VK Live ~ Everywhere but Seattle

Hi, Knitters,

Thank you to Melissa (keatime on rav) for the Tolt photo above and the in-class photos!

I'm sorry for the long delay between posts. I was in Seattle (sort of) teaching at Vogue Knitting Live last week for four days. I came back home late Monday night. It has been busy around here trying to recover and get things back in order. My oldest son has spring break right now so it has been fun having him around more. 

The trip to Seattle was wonderful. My two oldest sons came along with me. While I worked they ran around Seattle and saw the sights and ate all kinds of wonderful local food. They had a good time despite the rain. Actually they had pretty good weather on Saturday but Sunday was a downpour for most of the day for them. 

I didn't ever get into Seattle at all on this trip. The Vogue event actually takes place in Bellevue which is outside of Seattle. I started teaching a couple of hours after our arrival on Friday and worked straight through Sunday. Speaking of Sunday, at my lunch break my friend from our Itty-Bitty Knits group on Ravelry picked me up and drove me to Carnation, WA, to visit Tolt Yarn and Wool. I'd say it was about a 30 minute drive give or take. Thank you to Melissa for taking me to Tolt. I really appreciate it and it was a highlight of the trip for me.

Click here for the Tolt Yarn and Wool website!

I have rarely heard so much about a new yarn shop. This shop is on fire. It is beautiful from the inside out. The setting and decor of the shop is friendly and warm and inviting. The owner is lovely, that's her behind me in the first photo, and her name is Anna. The shop is out in the country, a scenic drive, and the owner also has a small farm. She is a photographer and is fun to follow on instagram. This is one busy young woman.

Here is Melissa at the entrance to the shop. The displays are just gorgeous. There are so many different and unusual yarns in the shop, things I have never seen or used before. This is a sign of a good shop! I bought two skeins of yarn, both new to me. I bought a skein of Jill Draper and a skein of Swan's Island. Both are worsted weight and generous in yardage. I'm looking forward to cracking into these new skeins. I'll share more later on this yarn.

Rebecca Gunderson posted this photo above on my Facebook wall so I hope it's okay to post on here as well. This group of beautiful young knitters were at Tolt when I arrived and they were incredibly sweet and fun and excited about everything. They asked for this photo together and I was happy to be in it. The woman on the far left was a student in one of my classes as well. They were so cute!

Rowan Felted Tweed anyone?

I was delighted that the shop had stacks of my books. Anna asked if I would mind signing my books. Of course I signed them all! Veronika of Yarn on the House works at this shop. She also drove us to and from the airport. Thank you, Veronika! Part of the reason I like going to Seattle is due to Veronika. She is so welcoming and warm and a real treat to be around. 

The other person working at Tolt is the one and only Tif Fussell or the inspired Dottie Angel Etsy shop owver and blog writer. I was so pleased to meet Tif in person. She is adorable. As a coincidence I had just ordered some notebooks and a project bag from her Etsy shop right before the trip. I didn't know I would get to meet her over the weekend. I'll share those items later with you. 

Click here for Tif's website Dottie Angel (you won't want to miss this one)!

Click here for the Dottie Angel Etsy Shop!

Click here for a wonderful video about Tif!

The Itty-Bitty Knitters were everywhere! Melissa on the left and Becky on the right, were in my Little Dragon class on Saturday morning. Becky actually finished her Little Dragon by dinner that night. She knit it out of her own handspun and it was the cutest dragon ever! I couldn't believe how quickly she finished it.

Actually, I just found the following photo from Becky (below)! Apparently her dragon attended and watched attentively during my lecture on Saturday night:

Click here for the Little Dragon pattern information!

Carol (cehermanator on rav) on the right was in class, too! She's another Itty-Bitty Knits member who I love. She has designed some wonderful colorwork mitts that are being released soon in pattern form. She's quite a talent. A group of Itty-Bitty Knitters and I went out for a fantastic dinner on Saturday night which was so much fun. Debbie (knittingrandma on rav) is not in the photo but she came to class and also dinner. I loved meeting all of these wonderful ladies in person!

That is Willa Cather's namesake and granddaughter on the left, pretty cool stuff and Becky (gathersnomoss rav id) on the right. I'm in the middle teaching away as usual. In all of my classes I met so many wonderful knitters. There were a lot of students I recognized from my classes last year at this same event which is always nice. There were students from all over, many from Canada. 

On Monday morning my sons and I went out for a fabulous breakfast with lots of local food and ingredients. That was fun. Then we took off and walked for almost 2 hours. We walked through beautiful shoreline neighborhoods and parks. I LOVED it.  The sun even came out for us!

I was so thrilled to see blooming trees and flowers! It made me so happy and warm inside. I am also intrigued at the mossy coverings on trees, branches and even the streets. It is moist in the Seattle area.

Here are some photos from our lovely morning together:

These are Flowering Currant blossoms.

The homes were spectacular and beautiful!

 Green! Green! Green!

The sky and water were so inspiring!

We had a wonderful time. What an experience to get to travel with my sons. I feel so lucky to get these opportunities and times we won't forget. The knitting was fun, the knitters I met and taught are so talented. It was one of the friendliest, most loving groups of knitters I have had the privilege to teach. I received more cards, gifts, hugs and warm greetings than anyone could believe.

Thank you Vogue Knitting Live for another terrific event!

I'll be back soon with more.

best, susie