fibres west 2012 - day one

sweet georgia
last weekend i headed out with 4 friends (jane, rebecca, sarah & arika) to attend the fibres west show in abbotsford, bc.  we were maniacs and got up at 4:30am to catch an early ferry so we could get to the show as fast as possible.  i had finished my rocky coast cardigan the night before, blocked the bottom corners during the night (and may have even blow dried it a tad in the morning..shhhh) and literally wore it with unweaved in ends onto the ferry.  with no coffee, choppy waters and little sleep boy was i hurting...but i got those ends weaved in and we made it to vancouver and managed to survive our one hour and something drive to abbotsford for the show. 

i'm gonna skip right to the chase and show you all......the yarn! ohhhh, the yarn!  here's some shots of some of the yummy goodness that i spotted at fibres west 2012 this past weekend.  bring on spring!  starting with our personal fave (& addiction) - sweet georgia yarns!  oh how i adore sweet georgia. if you haven't tried her yarns yet....go buy some...immediately :)  there was more than a fair chunk of us that went to this show just for her yarns.  that's gotta say something right?  someone even bought out all the sweet georgia tough sock love on the friday before we got there :(  wowsa!

rebecca, me, felicia (of sweet georgia) & jane
getting to meet felicia lo - the owner of sweet georgia, was super exciting!  she is so nice and such a sweetheart! to say we were looking forward to her booth was an understatement...it was honestly the reason we went there.  it was awesome to see her yarns in person and to of course, get to meet her as well.  thanks for letting me take a pic of all of us with you felicia! you're the best!

here are some shots of other goodies i spotted throughout the time we were there:

one of my fave booths - kattikloo (organic & plant dyed yarns)
jane and i both were mesmerized by the kattikloo booth.  gorgeous display of their beautiful organic and plant dyed yarns.  make sure to heck out their website!

knitopia wools company
rebecca and i scored on some 100% alpaca from "knitopia". seriously, it's so soft i cannot stop petting it.  it's positively luxurious!  their slogan "welcome to knitting nirvana" is so true! we got a great deal and couldn't resist splitting a bag of 5 skeins so we could both make jane's "annie" cowl pattern.  it's going to be divine!!!!

everything old
we also got to visit one of my fave local dyers em of everything old. her colors are nothing short of brilliant!  they will literally stop you dead in your tracks!  sarah picked up some yarn from her booth to make her first pair of socks and had us all drooling and ohhhhing over her gorgeous skeins!  i can't wait to get my hands on a few this year too!  so bright and fun! check out her shop and awesome patterns here!


if any of you know us we also got into mischief.  donning funny hats, having some heated yarn arguments...ummm...i think i even threatened becca to buy her yarn or i would take her outside and beat her...muahahaha...yep, we were in the vortex and high on yarn fumes...lol.  we were also under caffeinated and very hungry...lol.  it makes buying yarn and making very important yarn choices that much harder.  coercing was needed on more than one occasion.  i pushed becca to buy some skeins of yarn and she in turn conned me into getting a sweaters worth...ya little minx you...lol from an awesome shop valley yarn ltd. i managed to get jane to indulge in a skein or two by taking pics of her and showing her how lovely she would look in them...heck, it's almost as fun having your friends buy yarn as it is to buy it yourself!  i couldn't help myself...lol. anyhoo, the yarns got the best of all of us.  none of us left empty handed and all the yarn abuse was well worth it.  we had a grand time. thanks for putting up with our many visits and arguments at your booth julie!  you can find tons of awesome yarns at valley yarns online!

our sore tired feet
knitsocial
we were also looking forward to meeting amanda and fiona - the talented ladies behind www.knitsocial.ca.  we are already counting down the days till the event they are organizing this fall -  knit city!!! woot woot!  seriously, so friggin excited about this event!  the two talented gals behind knitsocial.ca are putting on vancouver's first event of this kind and we cannot wait!  there will be yarn, vendors, classes and lots and lots of fun!  it's about time a younger generation takes on an event of this kind here in BC...we need it!  so mark your calendars!!! it's gonna be a must see!

rebecca danger and i (ignore my bad bangs..lol..that is what hail does to your hair)
and now for one of the highlights of the whole trip for me - i got to meet rebecca danger!!!! woweeee!  rebecca and i met online a few years ago when her adorable free "bunny nuggets" pattern (perfect for easter btw) was released.  we've chatted ever since so it was exciting to get to arrange a meetup with her and the friends she was with there as well (aja - swelldove on ravelry, you have the best hair evah!).  i couldn't resist letting my inner dork out by giving rebecca a big hug and then asking her to take a pic with me for you all to see....i know, totally not suave but hey, it's rebecca danger peeps!!!  love her to bits!  wish we had had more time to hang with these ladies but there was yarn to be had!  they scored some lovely skeins as well.


then, feet throbbing, yarn bags almost full, hungry bellies, no caffeine in our systems, dying to get out of abbotsford and into downtown vancouver we set off.  i can not explain how good it felt to be back in vancouver.  it was exciting and good but also brought back so many memories for a lot of us.  we were all nostalgic and kept shouting out memories everywhere we looked.  oh vancouver i love you <3

our hotel didn't hurt either!  we had a swanky room on the 28th floor with an ocean view and floor to ceiling windows all around the room!  to die for.  as soon as we got in we all jumped on the beds and settled in.  sarah even brought her quilt and tucked in for some hunger games reading.  as much as i was missing my kids and husband boy did it feel good to only have to take care of myself.  i needed a rest and even though we were super busy my brain got to relax a tad.


you ready to see what other mischief we got up to?  you'll have to wait till tomorrow!!!  i've got pics of day two and of the goodies i bought! i just couldn't fit it all in this one already giant post :)  so stay tuned!!!  i wish you all could have been there too.  it was so much fun!  were you there? do you go to fibre festivals?  which ones are your faves?