Fun in Frating/ I am a sock yarn whore

Had a wonderful morning/most of the afternoon in Frating today with Caroline, Lucy, Nadia, Maureen and lots of other knitters I didn't know, a quilter and a lady doing tapestry. Lucy came up with the idea of a meeting while ago, thinking we could all bring our unwanted books/magazines/yarns/etc and leave them on a table for people to take or swap for them. Since all of my belongings on this side of the atlantic can fit in a suitcase, a small duffel bag, and a violin case, I didn't have anything to give away or swap for. But that doesn't necesarily mean I didn't come home with anything. I told myself that I didn't need anything, and therefore I wasn't going to buy anything...and then Lucy brought her new yarns. And then Caroline brought some Noro Kureyon sock she didn't like...and it was downhill from there. Caroline also gave me a copy of "Yarn Forward" magazine with a cool hat pattern I like...may need one in purple to go with my new nose! Anyhoo, here are some pictures of today's awesomeness! At the peak of the Frating awesomeness, there were around 24-25 knitters. It was pretty crazy.My new additions to the stash, Lucy's Bear Necessities in "Pink Marbles" and "Emerald City" and the poor, unloved, unwanted Noro.Are there even words to describe this colorway? I think so...howabout, Mmmmmm yeah.My mitred square blanket checks out the competition (Nadia's mitred square blanket) Nadia went as far as accusing me of ironing mine to get it flatter (me? with an iron? I don't think so!)The "It comes Pints?"/Birthday Stole ( my birthday, of course. 1 month and 1 day to 21!) It doubled in size today, but seeing how small it was before this morning, that wasn't too outstanding of an achievement.

So that's about it! I only worked on the mitred square blanket long enough to finish the square I started last night before I got to sleep, and worked on the wrap for the rest of the day. Somehow, and I don't know how this happens, the more I knit on the purple beast, the bigger the ball of yarn gets! Amazing! I must find someone who can explain this phenomenon to me. Perhaps I shall take it to the physics department on Monday to see if someone there can help me solve this mystery....