Red bird

My rendition of the red fella:

Stitches West 2011

The rubber stamp industry has buckled under the economy and I really hope it bounces back. Yarn however, continues to enthrall and hypnotize, if one is to go by the turnout of both vendors and customers at the convention. Fabulous.

Did I buy yarn? No. Did I buy books? No. So I wasn't exactly the perfect customer then? Don't judge yet. Here's some exciting stuff I found:

1. leather straps for knit/fulled handbags here - gorgeous.

2. Kollage yarns - corn fiber here and stretchy cotton blend here . Corn as I discovered, is deliciously soft and luminous. Only, I'm torn by the concept of knitting with somebody's potential dinner. But then again, it is a bit too tempting to pass by easily. The other yarn - stretchy cotton blend - was the exact species I was looking for. I'm very fond of wearing cotton but not too crazy about knitting with a yarn with no elasticity. This one solves my problem.

3. Habu Textiles here. Such curious yarns! So unique!!

Order these products I will.

Among books, I saw an enormous interest in global knitting techniques - also called 'ethnic', much to my irritation. Icelandic, Scandinavian, Peruvian, Nordic, Estonian, and a host of others I don't even recall. I got the sense that the community has plateaued out on the sock knitting frenzy, going by the number of new books on the subject.

About the Devil and the Truth

Chanced upon a story that blew my mind:
The devil and a friend of his were walking down the street, when they saw ahead of them a man stoop down and pick up something from the ground, look at it, and put it away in his pocket. The friend said to the devil, "What did that man pick up?" "He picked up a piece of the truth," said the devil. "That is a very bad business for you, then," said his friend. "Oh, not at all," the devil replied, "I am going to help him organize it."