Wamego Winter Woolfest

Last Saturday, I got to attend a rare fiber festival in my area, the Wamego Winter Woolfest. I say rare, because it seems like we have a lack of good festivals in Kansas. Or maybe I'm just not hearing about them. This one was pretty hopping when we got there, and they had several classes. I didn't participate in any, because they day was already pretty full, but I did get some random pictures of the event.

I picked up two hanks of Alpaca/silk blend to knit myself a scarf and a hank of hand dyed Merino to knit my friend a pair of socks for her birthday. I rarely splurge on yarn, but I felt that the day and the event called for it. This might be my splurge of at least the first half of the year. 

Knitting Talk: Acrylic’s Bad Name

In one of the podcasts I’m listening to, the podcaster made mention of acrylic yarn in a negative way. She may have just been rambling, and maybe the acrylic she used was yucky (some are), but it kind of irked me a little bit that acrylic has such a bad reputation.

Acrylic yarn (to bring my non-knitting friends up to speed) is synthetic yarn. It may come blended with animal fibers, but some knitters refuse to use it, wanting only to use yarn that comes from a natural source (sheep, bunnies, alpacas, etc.). Some find acrylic to be less texture friendly. Red Heart yarn of the old school variety helped with this bad reputation. It’s stiff and somewhat scratchy. However, many of the newer acrylics are much softer. Even Red Heart knits up some good things, like afghans and animal beds, really well.

I don’t take exception with people for not wanting to use acrylics. It’s a personal choice. I enjoy using acrylic yarns. Their texture doesn’t bother me, they come in all kinds of colors and they’re cheap, which means more affordable knitting. New knitters shouldn’t feel like there’s anything wrong with acrylic yarn, especially if they’re not entirely sure they’re going to enjoy knitting (or crocheting).

When I first started knitting, I was reading blogs and books about it and came across several harsh comments about acrylic. Considering that was what I was using at the time, I wondered if I was less of a “knitter” for not working with wool. I’m glad I got over that in a hurry and now know that there are people who don’t like working with wool either.

There are a lot of different yarns out there with different feels and different costs. I finally moved to something besides acrylic: first cotton (great for washcloths) a merino wool and nylon blend for a pair of socks. I love the feel of both of this yarns. Does this mean I’m going to shun acrylic and lock it in the closet like an evil poser? Nope. I have a ton of acrylic that can still be used for something awesome, including some old Red Heart which…rough as it is…softens really well in the wash.

ALF

Yarn, Yarn, and Did I mention Yarn?

I got a huge haul of yarn last night, a fact of which I’m pretty proud of, especially because considering what I got, I basically spent pennies. The thing that sent me to the store was the need to start a new project from the Stitch N’ Bitch Handbook I borrowed from my friend (I am on the hunt for my own copy though…must have it!). Because I needed specific colors I didn’t already have in my stash, we made a trip to Hobby Lobby armed with two coupons printed from the internet and the list of needed things.

Luckily, I didn’t have to buy the needles since I already have not one but two sets of size 7 needles. The yarn I chose was pretty cheap, second only to Red Heart and chosen because I liked the texture better. This was the “I Love This Yarn” brand from HL and I’m not sure if I got a bad skein or just part of it was messed up, but I found later that there was a big section where the yarn was separating. I got around it…luckily I found it while I was making my gauge swatch and I had no problems after that…but it’s probably not the best quality of yarn I’ve ever used.

Besides the project skeins (more on that project later once I get it into my Ravelry account), Hobby Lobby also had a clearance sale on frou frou yarns, so I picked up three small skeins of those for $1.19 each (originally marked at 6.89 a skein). I already have an idea for a scarf using one of these.



If that weren’t enough, a day or so ago I posted on Craigslist that I was looking for knitting items. I got a hit last night from a girl who hooked me up with five skeins of Baby Coordinates yarn, a random skein and a random ball of yarn, a tape measure, and a small pair of scissors…all for free…and she was nice enough to bring them to my front door. I love Craigslist.



This weekend is definitely going to be one dedicated to knitting because nothing gets me in the mood like new yarn.