Chitchat and the occasional in-depth analysis about fiber, knitting, spinning, crochet, cooking, feminism, self-image, and a modicum of personal blathering.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

I'll share them all for a cup of coffee

It's been an exciting and eventful week in a lot of ways, nationally, but here at Chez Buttercup, things remain calm and comforting for the most part.

This past weekend was Handmade Arcade here in Pittsburgh. I went with a new friend, Shirley, who is engaged to Dave, who was our best man at our wedding. She's awesome and I'm happy to see them together. Last year, it was at a much smaller venue, but this year it had moved. More space, but not all of it utilized as well as it could have been, but definitely an improvement.

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See all that lovely empty space? Could have been used to expand the tables and keep the aisles from being so crowded.

Hunt Armory is definitely a very cool space, though. I learned that Led Zeppelin played there in 1969. Must have been quite a show.

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armory

So here's some random photos from the event.

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The whole thing was a blur, har har har.
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Here's Cosy and her assistant Rachel. (Thanks Alisa!) Her table was super-busy as it should have been, and I finally bought one of her books.

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Here's Cosy getting mobbed by the crowd, apparently.
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I got some soap from Kim at Sunstone Soap. So nice-smelling and good ingredients. And what a smile on her!
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Hey, look, a spinning wheel! I believe this is the young lady from City Spun but I didn't get close enough to find out for sure.
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Interesting shirt...
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I loved these-so cute.
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I loved these windchimes so much a set came home with me.
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They're so well made with so many cool little details.
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And of course, they sound fantastic. I got them from Whimsical Wonders. They were so nice, too.

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There was a lot more interesting plush things.
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Got another CD from DJ Pandemic, just as good as last year's. Very interesting mix of music.
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19 Moons had awesome jewelry, and I may or may not have done some holiday shopping there.
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It was a good time. Crowded, but a good time. Next time I'm going to do the pre-sale thing.

In crafting news, the wine cozies are done. I'm trying to decide between i-cord and ribbon for the tie on the second one.
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(that one is actually done but I don't have a final pic because I haven't decided on the tie thing yet. No, I don't overthink things. Not at all.)

Finished the Koi socks. FINALLY. They are great.
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Started "Biological clock socks" from the same book as Koi, the Eclectic Sole.
Not much to see yet as the pattern starts on the ankle but they ARE my first toe-up socks so I'm pretty proud of that.
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That's handspun three-ply cheviot yarn. I think the cable pattern on the sides will look great.

Yesterday was our six-year "moveinaversary". Six years ago, Bob moved in with me. Over the past six years, my life has changed in a lot of ways, but I can say with confidence that the best change of all has been Bob.
He brought these flowers home yesterday.
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He never misses an important date. What a guy.
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Finally, every year, we get one last rose. Here is the last rose, this year. Definitely a sign of hope for the future.
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7 comments:

Alisa Knits! said...

Cosy's assistant = Rachel Seltman

cosymakes said...

aw... congrats on the anniversary of moving.

i buy sunstone too. isn't kim fabulously sweet?

the koi socks look beautiful and i love seeing your wind chime in its new environment. thanks for the photos! i didn't exactly get to look around that much ;)

Anonymous said...

Boy, every time I look at the pics of what you've knitted, it makes me want to take lessons. I want awesomesox too! (I can knit rectangles and in a circle on a circular needle but that's about it.)

And happy moveinaversary!

Unknown said...

@Meowser-if you can knit a rectangle you can knit socks. Check out the "how to knit socks" link on my sidebar-that's the tutorial that makes it all easy!

LisaBe said...

so sweet--a move-in-aversary! i love that. more reasons for reminding each other why you fell in love is always a good thing, in my opinion :)

i had a great time at h.a., too. i wonder whether they didn't expand into the whole space so that people didn't have to walk so far? (it would be far for some people--elderly, on a cane or crutches, stuff like that.) or maybe they wanted the vendors to be able to talk to each other? i don't know, but i am surprised to see that it was that much unused space--i hadn't realized that! i love the space, too.

i bought things from cosy and from the sunstone soap people, too. i agree--very friendly!

and last but not least, thank you *very* much for making me want to buy *the eclectic sole*, which i had thus far been able to resist. those koi socks are gorgeous!

Anonymous said...

I also wanted them to use the space better. Maybe a few more vendors too?

your knitting is always so beautiful. The wine cozy is great. It makes me wish I knew anything at all about wine so I could make it a part of a gift.

Unknown said...

@Lisa-the Eclectic Sole is pretty inventive. There are some very clever designs, and also some very WTF moments. I've also found some minor math errata but nothing I can't get around.

@Simbel, the wine cozies are going to contain bottles of vintage Charles Shaw, AKA "Two Buck Chuck", imported from Trader Joe's in Columbus. :) No specialized knowledge needed.