As the end of the year draws nearer, I find myself in awe of the amazing opportunities I've been presented with in 2018. I will have a year in reflection post next month, but suffice to say it has been a magical experience. Part of that experience was attending two fiber related events back-to-back! At the beginning of this month I flew out to L.A. for the first ever Stitches SoCal Convention in Pasadena California. I met a few Instagram friends, like my longtime pal Claudia of the CrochetLuna Podcast (who gave me an amazing set of buttons I forgot to show off), or Arica of Skeinsnsticks Designs. Along with my old friends came some new ones, like Will of The Budget Knitter Podcast. How did I celebrate? Buying fiber. Like, a lot of fiber. 

After getting home I had about two seconds to admire my acquisitions before I started prep for the East Texas Fiber Festival. The week went by in a flash and I soon found myself in Lindale Texas waiting in line for the doors to open at ETFF. The first smiling face I saw was my dear friends Anna and Whitney of Moontower Dyeworks. There was hugs galore as I made my way around the grounds and greeted each of my Instagram friends, like Johanna of The Color Cauldron Podcast. I spent most of the two fiber-filled days at the Moon Tower, ogling the expertly dyed yarns. On Saturday I taught a crochet cable (featuring a custom colorway by MTDW) and was delighted to find out my student, Debra was the podcaster behind Buckthorn Farms.

All in all, both shows left me with a heart full of love and reminded my why I've decided to pursue a career within this amazing community. Now on to what I got! If you've watched the video above, you will know that it was quite a haul. We aren't going to even talk about how much ramen I'll be eating to make up for my shopping sprees. Just know it was totally worth it. Here are some links to the things I purchased or was gifted, so if anything caught your eye, give these small buisnesses some love!

East Texas Fiber Festival:
Paisley Ducky Bags
Brazen Stitchery
Katrinkles
ChiaoGoo
Savvy Skeins
Yarn Carnival
Shipwrecked Sheep
Phantom's Paw
DJ's Classic Alpaca
Ewe Hues
Leon Alexander Yarns
Moontower Dyeworks
Potion Yarns

Stitches SoCal:
Needlepoints West
Alexandra's Crafts
Blue Moon Fiber Arts
Yoth Yarns
Red Heart Yarns
Addi
ThreadBear Dyeworks
Shaky K Fibers
Forbidden Fiber Co
Brooklyn Tweed
Blackcat Fibers
Fancy Tiger Crafts
Leading Men Fiber Arts







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Happy I Love Yarn Day! As a celebration of all things yarn the third installment of my tutorial series on crochet cables is live! In it I dissect the process I use to create colorworked cable patterns where cables are more than one color. The steps gone over in this video are what I used to create my Wicked Little Towns Cable Scarf and the Mr. No-Name Kid Scarf which will be released soon! Use this technique in those patterns, or my Melchior Cable Scarf, which is free on my blog!

"If you've got no other choice, you know you can follow my voice through the dark turns and noise of this wicked little town."- Stephen Trask

It's time to release my newest cable pattern! The Wicked Little Town Cable Scarf is already a favorite of mine. I had the pleasure of meeting the guys over at Leading Men Fiber Arts at Stitches Midwest, and they kindly gifted me a couple skeins of their Show Stopper base to run wild with. This cable scarf was the result. 

​For this project I had a few distinct characteristics I wanted to play with. Firstly, I loved the fact that it was fingering weight, and knew that I could have a semi-complex pattern repeat that wouldn't make a finished scarf so wide or bulky. I also knew that I needed to make this pattern colorworked and as long as possible. In the winter, I love layering my scarves underneath my jackets for a pop of color and texture, so a long thin scarf would work perfectly for wrapping. After my swatches checked off every box on the qualification list, I was off!

How will you work your Wicked Little Towns Scarf? Will you be daring and try to make a fingering weigh version, or stick to worsted? And what about colorworking? I recommend you give it a try! For a colorworking cable tutorial, see my video here. I'll also be filming and publishing a follow up tutorial about working with two or more colored cables this Saturday for I Love Yarn Day! Until the video is released, pick up the pattern here and enter code TRASK for 20% off.

Those who are frequent viewers of my podcast will recognize the name Olivia. Olivia, for the uninformed, is my usual videographer and the best friend I have. For this challenge she goes in front of the camera and I quiz her over words from the fiber field to see how well she pays attention to me. It's a doozy. 

The Friends of Fiber challenge is something that I've wanted to create for a long time, and this first video was a great kickstart to it! Watch the full video below, or at The QUOE Podcast YouTube page. I have plans to continue the series with other friends and family members as well (e.g. asking my grandmother what a hooker is). 

Do you want to test your friends of fiber? Great! Click the button below to download your free wordbank and scorecard. If you film your challenge, please be sure to credit and link back to me and this post so that others can join in the fun!