Knit & Knag Designs

I’m back home again after spending a lovely weekend in Toronto at the DKC Frolic.  Natalie and I drove down on Friday (actually, Natalie drove and I spent a few hours chatting and knitting in the passenger seat).  When we arrived at the hotel, we met up with Hasmi of Rocky Mountain Dyeworks and then helped her set up for the fair.

Hasmi had brought quite a selection of yarn. It was particularly impressive that she had brought it all in her checked luggage on the plane from Banff. It was in vacuum sealed bags, and was quite compressed until we opened them. And then the yarn fluffed right out, and looked amazing.

We were so busy setting up that I didn’t even manage to get a good picture of the final booth.  Nor one of Hasmi.  As you can see, she was moving so quickly she didn’t stick on the photos.  I took several, and they are all like this.  It was all a blur.  

After setting up the booth on Friday night, we had a relaxing dinner and then rested for the show the next day.

When we got back to the JCCC, there was a long line-up at the door (which we thankfully bypassed, so we could put the finishing touches on the booth).  We had a few minutes to get everything done, and then suddenly the doors opened and the crowds descended.  It was amazing to see everyone first do a quick sweep of what was available, and then watch them slow down to browse the individual booths.

In addition to helping out at the Rocky Mountain Dyeworks booth, I also had a chance to visit a number of amazing vendors.  There was the lovely Turtlepurl of Gatineau.

Genvieve was a real trooper and managed to wear her fingerless mittens all day, in spite of the fact that it was very hot.  They did show off her self-striping yarn beautifully though, so I think it was totally worth it.

And there was Tanis Fiber Arts of Montreal.

Her gorgeous colours seduced me, and two skeins followed me home.  I got an MCN yarn in Plum, and a Mulberry silk lace yarn in Stormy.

I wasn’t very good at taking pictures throughout the day, but another few highlights of the show (for me) were Van der Rock yarns from Kingston, Indigodragonfly from Haliburton, Waterloo Wools from, well, Waterloo, and Painted Fleece from Toronto.  There were a whole host of other wonderful vendors too, so all in all it was an amazing day.

My main haul from the show though was this collection of yarn from Rocky Mountain Dyeworks.

From left to right there is Cascade Lace in Malachite, Emerald Lake Lace in Lapis Lazul, Glacier Ice Lace in Fireweed, more Glacier Ice Lace in Egyptian Gold, an as of yet unnamed yarn in white (silk lace) and a skein of Three Sisters Fingering in Boreal Bluet.  Most of these skeins are for a very secret project that Hasmi and I are planning for later this year.  Stay tuned to see what becomes of this yarn.