Earlier this week when I woke up back in my own bed, a bit worn out, I was overcome with a touch of sadness: Stitches West was over. I don’t think, until that moment, I realized just how much fun I had there. Despite taking too many classes and being on the tail end of the flu, it was a complete blast!

Unlike many folks I went by myself—not with friends (who mainly opted out for Madrona Winter Retreat the weekend before). Still, I was never really alone. I wandered the Market with classmates or instructors, like Margaret Fisher, who commented she’d never seen so many non-yarn booths making the shopping experience so much more exciting. If I sat down to eat, I joined a table (usually the last seat) and before I knew it in a few minutes we were chatting like old friends. Knitters are like that.

This year I didn’t buy yarn. In keeping with my New Year’s resolution of making or bartering for all my clothes this year, I had to stay within my PayPal account for purchases. So, in theory, I could have purchased yarn, but I was on a strict budget. So I decided what I needed more than yarn (see earlier blog to “So much Yarn”) were bags, organizers, and more bags. The phone wire bowl from the Zulus in South Africa? Well that baby unexpectedly pulled me out of the aisle. Once I picked it up, I simply could not put it down. That’s the feeling you get when you know you’ve found something you will treasure.

So what to do about the malaise of coming back to work and reality? What I did was block my calendar for next year. I heard that it was going to be February 18^th and I’m already planning to go!