Woo-hoo what a weekend!

Madrona Fiber Arts Fair was absolutely fantastic!
We arrived on Wednesday afternoon to set up our booth (it took about 4 hours) and then we got to visit with a few friends before leaving for the evening.
Here's a photo of a tiny piece of our booth with my honey writing up some sales for customers - thank you to all who visited our booth this weekend! It was a blast!

Thursday morning I set off for an all day class with Charlene Schurch the author of Sensational Knitted Socks. Wow...what a class! I learned sooo many tricks and techniques for sock knitting that it boggled my mind! Charlene was kind enough to pose with "Tofu bear" who is visiting us from Southwest trading Company for a week or two. I will never again be afraid of picking up stitches along the gussett - I am now truly intrepid!
We laughed, giggled and knit like fiends in this class. AND, (a note for you Charlene if you're listening in) now whenever I tink, I do the back up "beep beep " sound :-) I also learned the 'correct' way to do the stitch for the end of sock toes (no I cannot pronounce this k word, and will not humiliate myself in even trying :-)
We all did the ommmhhmmm sound to calm ourselves before beginning to sew the toe seams..(listen to the laughter that is echoing all around us right now)
Charlene is a treat to take a class with. She made everything seem effortless - gave the exactly perfect amount of information and put everyone at ease with their skill levels in the class. If you get the chance.. take a class from her.. She's the BEST! (thanks sweet Charlene - you're my kind of knitter!)

Next we travel to a few photos around the yarn gallery - Tofu bear loved to perch amongst the yarn for sale, and even hopped up into the arms of a dear dear lady, Lauren Lindeman (owner of So Much Yarn in Seattle my favorite yarn shop!) Thank you Lauren for all your patterns, your generosity, your joyous spirt and all around wonderful self! I send you big hugs of appreciation! Anyone who is in Seattle should check her out - she's fabulous!
Let's see - moving right along.. there are other photos from the fair.. Eve posed with Tofu on her shoulder - she owns Spin Alpaca, a sweet little alpaca fiber business. Check her out at fiber fairs.
And here is our friend Bev Galeskas (owner of Fiber Trends) - she was visiting/helping out Acorn Street Yarn shop. I always enjoy visiting with her - she is a woman who inspires many with her amazing energy!
And then there was Julie, owner/creator of Knitter's Anonymous.. if you haven't yet checked out her website, you're in for a treat!!! She is humor and joy all rolled into one! We laughed until we wept with all her wonderful bumper stickers and slogans.. We have been sponsers of her business for the last year, and are proud to offer a 10% disount to all KA members - Go Julie!

I was fortunate to also take a class with Karen Alfke - it was a cableback fingerless glove class. wow.. again I learned so much in the few hours we met with her that my head was spinning! Karen is the queen of simple patterns that are easy to understand, and completely intuitive in the way they are written. She was taught originally by her grandmother, and then eventually learned to read patterns.. she's a genius ! thank you Karen for your effortless class, and all the laughter. Knitting with you was a total joy! AND I walked away with 3/4 of a pair of gloves finished. (note to self.. don't foget to finish the second glove - they are yummy!) I knit them up in a cashmerino yarn from Debbie Bliss. my fingers were in heaven! soft, soft soft.

AND - all around the fair this weekend, there were pictures like this -
many knitters working hard in classes -knitters sitting on the comfy couches in the Sheraton Tacoma hotel, knitters walking around the lobby while they knit, and knitters shopping the the yarn market! They were everywhere! It was wonderful!
It felt like we talked to about 3000 people (tho' logically I know it was less.. wasn't it? was I only dreaming of the thousands??) Whatever it was.. I had such fun! By the end of the day on sunday, my sentences were incoherent, and the words were coming out all jumbled. Good thing that our customers are sweet (and knitters as well). We enjoyed every one of you, and cannot wait to see what you create from all the wonderous fiber and yarn! Send pictures!!!

LAST (yet not least) I bought a bit more 'stash'... this photo's evidence.... I could not help myself! Yummy stuff abounded... (look out, next weekend will bring even more.. I'm off at Stitches West!).. and the roses are courtesy of my sweetie.. Happy Valentine's day to all!