Covetous Round-Up: Renegade Craft Fair Chicago

It was a great weekend at the Renegade Craft Fair Chicago – what a way to spend a wonderful day.  I got to spend Saturday at the fair, and although it would have been impossible to see it all – there were over 300 vendors this year – I’m here to report back about some of the lovely goodies I got to ogle, and about a few that made it home with me.

I was at Renegade to help my friend Mercedes over at Kitchen Sink Dyeworks.  Kitchen Sink does really lovely work, and it was a pleasure to spend a day surrounded by her lovely yarns.  This picture of the booth doesn’t do nearly enough justice to the beautiful yarn within (and yes, that’s my big butt front and center:)

Kitchen Sink specializes in a dyeing technique that minimizes pooling, and her endless experimentations with color have led to an amazing array of gorgeous colorways.  Of course I couldn’t resist picking some up, in the beautiful colorway Meg:

My camerawork, as usual, sucks, but this color isn’t just teal – it’s got subtle strands of jade green, silvery gray-green, and paler blues throughout.  It’s a bit lighter but still beautifully saturated.  (There was a fifth skein, but I had to wind it up and start using it right away!)  I chose Luxe Merino Fine, an unbelievably soft fingering weight yarn in wool, cashmere and nylon, from among Mercedes’ many interesting yarn choices.  Mercedes does a great job of picking base yarns that you don’t see every day, and this is no exception.  It’s extremely soft, but very strong.   If I ever knit socks, it’d be perfect for it – but this pile of pretty is destined to become a new sweater design, because I couldn’t help but clean Mercedes out of this colorway.  So keep your eyes peeled for progress on a new design – I’ll be posting as I go along.

Outside the Kitchen Sink booth, there was so much more to see!  Here are a few of my favorite finds:

I was especially impressed by Erica Weiner Jewelry. This artist takes vintage moveable type used in letterpress printing, and stamps out intricate jewelry in 18K gold vermeil.  This gorgeous feather pendant is just one example:

I actually couldn’t make up my mind between this and a golden grasshopper, and I’m kicking myself a little for not picking it up.

I was, however, incapable of resisting one little splurge – lovely hand-crafted ceramic earrings from Red Raven Studio, a Pittsburgh artist:

At first, I thought that they had been cut from pieces old china.  But it turns out these little beauties are hand rolled and cut from white porcelain clay, and then fired with a cutout from a vintage porcelain transfer decal – hence the delicate designs reminiscent of pretty old plates.  I couldn’t leave without a pair of these, and there were so many to choose from that I may be back to her Etsy shop for more.

Much more whimsical, but no less charming, was this ceramic pendant from Soda By Amy:

It was hard to choose among Amy’s quizzical squirrels, owls and robots, all stamped onto little charms and handbuilt ceramic cups and mugs.

Mercedes couldn’t resist a few tea towels like this one from one of my favorite local crafters, Artgoodies:

Artgoodies’ work  features quail and cupcakes, squirrels and wrens, roosters and swallows – all hand printed from linoleum blocks onto tea towels, stuffed animals, and aprons and sold at an affordable price.  I highly recommend them – they’re on their way to  becoming my standard housewarming gift.

Last but not least, I got my socks knocked off by the sheer cuteness of the tapirs, squids, elephants, and squirrels crafted from recycled fabrics by SweaterToys:

The word “cute” does not begin to describe these little creatures, like the bunny above. It’s the perfect present for a small child (or a large one, like me.)

…It was almost impossible to see it all, but what a pleasurable form of overload!  I hope that you found some goodies if you were lucky enough to go this weekend – but if not, I hope this post might help you find an artist you didn’t know about before.  I certainly have a few new favorites.

And with that, it’s back to the knitting mines – I’m actually 2/3rds done with a new design, and I can’t wait to show it to you soon!

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