fiber art

DFW Fiber Fest 2022 Recap

Last weekend was amazeballs. After wanting to attend DFW Fiber Fest for years, I finally decided that we would finally go this year. Bean was onboard, and the husband agreed that he was not adverse to being my proverbial yarn mule for an afternoon (as long as there would be Wi-Fi at the hotel and cocktails for the remaining days).

So, knowing that we only wanted to pull Bean from school for one day, we opted to head out Thursday afternoon and attend Friday and Saturday. As such, I planned on taking classes in the mornings, meet up for lunch both days, and head back to the convention center for market shopping and socializing.

The festival was held at the Irving Convention Center, and I have to say, you could feel the joy in the air when we arrived. From the yarn-bomb decorations to the cheerful volunteers, everything added to the atmosphere of excitement of finally coming together. I felt like it was well-organized all around as a festival.

Let’s start with classes. I opted for a class called “I Hate Color Theory” by Peggy Doney, which was supposed help students learn more about color theory and complementary colors, which would culminate in the class dying a personal skein of yarn. Overall, the class had potential but seemed to suffer from technical difficulties, missing equipment, and loss of structure. I still had fun, but I think it missed the intended mark.

For my second class, I took “Love Notes to My Future Self: The Art of Keeping a Crafting Journal” by Alissa Barton. The instructor is big into artistic journaling and passed around many examples and offered materials suggestions. I’d say it was more inspirational than instructional, and we finished up with over an hour of class time left. Regardless, I had a good time and will definitely take more classes next year.

After classes and lunch, it was market time! The festival featured a huge and diverse vendor list, and I believe there was something for EVERYONE. On day one, the husband came with us and that’s when we did the most of our purchasing. Without further ado, here’s our fiber haul:

Bean picked up this bag and the matching shirt from Sharpin Designs.

She also picked out this yarn from Black Cat Fibers.

Finally, she chose stitch markers inspired by Harry Potter and Hamilton respectively. I don’t have a picture of it, but she also ended up with a skein of sock yarn a kind knitter was de-stashing during our social time.

As for me:

These gloriously Halloween-feeling skeins from Whimzee Stitches.

This set from Suburban Stitcher.

A sweater’s quantity, also from Suburban Stitcher.

A Peace, Love and Knitting kit from the Bead Biz.

Spinning Fiber from Frabujous Fibers.

Legend of Zelda and Horror Movies stitch markers.

Stranger Things-inspired project bag from All with Love. I snagged the last one. #sorrynotsorry

And somehow, the husband wandered off and came back with an Alpaca in a Christmas hat from Rancho Inca Alpacas, proving that you can’t leave him unsupervised for long.

We also picked up graphic socks and I tucked away a drop spindle for Bean as a holiday gift.

Aside from classes and the market, the festival featured other events and meet-ups, and plenty of places just to stop, knit, and chat with fellow fiber artists, which Bean and I enjoyed. However, since I didn’t want to wear both her and my husband out, we kept our days balanced.

As for hotels, we stayed at the Omni, which was not a festival hotel, and I won’t stay there again. The Westin across the street would have been a better choice, but I was late to the game in booking.

So, that barely scratches the surface of how much we enjoyed DFW Fiber Fest 2022, and we will be back next year. We ate good food, met lovely people, and got to pet all the fiber. What more can you ask for?

 

Finished Knit: Little Red Riding Slippers

Bean has been hounding me for some slippers, so I went to my default Little Red Riding Slippers since I knew I could crank them out quickly. After the Never-Ending Blanket, I’m happy lean into some instant-gratification projects, especially since I have some larger items planned for my Fall knitting.

Pattern: Little Red Riding Slippers by Drops Studios (available for free on Ravelry but SEE MY NOTES).

Yarn: Lion Brand Wool Ease Thick & Quick in the Succulent colorway.

Needles: US 10

Notes and Mods: So, Drops patterns once had a reputation for being about as clear as mud. Luckily, other knitters brought clarity, so I skip the pattern and use these resources:

Find re-written pattern here:

http://iknitspatterns.blogspot.com.au/2014/11/rewritten-cable-slippers-pattern.html

Corrected cable pattern here:
http://iknitspatterns.blogspot.com.au/2013/10/cable-slippers.html

And a visual tutorial on sewing them up here (about 12:00 minute mark):

https://vimeo.com/107788111

Finished Knit: Llamalove Beanie

Pattern: Llamalove Beanie by Asha Arun (available for purchase on Ravelry).

Yarn: Petite Woll from We Are Knitters in the Spotted Blue, Ochre, Natural, Black and Cinnamon colorways.

Needles: US 9.

Notes and Mods: The pattern called for US 8, but I went up to 9 because my colorwork knitting can be pretty tight, despite my best efforts to the contrary. Easy, well-written pattern, that includes step-by-step photos of the duplicate stitch. I will say that I’m not a big fan of this yarn. It has minimal twist and reminds me of a roving texture. It’s easy to snag, and I’m skeptical on how it will hold up long-term. Other than that, I’m very happy with this project.

Finished Knit–“Feel the Bern” Cropped Sweater

Well, would you look at that. I convinced two of the Heathens to model a sweater. Will wonders never cease.

Pattern: “Feel the Bern” by Caitlin Hunter, based off of the infamous mittens that Bernie Sanders wore to the inauguration. Available for free on Ravelry with the request for charitable donations toward organizations that address food insecurity (Meals on Wheels, local food pantries, etc.).

Yarn: Berroco Ultra Alpaca in the Cream, Duncan, Steel Cut Oats, and Potting Soil Mix colorways.

Needles: US 5 and US 7.

Notes and Mods: No real mods on this one. I wish I had gone up a needle size because my colorwork knitting can be pretty tight, but that’s what happens when you don’t swatch. I had cast-on-itis after the queen-size Slipstravaganza blanket, so I dove in headfirst. If I can’t wear it this winter, one of these two clowns gets a sweater.

 

Finished Knit–Slipstravaganza Blanket

It took nearly a year of on-and-off knitting, but I finally finished this beast of a project. By the end, there were over 1500 stitches per round on the needles, if you can believe that. It’s hard to tell from the picture, but the blanket ended up being over six feet in diameter and can fit my queen-size bed. As soon as it was off the needles, I immediately cast on a sweater rather than pick up one of my many UFOs. Yeah, hopefully my mojo for those projects will come around again, but for now, I yield to burning urge to cast on all the new things with all the pretty yarn. I’m ready for cooler weather, cozy nights and relief from this endless heat.

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Pattern: Slipstravaganza Blanket by Stephen West (available for purchase on Ravelry or Stephen’s site).

Yarn: West Wool Tandem in the Norway, Glass, Aquamarine, and Brackish colorways.

Needles: US 6

Notes and Mods: As always, Stephen’s pattern is incredibly clear and well-written. The only change I made was following the option to not repeat the chevron section. I was so sick of working on this and was unsure I even had enough yarn to do so anyway.

Finished Knit: Leafy Baby Blanket

I took a break from my gigantic Slipstravaganza blanket, well, because I just need one. It’s up to about 900 stitches per round (true story) so it needed a timeout, or rather, I needed a break from the endless slog. I have cast-on-itis, but I have so many projects on the needles in various stages that I have to exercise some self-control.

Meanwhile, my cousin announced an impending new arrival, which, of course, means baby knitting. I broke my self-imposed project limit, because babies knitting doesn’t count. There’s a finite timeline for that kind of project, ya know? So, I narrowed down some patterns on Ravelry with similar attributes and let G-Man pick amongst the final contenders. Here’s what we got:

Pattern: Leafy Baby Blanket available for free on Ravelry.

Yarn: Yarn Bee Soft & Sleek Solids in the Viridecent colorway (I used about 2.75 skeins).

Needles: US 10/5.0mm

Notes and Mods: I totally forgot to start my project page in Ravelry, but I know I CO more stitches because the pattern, as is, comes out narrower than I would like, per other knitters’ project notes. I looked through other projects, and I’m pretty sure I CO at least 130 stitches. As for length, I just kept knitting until I thought I was getting close to the size I wanted, then continued out the current pattern repeat before moving to the final steps. This pattern is both written and charted, fyi. Overall, beautiful, easy pattern, especially for a freebie. I pinned the completed blanket out with my Knit Blockers and aggressively steam blocked it to “kill” the acrylic. Sending this off to my cousin, then it’s back to the blanket of doom.

Le sigh.