Where've I Been? SOCK SUMMIT!

Yep, freshly returned from a 6-day trip to Portland to attend Sock Summit!

Highlights include:

Finding two local knitters willing to share their transportation with me. Thanks, Ballet Mommy & Magic Wombat!! Certainly couldn't have done it without you.

Turning around in Jennie the Potter's booth to find Knitty's own Amy Singer behind me, who, when introductions were made said "Oh, you're Velma! I put your Monkey socks photo up on the big screen in my presentation!" My feet are famous! At least, my shoes are.

Discovering the bacon maple bars at Voodoo Doughnuts live up to all the hype. (And it's a good thing I brought some home for the hubby; I don't think he would have let me in the front door without one!)

Learning that my friend Brooke of Tactile Fiber Arts Studio loves me enough to take on the challenge of de-tangling the massive mess I made of my spindled laceweight yarn. Voluntarily.

Playing all weekend with Maia of Tactile Fiber Arts Studio; we may just have been separated at birth, if our respective senses of humor are any indication. The only other person besides me that laughs at my farts. Thanks for the pint glass, I'll try to always keep it full!

Helping the aforementioned Maia & Brooke in their Tactile Fiber Arts Studio booth. How lucky that I got to be the OFFICIAL bathroom break-giver/food picker-upper/baby dandler for the best natural dyers around! They gave me a purpose for being there, & I'm grateful for their generosity.

Sharing a meal with a fun bunch of women including Clara Parkes of The Knitter's Book of Yarn fame & realizing how funny she is. Wanna see us all being amused?

Forgetting to sit down & knit a few stitches on the World's Biggest Sock (doh!) wasn't a highlight, but I did donate some yarn to be used in its completion. Thanks to Puffy Mondaes for bringing it!

Meeting a metric buttload of amazing fiber people: Jamie & Blas of Urban Fauna Studio, who are so fun, & I'm looking forward to collaborating on a new project with Jamie; Fickle Knitter, someone crazy as me modeling her 'tinfoil hat' design; Fibermusings, who I hope to see more of on her regular treks between WA and NorCal; Morgaine & Lann of Carolina Homespun; Material Whirled's Reenie & her family, including Batman (thx for the pins!!); KateK8, who wasn't offended when I tried to invite myself to stay at her house; the inimitable Ron of Buffalo Gold, who never ceased to have a smile on his face & a hand to lend; Shelia January, who taught me a great new word: yakeroo*; Ravelry's Jess, Mary-Heather, & Casey - party hosts extraordinaire; and of course Kylie Gusset slash Ms. Gusset of Australia, who shared her hotel room at The Ace with me.

Participating in the Guinness Book of World's Records attempt: the most people knitting at one time (current record: 256). Apparently, the Australian group whose record we were attempting to break were simultaneously hoping to exceed their own numbers, & ours. We'll see. Our video. Their video.

Imbibing in not one, not two, not even three, but FOUR different IPAs at the Deschutes Brewery & Public House downtown. Checked their website, & they've added two more pub-exclusive IPAs on tap. I recommend the Hop Henge #4 & Ocho Negro if you can get there, Red Chair if you can't (they bottle & retail that last one).

Seeing the stockings of my dreams: Laura Lough's rainbow thigh-highs using Gradience yarn from The Unique Sheep in 'Beach Sunset'! The pattern is called 'The Thigh's the Limit' (LOL!) & you can see them here. Queue, here I come!

Drinking Stumptown Coffee. Hair Bender blend. 'Nuff said.

Partying at Ravelry's shindig with The Bon, Maia, Spirit Trail Fibers' Jennifer, et al. Local beer for only $3/bottle, too! Didn't get there early enough for a shwag bag, but good times were had.

Chatting with Hiznits. WARNING: conversating with him is likely to induce in-the-pants-peeing!

Making it to Kennedy School, one of the brewpubs in the McMenamins stable, for dinner. If you can make it, be sure to check out the Boiler Room, accoutered entirely in upcycled pipes. (There's also a movie theater, soaking pool, & guestrooms, but we didn't make it out of the beer dining room.)

Returning to Powell's, world's biggest & best independent bookstore. Found & purchased used copies of Paula Simmons' Spinning and Weaving with Wool, The Handspun Project Book edited by Deborah Kahn, & Colonel James A. Ronin's Spinformation, as well as a fridge magnet to bring back: "There is no place like home." Ain't that the truth.

Fumbling with my first-ever, yes-that's-what-I-said-I'm-a-virgin cell phone. Indespensible, but I found I suffered terribly from iPhone envy.

Stashing:

• 10.62 ounces Koigu KPPPM mill ends from Woolstock Yarn Shop, destined to become kneesocks
  
• 560 yards of superwash merino Little Traveler seconds from The Sanguine Gryphon in what I'm calling their 'Burned' colorway
• 3.8 ounces Becoming Art superwash merino/nylon in 'Full Circle'
  
• 2 complementary skeins of transitioning yarn from Gypsy Girl Creations: one 'Viola Bouquet' and one 'Twilight Time'
  
• 435 yards of self-striping Gothsocks in 'Summer of Goth' + a free Cabled Guy pattern, both from Rainy Days & Wooly Dogs
  
• 2 skeins of Blue Moon Fiber Arts mill ends; they don't use colorways on their 2nds, but mine look like a lightweight 'Love' & a mediumweight that I can't ID
  
• and 5, yes FIVE, skeins of Noro Kureyon Sock from Woolstock Yarn Shop; they were kind enough to offer discounted mixed bags
  

1. Koigu KPPPM Millends, 2. Koigu KPPPM Millends, 3. Koigu KPPPM Millends, 4. Gothsocks in 'Summer of Goth', 5. Becoming Art in 'Full Circle', 6. Gypsy Girl Creations in 'Twilight Time', 7. Gypsy Girl Creations in 'Viola Bouquet', 8. Sanguine Gryphon in 'Burned', 9. BMFA unidentified colorway, 10. BMFA Mediumweight in 'Love' (millends), 11. Noro Kureyon Sock, 12. Noro Kureyon Sock, 13. Noro Kureyon Sock, 14. Noro Kureyon Sock, 15. Noro Kureyon Sock

Being the recipient of a donated ticket to the Luminary Panel. Oh. My. Stars.

Taking only one photo all week. Over & over. Trying to get it right. All those knitting GODDESSES up there on one dais!

L to R: Lucy Neatby, Cat Bordhi, Deborah Robson, Anna Zilboorg, Priscilla Gibson-Roberts, Tina Newton, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, Meg Swanson, Barbara Walker, Judith MacKenzie-McKuin, Nancy Bush

Hearing Meg Swanson ask Barbara Walker, Barbara Freakin' Walker, if she indeed invented SSK, who replied that she indeed had.


Listening to Tina spill the beans that this is the inaugural Sock Summit. As in first one. As in there WILL be more!

So yeah, I had a good time. Understatement d' jour. Hope they keep it on the Left Coast again next time around, so I can fer sure make it again. Now, I need some SLEEP!

*Shelia says that a 'yakeroo' is a yak cowgirl/boy, a la a buckaroo.