This was my absolute favorite booth at the Fiber Fiesta. The women were nice and helpful but were also kind enough to discretely leave Aubree and I alone to fondle and bond with their beautiful handpainted yarn. The wool and silk blends were like a magnet for me as was a particularly beautiful gigantic skein of multihued red mohair. But I was good! I resisted my potentially very expensive urges and only bought two skeins of handpainted superwash wool for me to try my hand at making socks for father’s day. I’m starting to recognize that I need to plan a bit more in advance for handmade gifts.

I also indulged in a beautiful nubby blue cotton that was a great bargain at sixteen bucks a skein for about three hundred sixty yards. It’s so soft I ended up holding and cuddling with it most of the night after I got home. With the marked difference in gauge I *think* I have enough for mariposa. My first sweater. I’m terrified.

I also picked up some Fortissima Colori Disco Sock yarn. Self-striping sock yarn with sparklies! Whee! A copy of The Yarn Harlot’s book, some fuzzy sparkly yarn handspun by a very nice lady I met, some Japanese silk remnants and pretty cloisonne beads - perfect for more purse making, and, the big buy: a Lantern Moon basket.

Oh. My. God. These things are cute. The purplish yellowish iridescent silk lining can either sit flat within the basket or be pulled up and held with a drawstring. They’re made in Vietnam as part of a program to keep traditional arts alive. The basket is woven out of bamboo root and smoked to dry so it has an interesting smoky scent. When I saw it at the Village Wools stall (the ladies were being really nice!) I looked at the price expecting to see sixty, a hundred bucks on the tag. THIRTY dollars! EEE! Oh yeah I had to have it!

It seems that taking up knitting also entails getting the uncontrollable urge to buy cute baskets. I think it has something to do with wanting to put your pretty handpicked yarn in a pretty handmade basket. It’s a strange phenomenon that took me completely by surprise when I found myself suddenly lusting after a giant lidded basket priced for ten dollars at the estate sale last month.

I was very good at the fiesta. I bought enough stuff to feel like I got fun treats but we won’t have to eat peanut butter sandwiches for the whole month of June either. And I got gift yarn! I don’t think the yarn you buy to make something for someone else counts does it? Shut up it does not!

So here are some more shameless birthday hints. Only thirty-two more shopping days until my thirty-third! You know I’m just kidding right? I totally don’t expect anyone to buy me this stuff I just think they’re neat
That fabulous yarn company I mentioned earlier has hit upon the most brilliant idea in the universe: gift baskets with bath products including a pattern and yarn to knit your own washcloth or bathmat. These women should get a nobel prize.

I’m not sure what the threadcount is on these sheets and those who know me well will be shocked to hear me say this: I don’t even care I love them. Just wish they had them for a king.

Miss M makes the most beautiful jewelry that I always admire but I must have a pixie necklace. Did you know I still have fantasies about being a fairy princess?