Wow – part 3 and I still haven’t finished day 2 at Stitches West yet. If you haven’t realized it yet, there’s a lot going on at a Stitches event!
I know I’ve been teasing you about the pajama party for awhile now – intentionally!! We have a saying at Stitches you may have heard already … “What happens at the pajama party …” I’m sure you know the rest. For the most part that is true. I won’t be able to tell you much about what happens at the party, but I can share with you a few things …
- Benjamin always makes an appearance – this year he was smokin’ in his Smoking jacket and pajamas (see previous post)!
- This year we had to move the party to a ballroom because there we’d outgrown our usual space!!
- We stuffed over 1,1oo knockers this year and I got to squeeze quite a few (had to test for firmness)!
- Marlina was an amazing hostess again this year!
- Fun was had by all and lots of prizes were given out to pretty much everybody (the sponsors love the party and the people who go too)!
- The party is always free to attendees!!
I have a few pictures that I have been given permission to show from the party – but only a few!
Yup – a GREAT time was ad by all! And we stuffed these knockers at my table alone!!
There will be more about that in a future post! So after the pajama party we all went to bed for some much needed sleep. Yeah, right! NOT!!!! I’m not sure what time (or if) anyone slept Friday night, but there were some people in the lobby playing Cards Against Humanity mixed with Knitters Against Swatches (best game ever) … and StephenB showed up … and Zombie Yarns’ own Lorna Miser was there … and Benjamin was there … and needless to say I can’t write about the shenanigans hat happened in fear of what may happen to my yarn stash if I do! o_O
Day 3 was Saturday – typically the busiest day on the market floor and this year didn’t disappoint. I think next year I’m going to invest in a hover board in order to be able to get through all the vendors on the floor. It’s impossible to tell you everyone that was there, but if you go to the Knitting Universe website you may be able to still download a list. There were more than 250 vendors and sponsors present on the floor. I can’t possibly blog about them all even though they all deserve their own post. What I will do is feature a few of them in upcoming posts to give you a clearer picture of the magnitude of this event.
Day 3 is a special day for attendees in that they get to knitwork (yeah, I’m coining that word) with their idols – the teachers! First there’s a dinner where the teachers and students get to break bread together and talk knitting. After that, the students get to display pieces they’ve knitted in the Student Fashion Show. The show usually kicks off with Benjamin introducing Lily Chin in her latest creation for the event. This time around she showed that Orange Is The New Black … complete with matching Stitches West bag in, you guessed it, ORANGE!
As for the show itself, anyone can enter a piece into the show and are encouraged to do so. Here are a few pictures I managed to get from the fashion show. I apologize for the entrants in the final minutes as I had to leave and didn’t get pictures of their entries.
If you’re a knitter you can appreciate the time and patience it takes for these knitters to create these masterpieces. And to get to show other knitters their accomplishments is truly the highlight of their weekend. A lot of these pieces are created using techniques learned from the very teachers they get to eat with that same night! If you see yourself in any of these pictures and would like the full sized file, please let me know and I’ll get it to you!
Okay, believe it or not, there’s still more. But I’ll leave that for the next post where I’ll try and wrap up the Stitches West experience. I hope you’re already planning your trip to this or another knitting event already!
Hugzzz 😎
