Stitches South knitting and crochet expo

One of my best fiber art buds and I went to Stitches South this weekend. Woohoo! It was full of yarny goodness—sensuous fibers (one vendor booth had mink yarn!), mouthwatering colors, and this year, lots of beaded bling.

Here I am, wearing my "yarn fabrication" vest, outside the vendor mall
where they have the yarn sampling of yarns from 12 differenet suppliers. 

Betsy Hershberg's new book, Betsy Beads: Confessions of a Left-Brained Knitter, was a focal point at several vendor booths and expo presentations. 

Betsy Beads by Betsy Hershberg.

Other attractions at the expo (and a look into some of the latest trends) included:

• Drew Emborsky, "The Crochet Dude," was on site and buzzing around the show floor
• a booth in the vendor mall was dedicated to crochet
• lots of attendees were wearing amazing knitted shawls (lace, textures, stripes, pattern stitches, you name it...)
• several knitted shawl samples made up with Rosetti Polaris by Universal Yarn, a wool blend infused with sequin payees (the dazzling beauty of this yarn and these garments can only be experienced in person). Get a jump on holiday projects... all of the patterns for these samples were FREE ones from Universal.
• a return to some of the novelty yarns (Plume by Prism Yarns was heavenly!)

One of the vendors was wearing a great "recycled creation" that she graciously allowed me to photograph. Is this vest not ingenious? It's crocheted with pop-tops (you know, recycled from soda cans). The crochet was very fine and lacy but the aluminum pop tops gave the vest weight and drape.

I purchased a few "high density" items for my stash and got Betsy to sign a copy of her book for me.

Buttons from Gail Hughes Art Buttons and
a hank of blue sock yarn (on sale) for my Sky Scarf.

Sheri and I also splurged and got two To-Go orders of Limoncello Bread Pudding from Carrabba's. We brought it back to the hotel and indulged with a late night snack.