Knitting MECCA

Knitting MECCA
Originally uploaded by punk rawk purl.

Yesterday I went to the antique faire that I had mentioned last week. Rachel had never been before, & really had no idea just how frickin HUGE the event is. Upon arrival we came across a booth of vintage linens & wool blankies! Rachel bought some adorable embroidered napkins, I asked for the price of a pristinely clean & totally unflawed plaid wool blanket, in the very same colors as my living room, I was told it was $25. I decide that it was early in the day, & if it was still there at the end of the day I would offer $20. We returned 3 1/2 hours later, on our way out, the same woman told me it was $30. I told her that earlier she said $25. In a shitty tone, she told me "Well, you should have bought it this morning then!" As we walked away, she shouted again, "Well you SHOULD have bought this MORNING!!" I will not be stopping by her booth again! BEE-OTCH!!

Somewhere between the napkins and the blanket bitch, we saw many sights!! We had a method, walking up & down the aisles, scanning each side, back & forth, zig zag, etc. All of a sudden Rachel shouts, "OH MY GOD" and takes off running. I turn around &... lights shine from the heavens above, angels sing, & my heart stops beating... A table bursting forth of vintage needle goodness... Mostly aluminum, some wood, & sort of resin like plastic. For the next 30 minutes or so, Rachel & I stood hunched over the table, the conversation went something like this... "Here's a short #2 in tealy blue!" "oooh, look at this long #5 in maroon" "hey lemme know if you see a long #1 with an arrow tip in lime green" "ok, take a deep breath, relax!" At one point Rachel said, "okay that's it, I'm done, I'm walking away." She was back at my side rifling through needles in less than 30 seconds. For the first 15 minutes or so we didn't even have any idea what the prices were. $2 a pair. so we stood there with fistfuls of needles, counting, and recounting, I said "HA! I only have 8 pairs, I will make it an even $20, I get to pick out 2 more pairs!!!" I also bought some really pretty resin/plastic #'s 11 & 13, my loot is pictured below.

We were spent after that. We were drunkenly walking about. We went for lunch. Another friend had suggested the sausages as the best deal they were good, but obscene!! Rachel, the smart vegetarian opted for the gourmet pizza.

After lunch, we came across vintage buttons, some not so fab vintage yarn (I did buy a couple $1 skeins of a cool acrylic blend Bernat tweedy stuff), and lots of other stuff that was cool but we were just too tired to dig through! We did find some great recycled silk yarn from Nepal, (where the freaky salesman (he was wearing m.c. hammer pants, a 1/2 shirt, & a white & black pleather Michael Jackson Thriller jacket) grabbed me FIRMLY & accused me of being there earlier & stealing his cell phone. He wouldn't let go of me until my friends showed up, backing me up). I did however muster up the strength to try on, and buy a vintage dress that fit & was as clean & fresh as the day it was originally bought, 50 years ago!!



All in all, it was a very good day!! check out my flicker set titled Alameda Antique Faire for more pics of cool non knitting related antiques!!