Sunday, April 28, 2013

Frolicking

Took the early train to Toronto yesterday to attend the annual Knitters' Frolic at the Japanese Cultural Centre. Great day, as always, with exposure to yarns and fibre not available locally, and also to knitters, spinners, designers, teachers, etc. It was so much fun, in fact, that the only photo I took all day was of the view of the lake from the train somewhere just west of Port Hope.




There are rules to follow for a successful Frolic:
1. Wear comfortable shoes,
2. Resist the urge to wear your most beautiful knits; it's hot in there with all those knitters milling around,
3. Bring only cash; the temptation to overspend is strong and urgent,
4. When your shopping bag is full, it's time to quit, especially if you want VIA Rail to let you back on board without going over your carry-on limit.


It appeared to me that everyone this year had jumped onto the hand-dyed superwash merino sock yarn bandwagon. It was slightly disappointing that so many booths were devoted to this product. Variety is the spice of life and all that. I would like to have seen more non-superwash interesting sweater yarns spun in Canada. Wellington Fibres stood out for me as a company with rather more interesting offerings. I bought this mohair/wool blend from them.


I enjoyed the Sheep's Ahoy booth with its display of Kate Davies' finished knits and kits. (I might have purchased a tiny one.) Also, I bought a little package of BFL/silk for spinning from Turtlepurl. After some tea with Deb Gemmell, when her teaching was done, I headed out on the bus bound for the Eglinton subway station and eventually the train station. Back home before 10:00 p.m.
One of the best things about such days is simply meeting up with other enthusiastic knitters. On the bus just referred to I sat next to two ladies also returning from the Frolic, only to discover that we have very similar yarn tastes. A discussion of yarn shops ensued, which will result in tomorrow's blog post (what makes a great yarn store). We have since friended each other on Ravelry. Isn't the internet great?
No recipe this week, for obvious reasons. (What, you expect me to take a train, attend the Frolic, chat with knitters, buy yarn AND think about food, let alone cooking?)