Tag Archives: sock summit

All socks, all the time…

Posted on August 4, 2009 | 12 Comments

Or maybe it just feels that way! I’ve finished two of the three sample socks for Sock Summit. Do you think I’ll make it by tomorrow? I’m helping Lorajean set up the Knitted Wit booth in the afternoon, and these samples and my patterns will be there, too. Come see us in booth 223!

samples

These are my Seafoam Sock, Zigzag Lace Pedi Sock, and Entrelac Sock. And the great thing about knitting samples? I only have to knit one of each. No second sock syndrome here.

A couple cool sock-y things of note: The mayor of Portland has declared August 6-9 Sock Knitting Week. I know, that’s kind of a short week, but we’re pretty laid back here in Portland. See the proclamation on the Blue Moon Blog. And Oregon Public Broadcasting’s show, Think Out Loud, is having an episode called the Joy of Knitting tomorrow morning (Wednesday, August 5). Cat Bordhi is one of the guests, and I’m in her class on Saturday. If you miss the show, you can find it on iTunes later, or stream it from the OPB website.

Knit on! And wish me speedy needles so I can finish this last sample…

→ 12 Comments

Posted in Knit

Tagged ,

Sock Summit preparations

Posted on July 27, 2009 | 12 Comments

Sock Summit is just around the corner! I need to re-learn Judy’s Magic Cast On, and review wrapping and turning before I get to Cat Bordhi’s class, Dancing with Socks. Soon. I have a few other things to do, first.

I’m re-formatting my patterns to give them a visual cohesiveness as a group. They’ll all have the same banner across the top, which is the same one you see here on the blog. I’m about halfway done with the set. Then I need to print them all again, and reload them to Ravelry, too. Don’t worry, there aren’t any substantive changes; I’m just adding the banner and some extra pictures, so they’ll be more visually appealing.

Lorajean at Knitted Wit asked me to knit some samples for her. She’s having a booth at the Summit, and I’m helping her there. Come see us in Booth 223! My patterns will be there, too, and I’ll be there on Friday afternoon. I picked up these yarns yesterday:

knittedwit

The skeined blue yarn is 400 yards of sock weight yarn that I won from Lorajean in June. I think it’s going to be a shawl, eventually. I love this color; it’s gorgeous. It reminds me of a summer sky.

falklands

These two are sport weight Falkland (as in Island) yarn; they come in a 100 gram/310 yard skein. The green one is Semi-Solid Peacock, one of Lorajean’s entries in Ravelry’s Dye for Glory contest. Have you voted yet? The colors are even more lovely than in this picture; I just can’t capture the greens the way I want to. I’m knitting a sample of my Seafoam Sock with it. And maybe starting an Entrelac Sock, too.

peacock

sock

The pink yarn is Cotton Candy, and it’s going to be a ZigZag Lace Pedi Sock. You can see that I have a lot of knitting to do in the next couple weeks! At least it’s sport weight; it goes pretty quickly for me.

Knit on!

→ 12 Comments

Posted in Knit, pattern design

Tagged , ,

Single Skein Club is leading me down the path to Sock Summit

Posted on June 2, 2009 | 10 Comments

It’s June, and that means it’s time for the next installment of Twisted’s Single Skein Club. This club has updates every other month. I still haven’t knitted April’s project, a cool toe-up sock by Chrissy Gardiner. But I will conquer my toe-up aversion soon. Sock Summit is coming!

Enough chit-chat. If you don’t want to see what’s in June’s package, avert your eyes.

Still here? Let’s see!

june pkg

Look at this yarn! Malabrigo Lace yarn, one skein (of course). The color is “glazed carrot,” and that’s a great description. It’s not plain orange. There’s a depth to the color that looks like it has a brown sugar glaze.

carrot

The exclusive club pattern is the Seedling Sampler Scarf by Sarah Pope. It has three lace patterns in it, and best of all, it has beads! The beads are a bronzy color (I thought they were purple in the shop, go me) and look like seeds. The beads are strung onto the yarn before knitting. How? With this cool collapsible bead needle! I’m going to be using this needle for my other beading projects, too, so this is a great tool. And there’s a sweet SSC stitch marker to round out the package.

june goodies

I think the gals at Twisted are leading me down the garden path to Sock Summit. First there’s that toe-up thing. Yup, need to know that for a couple of my classes. Now there are the beads. I’m taking a bead class at Sock Summit, too, but I think we’re adding beads as we go, instead of pre-stringing. But still…

Speaking of Sock Summit, DH is bemused by how excited I am about the prospect of a knitting conference. I’ve gone to other conferences before (Stitches and TKGA) but the buzz around those is nothing like the Sock Summit buzz. I keep telling him that it’s the power of personality (Stephanie and Tina), and it’s almost like a cult. DH has also been fascinated by the whole Sock Summit registration ruckus. He’s in marketing, and you can see his take on it here.

And because it’s the beginning of June, I have to show you where that pile of bark mulch ended up:

stones

front flowers

Two thirds of it is in the front and side yards. The last third has made it to the back yard, but it’s in a pile! Soon and very soon…

→ 10 Comments

Posted in beading, Knit

Tagged , , , , ,

School supplies

Posted on May 29, 2009 | 9 Comments

Remember how thrilling it was to get your school supplies each fall? The smell of new pencils and crayons…

Now imagine buying supplies for Sock Summit classes. Even better, right? Especially with a friend! Anna is taking two classes with me, so we went bead and yarn shopping this morning.

Here’s what I have:

supplies

Both yarns are Louet Gems sport weight. Yes, sport is as thin as I’ve knitted for socks. And I figure I’ll get further, faster with a fatter yarn!

The lilac yarn is for Star Athena’s Sock Design Workshop. The supply list said sock yarn, not too busy and not too dark. Perfect. Even more perfect is that this is the same color I’m using for Kai-Mei, and if I run out before I’m finished with the toe, I’ll just borrow a little of this. It may not be the same dye-lot (I haven’t checked), but it’s better than nothing! And it was very fun shopping for supplies at Twisted, because Star was there and now she’s met Anna, too.

The white yarn is for Hooked on Beads with Sivia Harding. And the beads are for…yeah, you guessed it. I think that some plain white yarn is fine, because I want to see what’s going on with the beads! You may find it boring, but remember, it’s just practice! Perhaps a cute sock cuff, or fingerless mitts. By the way, Dava Bead in Portland is a place of great temptation. I buy a lot of my beading supplies there.

And for Cat Bordhi’s Dancing with Socks class? I’ll probably just play with some natural colored worsted that I use for teaching. Or go shopping again. I was much more restrained than Anna, so I may have to catch up…

→ 9 Comments

Posted in beading, Knit

Tagged , ,

Sock Summit: I’m in!

Posted on May 26, 2009 | 21 Comments

That was a wild romp with the Sock Summit server this morning! It kept timing out, but the clock was still ticking, and I'd go back in and see that whatever it was that I tried to add didn't make it, so I had to try again. I finished registration with 48 seconds to spare (they gave a 15 minute hold).

I’m sorry that it didn’t go as smoothly as planned, after all the hard work into the wee hours by Stephanie and Tina. (Stephanie’s updates on twitter were quite informative.) If you didn’t get in, try again; classes that were being held during those 15 minute hold periods go back to the queue if the registration doesn’t go through, and apparently there was also a server glitch that made things look full when they weren’t.

Here’s what I’m taking:

Dancing with Socks with Cat Bordhi
Sock Design Workshop: Know the Rules, Then Break Them with Star Athena
Hooked on Beads with Sivia Harding (one hour wonder)

I’m looking forward to these classes, and to just checking out the market and hanging out with knitters!

And because I can’t run a post without a picture, here are the stitch markers I made to use in Cat Bordhi’s class. The picture is a re-run, but it’s a picture!

markers

→ 21 Comments

Posted in beading, Knit

Tagged

August Meteor Shower (of knitting)

Posted on February 20, 2009 | 10 Comments

The luminous stars of the knitting world are landing here in Portland in August. Check out the teacher list for Sock Summit. It is truly amazing. (Click on the names for bios, or check out the Yarn Harlot’s posted list.)

I’ll be there! I guess I’m a sock knitter after all.

→ 10 Comments

Posted in Knit

Tagged , ,