On Saturday, seven of us met at Mystic River Yarns for knitting, shopping, and chatting. Valerie, Karen, and Cindy are in the photo above.
Kristen, left, and Sarah, right.
Debbie, left, and Kristen, right.
Another photo of Karen, Debbie, and the back of Valerie.
Missing were Rachel and Kimberly -- we hope you both can join us next time. It's so nice to see everyone in person, as well as their knitting projects. Kristen, Karen, and Debbie were working on socks. Sarah, Valerie, and I think Cindy, were working on sweaters, and I had my pink mohair mittens.
I'm terrible when it comes to shopping at knitting events. By now, I'm sure Kristen has labeled me hopeless. I bought only 2 skeins of yarn at the Farmhouse Yarns sale when she invited me to go with her during the summer. I didn't purchase anything at Rhinebeck (I'll pause for a moment while you let the unbelievability of that sink in; I still don't believe it either), and then on Saturday I also went home empty-handed. If I don't go to an event with particular things in mind, I get overwhelmed with the choices. Everything or nothing speaks to me. I also want to knit more of what I have at home right now: patterns and yarn for two or three sweaters, a shrug, a felted purse, and then all of the skeins of one and two that need to be assigned. Maybe by the next meetup I'll do better?? What do you do -- do you set out to look for something on your mental list, or only purchase something on sale, or only look for patterns, or whatever speaks to you that day?
I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving, and if you work outside your home, that the shock of going back was not too much. It's that time of year at my work where it's almost too busy to breathe, so I apologize if you have not heard from me. Thank goodness for car knitting and portable projects!
What fun! I was lucky enough to meet Valerie when she was in Minnesota so I'm just a wee bit jealous that you got to spend time with her (and she with you!!) I usually buy either sock yarn or some notion-y thing whenever I go into any yarn store. It's just my way of sayint -"Hey, I was here and I support you. Now let me sit here and knit for a few hours!"
Posted by: deb | November 27, 2007 at 08:14 AM
I know what you mean about the yarn purchases. I can't buy anything at a big yarn event either. There is just so much to select from that it is overwhelming. I would also rather have a project in mind before buy the yarn. Glad to know I'm not the only one. I usually end up just buying sock yarn if anything.
Posted by: Elizabeth | November 27, 2007 at 08:37 AM
Looks like it was a fun group! Hopefully you have a few minutes to relax...
Posted by: Chris | November 27, 2007 at 08:39 AM
Sounds fun! I also don't buy much yarn on a whim--I have a hard time making decisions unless I have something specific in mind.
Posted by: Meredith | November 27, 2007 at 08:58 AM
It was nice knitting with you on Saturday! Before a knitting meet up type thing I look up the yarn store's web site to find out what yarns they carry and try to come up with a project based on what they have so I can purchase something. Saturday was easy because I just wanted some hand painted type yarn for smallish projects like socks or scarves. I do like to support the local shops to make sure they stick around, but I'm not a big stash builder either! Looking forward to visiting with you soon! I hope work things calm down for you.
Posted by: Sarah | November 27, 2007 at 09:02 AM
It looks like you had a fun knit-together! :)
As for yarn shopping - sometimes I go with an idea in mind, other times no clue what I want/need. Sometimes I leave without buying anything; however, most of the time I end up with at least one thing.
Posted by: Amy Artisan | November 27, 2007 at 09:20 AM
I do what you do - I usually leave empty-handed. Unless I have specific projects in mind, I do get a bit overwhelmed. But since I've taken up lace knitting, I can see myself buying some lace weight yarn on a whim.
Posted by: Beth | November 27, 2007 at 09:45 AM
It looks like a fun day! I'm a mission oriented shopper. If I don't have a mission / project in mind, then I get overwhelmed with yarn and potential projects. If I have a particular project in mind, I'm often too picky. It's not unusual for me to go home with just a couple of skeins or no skeins of yarn. I hope you find a few moments here and there to relax and knit.
Posted by: Sydney | November 27, 2007 at 11:09 AM
I hope you find some time to relax and embrace the season. :-) I wish, too, that I could come and knit with you someday! Looks like it was fun.
Posted by: Sue | November 27, 2007 at 11:33 AM
Sounds like fun! There's nothing wrong with not consuming at every opportunity. I don't like to buy too much unless I have a project in mind. Sock yarn isn't included in that, of course. ;o)
Posted by: sonya | November 27, 2007 at 03:15 PM
Ha!ha! I don't think you are hopeless. You show remarkable self-restraint. I feel overwhelmed too when surrounded by so much yarn. Now I mainly buy only with projects in mind, and was sorry I didn't find the plain vanilla sock yarn I was looking for at MRY. It was a fun get together and good to see you again. Your Central Park Hoodie looks marvelous on you! I'm looking forward to the next time.
Posted by: Kristen | November 27, 2007 at 08:15 PM
I know what you mean about getting overwhelmed; that happens to me too. Sometimes I just say the heck with it and get nothing and other times I go with it and buy everything in sight!
Posted by: Julie | November 28, 2007 at 11:19 AM
I can relate to being over-whelmed. I tend buy for specific projects, and so that makes impulse buys less likely. Of course, if the right project & yarn coincide, all bets are off ;-)
Posted by: Pam | November 28, 2007 at 06:34 PM
Looks fun! I'd love to have a knitting group to meet with.
Posted by: tiennie | November 29, 2007 at 02:31 PM
I had a great time on Saturday and enjoyed meeting everyone. Thanks for letting me know about it. I really needed to get out.
I went with the intention of buying nothing and came home with yarn that I didn't need for some gloves. Ah well. I'm a sucker for pretty yarn.
Posted by: Karen | November 29, 2007 at 11:00 PM
It's o.k. No support group needed for this problem. *grin* I'm the same way. I might pick up some sock yarn on a whim but that's about it. I do need a specific project in mind to do serious damage.
Posted by: Devorah | November 30, 2007 at 06:18 AM
I LOVE Kristen's sweater!
It does look like a nice comfortable group!
As for not purchasing anything...I'm sure you'll make it up someday. :)
Posted by: Brigitte | November 30, 2007 at 09:09 AM
Happy Holidays to you.
It was great to meet all of you at the shop. I, too, bought yarn I really didn't need, but, couldn't resist. That alpaca called to me all the way home from the back seat.
As soon as my broken wrist heals, I plan to cast it on as a shawl, along with my socks I bought the Tofutsies for.
I hope we can all get together again soon.
Posted by: Debbie R. | December 26, 2007 at 08:03 PM