cable if I have a choice.
And I did some shopping! I mainly budgeted for yarn for this event. Since we no longer have a LYS, being able to see the yarns in person felt pretty amazing. Especially because I was able to visit the booths of several yarn companies that I have heard about over the years but never seen in person.
I spent as much time as I could manage just walking the marketplace floor. It was wonderful to see sample garments knit out of the yarns and to spend time wandering through beautiful fibers and a whole ballroom full of other people who love them. It was hard to decide which bits to bring home with me!
Here’s what came home with me this time (from left to right, top to bottom and in the order purchased in the marketplace):
- two skeins of self-striping fingering weight sock yarn from Two Sisters Yarn Company (from Billings, Montana) in the colorways The Lost Jedi and Valley Girl
- one skein of Merino 17 DK from Western Sky Knits (Montana) in the colorway Fishbowl
- one skein of ModeWerk Worsted from Mode Knit Yarn (Minnesota) in the color Lyanna Blue
- one skein of holiday-themed self-striping fingering weight sock yarn from Sun Valley Fibers (Wisconsin)
- one set of Modern Shawl Stud Buttons from Jul Designs (Maryland)
- two skeins of the Safari Collection superwash merino fingering weight from Alexandra the Art of Yarn (Oregon) in the colorway Cheetah
My favorite part of being at an event like this is always the people! And making time to talk with as many people as I can. If you ever see me at an event like this, please stop me and say hello. I always want to meet more knitters. Or better yet ask me to have a seat and knit with you!!
