KDO '07.

Today, finally, was the annual Knitter's Day Out event at Central Penn College, the knitting extravaganza I'd been anticipating for a month now. I met up with my S&B pals at a local diner for breakfast, then we headed over to do some damage.

Newbie that I am to these yarn convention things, I have to say that I was completely bowled over by the whole event. As we walked in the door, the first thing we saw was where to leave our hats for Caps For Kids. It was hard to miss - a table and Pack 'N Play were literally overflowing with wonderful warm hats for a LOT of deserving kids. Woo hoo... go Central Penn knitters! Then we walked into the Market area... and ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh man. Gorgeous hand spun, hand dyed yarn from local artisans - I had a particularly hard time passing up Cherie Anne's offerings. Many fantastic shops selling yarns, notions, patterns, needles... everything. This will be a nice shop to visit next time I'm in Happy Valley. I had a really nice conversation with Lydia who runs Gurdy Run Woolen Mill, a working farm where yarns, rovings, fleeces and felt are all processed on-site. And finally, I think I found the one thing that I was really looking for: someone to teach me to spin. I'm going to start with a drop spindle, which I already own but can't figure out, and if I nail that, I'll move on to a wheel. And I won't be alone in my spinning frenzy: my friend Cris from our S&B is taking the plunge with me. I can't wait to schedule our lesson.

When we came up for air, this is what we owned:

Cris went nuts with sock yarn.
Joan bought a pattern for a really cute pumpkin bag. The book has some really nice knitted present ideas. And the lamb is a tape measure... hmmmm, where'd she learn about that little guy... ? ;)
And Lori bought a couple of patterns - her first lace pattern there on the right - and some speedy Addi Turbos.
As for me, I blew my budget.

Those skens of awesome, hand dyed boucle (trust me, they're awesome. I really need a better camera.) are going to become a jacket someday. Many thanks to Uncommon Threads for making it easy for me to hand over my credit card. The small ball of purple yarn will become socks for Baby A.K. someday sooner. And the pattern for fingerless gloves may very well be the holiday present I give to my cubicle neighbors (and myself, natch), who all suffer in the winter from sitting next to drafty windows.

As we were leaving, we got word that another yarn festival would be coming soon... to Pittsburgh. ROAD TRIP!