Abigail's birthday, and Stitches East

This is Abigail, today's birthday girl:

Yes, she really is as sweet as she looks. Today is her 14th birthday, and we are thrilled that she is still here to celebrate. We found her under a car on our street 14 years ago. We thought she was a solid gray kitten, that's how dirty she was! She was about 4 months old, and easily fit in the palm of your hand. She never really got very big, and has always remained kittenish.

However, don't let her sweet face and small size deceive you - she always gets her way! She was best buddies with our cat Hannah, who died a few years back. Hannah was a cream colored tabby, and about twice Abigail's size. But Abigail ran the show, with an iron paw (so to speak), make no mistake about it. And she still is the one in charge today. A couple of years ago, she had a very serious health crisis, and we didn't think she would survive, but I think she decided that we couldn't handle things on our own, and so she had to stick around!

She is not as shy as she used to be around other people, so now when we have company, she can actually get some attention from them, which she loves to soak up. She loves being sung to, and in wintertime, will cuddle under the covers with us in bed. Currently, our 8-month old kitten, Jetsam, is the bane of her existence. He has no manners, and thinks ambushing her is quite hi-larious. Every once in a while, she'll give us a look like, "Can't you please DO something about him??" But she does her best to keep all of us in line, and I'm pretty sure that most of the time, our behavior is acceptable. :-) I am totally convinced that she is one of the best cats ever to exist in the universe - past, present and future!

So - Happy Birthday, Abigail! All of us love you very much!

Stitches East

Yesterday, I went with a group of friends to the Marketplace at Stitches East, held this year in Baltimore.

Wow.

I'm still processing the things I saw, and the whole experience. But talk about sensory overload! I never, ever saw so many knitting-related things in one place at one time. It was so much fun to be able to walk around and see for myself some things I'd only ever heard or read about. It was also neat to talk to some of the vendors that previously only existed as a website for me, as well as come across some that I'd never heard about before. I'm pretty sure that if I had gone again today, there would still be things that I missed yesterday, there was just so much to take in. Of course, I had to stop at the Rosie's booth, and say hi to everyone, and at the time we walked by, they were really busy, which was good to see.

I had the chance to stop by the booth where Blue Moon Fiber Arts had their Socks That Rock yarn on display. I've seen some references to it, and saw the customized colorway they had created for Wendy of Wendy Knits!, in honor of her cat, Lucy. The colors on display were amazing, and they had some sample socks and shawls displayed knit with their yarns, and those were absolutely beautiful. I was particularly taken with the colorway called Christmas Rock, and was going to treat myself to a skein to knit myself a pair of socks, but when I went to get the yarn, another person stepped in front of me and took the last skein - waaahh! Clearly, she did not recognize me as The Holiday Fanatic, and I'm sure she'll enjoy the yarn ... just not on the same level that I would ... :-)

I managed to buy some things that I either had been hoping to find, or knew that I was unlikely to see locally anytime soon, so that was lots of fun. And I came home with some of my Yarn Store Money left! (OK, not a lot, but still ...)

All of us had a good time - Eileen, who was nice enough to drive all of us (even though she doesn't knit!), found some fabric and buttons that she liked, for some sewing projects; her mom Pat, who makes up incredible patterns and then knits them faster than anyone I know, found some yarn she liked for some gifts, and the two of us were each thrilled to be able to buy blocking wires; Barb, who bought a couple of patterns, and a copy of Itty Bitty Hats, because she really enjoyed looking through my copy, and she has little ones to knit for; Jennifer, her daughter, who is a new knitter with a six-month old (I think) daughter, Julianna*; Julianna, who bought nothing but was wearing a hat knit by her grandmother Barb from Itty Bitty Hats - the upside down daisy, really cute; and Sharrie, who was my partner in crime for the day, and came home with some gorgeous yarns and a pattern or two.

And oh, when Sharrie and I were making our way to meet the others for lunch, we were walking along, and Sharrie wasn't watching where she was going, and nearly plowed down Kaffe Fassett! ("Knitting Icon Felled by Distracted Woman" - film at 11) Fortunately, she managed to get out of the way just in time. We decided that was 1 degree of separation ...

On top of all of it, I-95 actually cooperated both coming and going, with no traffic backups, no detours, just smooth sailing! (If you have ever for any reason travelled on I-95 for even three feet, you know that's akin to a miracle ...)

I can't wait to go again next year. It's in Baltimore again, so even if no one else is interested in going/able to go, I'll just hop on the train and head south for the day ... hm, maybe I'll get my train ticket this week ...

I'll report on my haul in a later post. Right now, it's time for birthday cake and presents!

*Julianna is the smiley-est baby I have ever seen!