We interupt the SS09 Report Segment...

(since it is so slow in coming anyway...) to present the latest musings...

Actually, it's kind of a report, because it is very SS09-related (for me, at least!)

First, that ONE sock that I've completed! Actually, this is SS09-related because it is my SS09-Inspired sock! I took Lucy Neatby's "Cool Socks A" and saw her "Almost Saintly" sock and learned of her getting hooked on eyelets for a while. She referred to it as her 'eyelet phase'.


I saw the pattern at SS09 and decided I needed to get it! I had actually admired it at SW, but ignored the urge to get it.

When I got home and dumped out my huge stash from SS09, I purchased a Zauberball after seeing how cool a sock (also knit by Lucy and seen at her class) looked with the colorful, long repeats. I went against my usual 'dull', blendy instinct and went with a Zauberball that was more fun and colorful. I realized that this could be cool as Almost Saintly socks and that I could just use some black sock yarn for the heels and toes.

After hunting for that black sock yarn I *knew* I had *somewhere* and in my excitement to start this sock, I looked at the beautiful single skein of Tartrazine I had gotten from Van der Rocks and realized it actually might work instead of the plain black! (Yeah, boring me who dislikes yellow and was going to go for the conservative, safe black...)

Do you see what I mean about this being such an absolutely perfect yellow? So lemony, so pretty...I acutally had purchased it to accent some purple socks, but what a lovely surprise to find that I was making my own special SS09 socks: a pattern by Lucy Neatby (who's class I attended...) and all yarn used was purchased at SS09! And even the smaller set of needles I switched to for the heels and toe?-purchased at SS09!

Speaking of needles, the needles I used are made by Laurel Hill from Forest Palm. So far, I like the needles, they are very flexible and I must admit that they freak me out a bit in that I fear breaking them. So far, so good, and a size that I love-5"! But I have to take this moment to seriously plug their crochet hooks! If you crochet, you have to try these out! I have to say that Laurel Hill crochet hooks are my favorite hooks!

I purchased my first hook back when I crocheted a hat for my friend. No, as usual, I didn't NEED another crochet hook, but the feel and look were so nice! And the price was reasonable for such a nicely finished crochet hook. I fell in love...

So when I saw them at SS09, of course I got a couple more! Somehow, I refrained from getting a whole set (which was maybe a bit over $100 for a set that came in a silk case...). Really because I already own just about every standard size crochet hook!

The finish is smooth where if feels nice in the hand and glides well, yet has just enough 'grab'. The tip has a point to help get the hook right into the proper holes! And the 'notch' (whatever that part is called...) has a nice, sharp angle to really grap the yarn. It is so comfortable in the hand and from what I understand, they had consulted with the Crochet Guild of America when developing the design. Hey, fellow Bay Area stitchers-Purlescence Yarns says they stock them!!!

At any rate, a surprise arrived yesterday in the mail!

My special Sock Summit (2nd) edition mug!!!
Jennie the Potter sold out on this design but took special orders for her 2nd edition!TOO CUTE! She is talented! And her sheepy/spindle mugs were pretty cute, too...

During Sock Summit, I was keeping KnittingGolfer up to date on purchases and even grabbed a spindle for her. She and I have been discussing her love affair with the Jenkins I picked up for her and I've heard and seen all her spinning adventures of late.

This, of course, gave me urge to work on my G-Rocks again! Spinning it with my Bosworth!

And I also realized that perhaps KnittingGolfer would like to see the bits of spinning here and there that I may have posted at one time or another but haven't shown the multiple faces of..like more of this Pigeon Roof Studios merino (spun on ANOTHER Bosworth spindle-yes, you want one, KnittingGolfer!)...

And some Yarn Wench merino (spun on a basic Schact spindle I purchsed at Article Pract)...
Then I dug out the merino/silk/rayon batt I had been working on in Wild Mountain Thyme that I had purchased from Sanguine Gryphon some time ago (shown on my Avi Wasserman spindle I had purchased from One Planet a while back)...
And I even did the 'coin thing' cuz KnittingGolfer said everyone else does it...so what the heck!

And Nartian must've felt the spinning vibes cuz look at the lovely roving she got me for my birthday from A Verb for Keeping Warm! (BTW, that's my Sanguine Gryphon spindle again!)


I swear, spinning colorways is soooo cool! I love to see the intermixing of the colors!

PDXKnitterati had "Dizzy" running through her head when she posted on her blog. Admittedly, I remember that song, too! But this is the song that runs through my head when I spin! Must be all those college days of my best friend dragging me to go dancing with him!

TARTRAZINE!

The most beautiful yellow sock yarn EVER. Seriously.

http://www.vanderrockyarns.com/superwash_tartrazine

And next post? I'll show you what I ended up making with mine! (Yes, I got a skein of it at SS09!)

Can it really have been a month ago?

Hard to believe that it has only been a month since Sock Summit! The past 4 weeks has felt like 4 months!

We returned from our family vacation the end of July with SassyMan not feeling well. A week later, he still didn't feel well and I worried: a) that he had a flu and I might catch it before SS09 or b) it was worst than a flu in which case that would not be good, either!

I loaded myself up with Emergen-C and Airborne and the following week headed on up to Sock Summit anyway, convinced he would be better when I returned.

Unfortunately, I learned he in fact hadn't been getting better-this after learning it would be an additional day before I could fly home due to a mishap with my flight reservations!

At any rate, here we are, weeks later-SassyMan having just gotten out of a nice 2 1/2 week hospital stay! All is better and here I am, ready to contine the SS09 reporting! But first, speaking of SassyMan and the hospital visit, here is the up side of hospital 'watch' (whereby you are not the hospitalized, but keep vigil by said 'hospitalized' side and thus are well enough and have the time to...KNIT!) The completed ULMUS that I, at one time, questioned whether I would ever finish one!

Ta-dah! A completed (albeit not blocked)
ULMUS! I used lightweight STR in Footsey Foo and Jabberwocky!

The rest of the hospital knitting was mostly the Cat Bordhi sock bookmarks, perfect little gifts for the docs and nurses!

So on to the Market and goodies!

Of course, there was YARN and LOTS of it...especially of the sock variety.
But there were also lots of fun sock-related, non-yarn items! I'm sad I missed the Dansko shoes, but here are some cute DPN protectors and stitch markers...


Jenkins Spindles...so many beautiful woods! And see the silk hankie they wrapped mine in?
Project bags, fibers, rubber stamps, shawl pins, darning eggs...
And the Travelocity Gnomes? Almost! Actually, these are Snicklefritz's traveling Gnomes adorning her booth!
Lantern Moon was well represented. Look how adorable the Lantern Moon Gals are with their Lantern Moon tatoos and raw silk (wait-maybe it was organza!) pants...

And some goodies for the hands! Lo-Lo Bars by BarMaids!
And look how cute "Painty" (Laura from The Unique Sheep) looked in her stockings knit from her "Gradience" dyed yarns! I got a chance to snatch up a Hobbiton sock kit and several mini-skeins of various sock yarns. I must say that the "Sushi Sock" feels wonderfully soft and smooshy, has beautiful sheen and was so nice to work with! I knit a mini-sweater out of it while in the ER...

I did have to snag up a bit of Curious Creek fiber from Carolina Homespun, too! I broke tradition and didn't buy a spindle from Carolina Homespun this time around, though I did get a couple of rubberstamps from them on top of this bit of fiber!


And as if the Jenkins Turkish spindle weren't enough, I fell in love with this one at Sanguine Gryphon's booth, some home it came wth me! The wood is beautiful, the spiral and lines are so elegant. It spins nicely, but in truth, the longer shaft means I have to wind on more frequently and end up bumping it on the ground often!
I have to say that the market was absolutely amazing! So many vendors, so many creative, wonderful indie dyers, so many clever notions and goodies to be had! I barely was able to get through the complete market, was absolutely overwhelmed and never really got to go back to many of the earlier booths I had skimmed in the beginning. I really am not good at markets because I am so detail oriented that I tend to get sucked into everything and anything!

It seemed like a lot of the vendors were really into the spirit of making it a fun, exciting event! Sanguine Gryphon's booth was gorgeous! Very Renaissance Fair-costumes, face painting and all! I'm sad I missed the Handknit Heros booth; I'd been interested in seeing their comic books and I understand they had Super Hero photos they were taking! I may have to knit a mask for Halloween so I can feel like a KnitHero anyway! There were so very many lovely yarns and items! Jennie the Potter had the ceramic mugs and jewelry. Speaking of jewelry, there were also recycled kniting needle jewelry and a vintage knitting supplies booth (hence, my darning egg purchases!)...And, of course, my most-revered Blue Moon Fiber Arts had a wonderful representation and I had the opportunity to snag up a skein of ST-1 and some mill ends for Nartian!

And then, of course, it was fun to see all the knit friends, too! Purls Beyond Price (Nathania) was there, since her store, Purlescence had a booth and was launching their new "Purl up and Dye" line of hand-dyed yarns. Her hubby and baby girl Ellie arrived for the weekend, too!
I think I will have to cover the Ravelry party in another post. Sadly, I have nothing to report about the Sock Hop, since I didn't attend. I heard there were hoola-hoops, poodle skirts and Pink Ladies. As for me, I spent the time with a good friend eating out in Portland and scouting out VooDoo Donuts! Made some new friends, too! What more could I want for that evening? It was perfect for me!

I even found the perfect donut to bring back to Lil' Emp who had asked if I thought they would have a "*really* chocolatey one"? I forget the name of this one, but it is a chocolate cake donut with chocolate icing and cocoa puffs on top!

Sock Summit-a multi-part report

Yowza!

I got a bumper sticker at Sock Summit from Carolina Homespun. It says, "I got heeled at Sock Summit"! Clever, no? And that is just one example of the clever SS09 goodies vendors were offering!

Boy, there was so much to do, see, experience! I seriously don't think I could capture it all-and I couldn't because there was just so much going on everywhere, every minute, that I couldn't have done everything! But I can share with you what this one, single Sock Knitter did at Sock Summit! (after writing much of this, I realize this will need to be broken into a couple of parts...yeah, my usual long-winded manner of reporting...)

You saw my previous 'lazy' post that included Irishgirlieknits and my Cotty-clad feet! Cotty pattern itself by Irishgirlieknits! Too fun! I showed you my VooDoo donut (banana fritter with chocoate and peanut butter, sprinkled with chocolate chips and chopped peanuts). You saw my new spindle and a bit of the stash enhancement. So what else could there be?

Well, there was the atmosphere...everyone seemed so excited and happy to be at Sock Summit! It was buzzing and knitters were converging from all around, smiles on their faces, happy to say 'hi' and identify one another as summit attendees.

Opening Reception was preceeded by a special silent auction for Knitters without Borders. There were fabulous items donated from the many vendors. Some VERY GENEROUS donations that included: a UK Knitting Retreat (did not include airfare, but could be a deal for the right person and very little competition!), a specially personalized "Sock Summit" machine-embroidered knitting bag filled with an assortment of yarns (valued at $500!), jewelry, gift certificates, knitting kits, roving, autographed Sock Summit posters...In the course of an hour, we raised a total of nearly $6000 for Knitters for Borders. Knitters are so cool-so many winners rounded-up their prize payments. One knitter even bid up a mug by Jennie the Potter to $205!

Just look at all those Sock Knitters! FULL HOUSE! My co-worker approached me today to politely ask about how Sock Summit was. When I told him there were some couple-thousand of us, his mouth dropped. He told me he thought it was, like, a 35 person thing! HARDLY!

During the Opening Night Reception, Tina and Yarn Harlot Steph shared the trials and tribulations-not to mention the sheer joy and excitement-of putting an event of such magnitude together. There were tears as they acknowledged their capable ST-2 staff of Cockeyed, Rachel, Debra and JoAnn. All of them were clearly exhausted and SS09 had just begun!

I was fortunate to get a few classes: Cool Socks A with Lucy Neatby, Colorful Stitches with Tina Newton and Anna Zillborg, and Darn It! with Merike. Forgive me if I have sinned and misspelled names. It happens. I'm lazy and don't want to look it all up. If you are a knitter, you know who I'm talking about anyway.

I saw Lucy at Stitches West and Cockeyed had said what a great teacher she is and how wonderful her DVDs are, so when the opportunity came up to take her class, I went for it! So very glad I did! I would never doubt a Cockeyed recommendation and she was completely right-on! Lucy has soooo much information, technique, ideas...quite overwhelming! I definitely have my eyes on future Lucy Neatby DVDs.


Colorful Stitches was great! Anna is an absolutely hilarious woman! How can I NOT love a woman with a sassy wit and a burgundy painted refridgerator? Or was it teal...? I think the teal one came first. But it is amazing how you can just play with color and figure out what works and what doesn't. And as she says, 'if you don't like it, you can always throw it away!'-lol! Yeah, Anna, I'll do just that! And as always, Tina was her wonderful self, sharing her common lack of Color Theory studies other than through personal experimentation. Two women who came to color in similar ways, not 'seeing' colors until later in life.

Anna is so cool!

And look-my Sam n' Ella Cotty matches Tina's shirt!

Other than embarassing myself by being so serious in trying to follow directions ever so carefully, and snatching way more yarn than needed for our exercise, only to have BOTH teachers approach me, telling me I had enough and needed to sit down, I would say the biggest event in class was the infamous calf-impalement. Yes, a classmate somehow managed to impale her calf on a straight (what looked like size 13) aluminum knitting needle.

We were all being sensitive to her predicament, not daring to even attempt to sneak a photo; however, once photos were requested by our injured classmate, all stops were out!

My Darn It! class was a one-hour session with Merike who had us darn a whole as she explained how to do it. She pointed out that the use of merino guarantees that our socks will wear out, necessitating a future darning. She condensed the content of her usual 3-hour class into this one-hour workshop. It as great and I even got a sock mended, thanks to the fact I had forgotten my homework swatch in my hotel room!

Merike is awesome!

Sock Summit was like a mini-camp reunion, too! So many campers from first, second, third year camps. Lou, Linda Welch, Lisa (who was Volunteer Coordinator, so forget any kind of reasonable visit with her though lots of glimpses!), KT, Sam, Alice from the Heartland, Socktopus Alice, MisKnits Susan, Blogless Carla, Irishgirlieknits, Cupcakefaerie, SnBLeslie, Marisol, Mya, Stormy, Virginia...probably more of us, too! And there other knitterly friends like my dear bud, Lara, the most talented Gail, WoolGirl Jen! And new friends to be made...Terbear, PDXKnitterati, Deb Acuardi (who hosted the luncheon)...Not to mention the fabu dyers like Knitted Wit! Uh-uh...I guess I'm doing the Miss Maryann thing again-sans mirror! Sadly, my bud Nartian was not in attendance! And Knittinggolfer Marcy was also MIA. But I was a good knitting-bud and hooked them up!

Buried in Fiber Lara and me-yes VooDoo Donuts!

Marisol, Deb, Linda, Susan, Alice and -Laura? (the Schaefer Yarn Rep! I really should learn her name...)

Leslie x 3!!!

Speaking of buddies, this trip was supposed to be attended together with my BFF Paula who sadly had to have emergency surgery. So sad she couldn't join my in such a remarkable event! Hopefully she'll at least enjoy her 'consolation bag' of yarny goodness!

So next post, I will touch on the RAVELRY party and market!

Sock Summit-the Lazy Edition

Look at all the lanyards...oh my, big crowd a-comin'!

And lookie-Jess and Casey are staying at my hotel! Yes, crappy pic of me and all!

I don't know how the pics ended up in this order, but I thought you would all enjoy getting glimpes of, for instance--Turtlegirl! Who could miss her?

Or Irishgirlieknits putting all those badges together?

And just for Knittinggolfer, a pic of my brand-spanking new Jenkins' Turkish Drop Spindle!!! Beauties and they packaged it up in a silk hankie!

All I can say is that the market ended today at 6pm, but by 4pm, I was pretty wiped out! So many indie dyers all in one place and so very much that I was on serious overload! I did stay til the end of market, but my head was mush!

Class was absolutely incredible-right down to a classmate impaling her calf on a straight needle!

More when I return, but I thought some of you would enjoy a glimpse into this wonderful event that is SOCK SUMMIT 2009!!!

You wouldn't guess that Sock Summit Hasn't Started Yet!

...if you were to see the amount of sock yarn I've already amassed today!

But guess what? ALL THE ABOVE wasn't purchased! Well...I did pay for a 'yarn tasting luncheon', but never in my wildest dreams did I imagine a luncheon with so many goodies!

Including this bag of treats!...

And after our glass of prosecco to start things off (stitch marker attached to our glass!), a first course like this...
Acuardi Insalata served with our salad!

And door prizes! I won this prize donated by Larissa herself! And the bag didn't just include her Knitalong book, but also a whole French Press Cozy KIT! Yarn and pattern!

We had lunch with the various dyers who so generously donated their yarns for us! We later had the opportunity to visit Abundant Yarn Dyeworks and I actually was kinda good...

I purchased a skein of Cascade 220 Superwash to make 12" blocks for a special afghan they are making for a special little girl who lost her mother. I can mail the blocks to them if I don't finish any prior to leaving. And I couldn't resist some authentic OREGON yarn to bring home!

So I got a bit of a headstart...oh well!

What was fun is I poked in to say 'hi' to Cockeyed and got to peek at a couple of vendor booths! All I can say is O M G!!! This is going to be way too much temptation! I was already petting and pining over some of Snicklefritz's Yarn! GORGEOUS and some merino/cashmere was just asking to be snatched up! Alas, no snatching. YET.

Please, oh please...what to do to keep from grabbing up skeins of yarn and buying, buying buying?

Third Time's a Charm?...

I don't think so!

But there you have it...the Princess Mitts for a Queen! Still not perfect, but certainly better than the first TWO renditions of the left mitt!


Last I posted, I think I had mentioned the issue of gauge and the near-inch difference between the first and second knitted mitt!

But when the second go-round was knit, look what happened!

For those who need a bit of a hint: I have two RIGHT mitts, not a right and a left!-doh!

And really, the third "left" mitt would have been nicer to re-knit had I more time and patience, but it wasn't happening. I just couldn't do it. But in case you didn't notice, the left gusset was very strange: the ribbing just didn't seem 'right'.

And sure enough, Nartian figured out and found the revised Princess Mitts pattern! If you look at the revised charts, you would never guess that it was the same pattern! Well, at least not the thumb increase chart portions...Ah, well...as Knittinggolfer and I discussed, sometimes it is hard to remember to check for pattern errata. In my case-especially when trying to get a gift done quickly! I seem to recall either Cat (Moebius Bordhi) or Yarn Harlot Steph say in one of their classes that you should 'frequently admire your work'. Nartian said it was Harlot in our last Knitting for Efficiency class. But in that class, her reference to admiring work frequently was that doing so often slows your knitting speed. I seem to recall that the 'admire your work frequently' I was recalling was made in reference to 'keep your eyes open for mistakes so you can catch them earlier on'. I don't learn, do I?

So I am back from a road trip with SassyMan and Lil Emp and all I have to show for it is a finished pair of sport weight Cotty's (that were just about completed before leaving...) and the mitts! That's it. I worked a bit on Ulmus...

The Ulmus found its way to the beach at the "Strand" on Coronado Island; I knit while I kept and eye on my guys...

I knit the left mitt of Princess Mitts THREE times.

I learned what a shark egg looks like...

they're the spiral algae looking things...

Lil Emp got his wish to see the La Brea Tar Pits!

I don't recall stuff still oozing from the ground, but it has been over 25 years since I was last there! Pretty amazing and all in the middle of the city!

And while in San Diego, we even got glimpses of ComicCon-goers! Sorry, Nartian, no Twilight Geek Fan photos!

Our trip even included a visit with Lil' Emp's cousin, Nico...

And upon my return, a whirlwind of basket ball clinic, PTA meeting/get-together, and a 60th Birthday party which ended with this...

Turtle Pie! So yummy! Happy Birthday to a wonderful quilting guru, my quilt teacher, and a most-talented woman, Karen!

So it's back to two days of work and off to Sock Summit on Wednesday morning! I'm stressing about the whole luncheon thing and luggage handling, not to mention the fact that SassyMan seems to have gotten a flu or something that I hope I will not catch! MUST STAY WELL FOR SS09!!!