KOTOTW Event!!

It's finally here! Or was finally here. Sunday morning I trekked out waaaay too early on far too little sleep for the KOTOTW event with Nicky Epstein and Mary Taylor at Lion Brand Studios. Of course I got there thinking it started at 10 when the buiding's gates were still down only to find out they weren't letting people in until 10:30. So much for the rushing. Actually, when I got to the door (thinking I was late) the girl asked if I was Mary hehe. Back to Starbucks I went to do some knitting (info to come later in the post) and keep warm.

The studio is awesome, though way smaller than I anticipated. There was so much yarn and supplies and projects, I didn't know what to look at first. Of course, I found the amigurumi that are available for free on the website. They're the same ones I made for my cousin's birthday in September. It was pretty cool to see how they looked compared to mine (I used different yarn)

The penguin I made (and the snake I never got around to).
The adorable elephant (mine came out very crooked and the trunk looked quite phallic)
They're giraffe looks awesome! Mine didn't come out quite so good.
The panda (that I did make out of a similar acrylic yarn)
Turtle.
And then I saw them. The portable clothing rack holding (almost) all the projects from Knitting on Top of the World. Some knit by Nicky...all the actual ones photographed in the book. Wow.

These were so much fun (and vegetarian friendly too!) I just had to take a picture. They're made of yarn, yarn, and more yarn!
The walls of yarn on diagonal shelves were awesome. I wish I had shelves like that in my apartment, although I'm pretty sure Roomie wouldn't be so thrilled with that.

The Sampling Wall is where you can cut off a sample of any line of yarn by Lion and test it out. I didn't bother, but I might go back another time and play :o)
Some of the projects folded up waiting to be packed away after the event.

The front store window. The SnowLion was giant knit (I think) balls.
A fancy yarn covered bike rack.
I wish all the store door handles were covered in fun knit fabric. They're so cold on these windy winter days!
As for the event itself, it was great! Mary spoke about her plan and Nicky added in some stories about the projects themselves. Mary tried on many of the actual pieces and Nicky made me come up and try one on too! I was very excited when, before they started speaking, Mary said something to me and Nicky said "Oh you're Steph! I've heard so much about you!!" AAAHHH! So awesome :o)

Throughout the event, Lion Brand and Nicky/Mary did some giveaways. I won Crocheting on the Edge by Nicky from Lion Brand. Mary also gave out some of the KOTOTW ornaments she made for her New Year's party.

After the presentation part, everyone got to walk around, mingle, try on projects, and talk to Nicky and Mary. I tried some on. I'm not so sure anymore about my Northern Lights Cardigan. I'm making a size small, but the small original project was still sorta big on me. There was one, the Londonderry Rose Coat, that seemed to magically look great on everyone who tried it on. I didn't leave it on for very long because it was sooo very warm in the studio and I guarantee that anyone who wears that coat will keep warm wearing it!

The event cost was $30, but that could be applied to any purchase in the store that day. I bought Knitting in Tuscany (I almost cried looking through it...I miss Italy) and Knitting A Kiss in Every Stitch.

Nicky signed all 4 of my books that day!

Both Nicky and Mary signed my Knitting on Top of the World book :o).

It stinks that I didn't actually take any pictures of Nicky and Mary. Camera phones only do so well. But Mary did get a picture of all 3 of us at the end of the event. When I left, they both gave me big hugs.

As for the first project, here's how far I got on the Northern Lights Cardigan. I'm using KnitPicks Merino Style yarn (purchased from Jacey's Stash-busting). I'm waiting for the rest of my yarn for the project to come still so it's never-ending blue for now.

Again, the camera phone only does so well. The ridged rib stich pattern is great! I think I'm going to use it eventually for The Boy's dad's hat (and maybe a matching scarf?) he's been requesting. The stitch is easy too.

You can see the detail in my swatch (yea, I actually did one for once!).

And lastly, here's Mary's KOTOTW ornaments.

Hanging on my random bedroom pipe.