WWKIP 2009

Last Westside Wednesday, the goal was to get swag bags stuffed in time for WWKIP 2009. Tami had strong armed asked for a couple of people to make bags (we expected little drawstring bags and BOY were we surprised when these showed up!


















Debbie made 20 of these bags with little pockets on the outside, and Sara made 20 of these little market bags.
























These gals got some mad sewing skillz, I tell ya! This is the bag I got on Saturday; I didn't have a chance to get pictures of all the bags together before Saturday.

Tami had also put hits out on recruited local yarn shops, indie dyers, Etsy shop owners, and pattern writters to provide goodies so the bags were amply filled! She used her gangster persuasion skills to get the Westside Wednesday gals to help her stuff bags.



















Tami has a great post from last Wednesday with a description of the swag, so hop on over there to see details.

A couple weeks ago, Noriko (Yea gawds, I hope I spelled that right!) showed up with a Country Craftsman spinning wheel she had just bought on craigslist the day before, and pleaded for help. Sheila and I took a look at the wheel which was in pretty good shape, got a driveband tied on for her, oiled up the wheel, and got her started. Then this week, she shows up with her first skein of handspun.


























Would you just look at that skein? Perfectly balanced, even and ply, and beautifully consistent right out of the gate. She's a natural!

Saturday was WWKIP and Tami had arranged for our Westside event to be held at the Glen and Viola Walters Cultural Art Center. Although we had advertised to begin at 10, people had heard about the bags for the first 40 attendees and were already on-site almost an hour early!

This pic was taken at 9:15 and that's Tami standing in the middle, wondering just how big this crowd is going to get!



















I set up a table with a basket full of drop spindles and fiber to give free lessons on drop spinning, and Tami had bite-size pastries. By 10, we had a table full of yarn for swapping, a table full of swag bags, baskets full of door prizes, and a band of restless natives on our hands. At 10, when Tami told them to line up for bags, it was a near stampede!



















No sooner were the bags in their hands, than the examinations began. Knitters and crocheters could be heard oohing and ahhing over the goodies and the bags.



















We were also collecting squares for Larissa's Barn Raising Quilt, premie hats for Aunties in Stitches, and baby blankets for Baby Love. As soon as the tribe of wild indians crowd was bribed into submission appeased with their bags, I offered skeins of yarn in exchange for the first three premie hats knitted during the event. First prize was a skein of 800+ yards of cashmere laceweight. These gals were on this like ducks on junebugs! Barely 30 minutes had passed when Carissa showed up in front of my table, premie hat in hand.



















She was one of the vendors who supplied samples for the bags, so I was really glad she got the skein of cashmere. Pretty soon, the second and third place winners claimed their skeins and the premie hats were rolling in. I got 9 premie hats, and I know Tami collected at least a few squares for the Barn Raising Quilt.

Pretty soon, the girls from Kathy's Knit Korner and The Knitting Bee girls showed up with their door prizes. They gave out numbered tickets and gave away skeins of yarn, knitting bags, and books. I got this cool knitting bag, perfect for knitting on my MAX commute.



















Notice how it coordinates with the swag bag I picked? I'll be one stylin' knitter on the train; LOL!

At the end of the event, Judy and I found a cone of angora blend still on the table; we are both lace knitters so we practically swooned at the halo on this and we agreed to split it. I wound it into balls yesterday and deciphered the label inside the cone. It said "40% lambswool, 50% angora, 10% nylon" and "Sandison's Real Shetland Yarns, 2-ply lace yarn, Shetland Isles."



















Cindy, Rachel, and the other knit bloggers will have posts up soon, so check them out for their report of the event, too. There was a lady from the Cultural Arts Center who took pictures and burned them onto a CD that she gave to Tami, who posted them on Picasa along with her pictures. Go here to look at them. There was a reporter from the Hillsboro Argus was there taking pictures and talking to lots of people, so I'll have ToolMan pick up a copy on Monday to see what they wrote.

I have some knitting completed, some spinning in progress, some knitting in the planning stage, and a pattern being written, but it's getting late and this post is long enough, so you'll have to wait to hear about all those things. Right now, I need to get to bed because I've got work tomorrow. 'Til then, I'll see you in the funny pages.