Tag Archives: sock summit

I arrived early before my morning class so I could see the sheep for the Fleece to Foot Challenge. It was before 9 a.m., but the sheep were already being prepped for shearing. Apparently belly wool is removed before the actual shearing because it’s messy.

I couldn’t stay for the shearing; I had a class, Designing with Japanese Stitch Dictionaries with Gayle Roehm. I learned several new stitch techniques, and also learned that I’ll be needing another book to help me decipher the charts in the stitch dictionaries I have, and the ones I’m planning to buy. Japanese knitting symbols are fairly standardized, so the new book will help a lot. (eta: Clear and Simple Knitting Symbols, ISBN 9784529024136) This is one of the swatches from class. It has lifted stitches, wrapped stitches, crocheted bobbles and more.

By the time I returned to the marketplace after class, the Fleece to Foot challenge was proceeding in earnest. Yarn was being carded, spun, plyed, knit. Here are the two teams from Portland: The PDX Puddlejumpers team:

And the Spin U team.

If you’d like a full report on the Fleece to Foot Challenge, you’ll find it here from our local newspaper.

Sock Summit was great, and now I have to process all the information I took in, and figure out what to do with it. I’m even knitting a sock, with sock yarn, and live to tell the tale. It’s only 56 stitches around; I have small feet! Skinny yarn on skinny needles is not so scary after all. These are Lantern Moon ebony size 1 dpns.

I was pretty restrained in my purchases; I still don’t really stash yarn! But there were a couple things I had to have. Another skein of Alpha B Luxe, but this time in red. My gray Zen Rain that I wore all weekend is made with this yarn; I love the drape that the silk adds. The other yarn is Penny Farthing Sock, color Fathom by Little Red Bicycle. The marine blues sucked me right in. This is a mega-skein, so it’s 500 yards/150 grams of merino/cashmere/nylon (80/10/10).

I also bought Intwined design software, and am really looking forward to playing with it. I’d been thinking about it for a while, but it really helped to see the demo at the show. Review later! And my first purchase, the little Cthulu Turkish spindle from Jenkins Woodworking.

Since I gave away Lady Baa-Baa and her unnamed replacement, I picked up another sheep. This time it’s brown. I think I’ll call him Lambert. We’ll see where in the world he ends up!

Were you at Sock Summit? What was your favorite thing? And if you weren’t at Sock Summit, come in 2013!

Have you seen and/or knit on the world’s largest sock? This baby has been traveling from event to event since 2006. It’s sponsored by Skacel, and is being knit with their yarn and needles. The initial cast on was 1500 stitches; who knows if that’s still the stitch count now!

It’s a congenial gathering place for knitters to sit and knit a bit in the company of other knitters. The cuff is currently 7 feet long, and the heel turn will occur after the cuff reaches 12 feet. I think second sock syndrome could be an issue here.

While at the sock, I got a peek at a preview copy of Judy Becker‘s new book, Beyond Toes: Knitting Adventures With Judy’s Magic Cast On. It’s gorgeous. Twenty-three patterns using her famous cast on (originally for socks), and not a sock pattern in the bunch. Rachel is holding the book in this picture; her daughter is the model pictured. And Bobbie, on the right, was hosting the giant sock.

Carrie (IrishGirlieKnits) had a meetup at the Knitted Wit booth. She’s a sweetheart!

And Michelle showed me the Lorna’s Laces yarn that is the exact colors of the Portland Race for the Cure theme colors. There was no way she wasn’t buying it, and to be safe, she bought two! Click here if you’d like to donate towards her race/walk. She participates every year to celebrate being a survivor.

I had a class in the afternoon, Choosing Among Choices with Laurel Coombs. We were supposed to come with a swatch in the yarn we wanted to use. I didn’t bring any extra yarn that wasn’t engaged in needles, so when Laurel began with teaching us the Turkish cast-on for a toe up sock, I sidled out the door and ran back to the Knitted Wit booth to borrow some yarn. I knew there were some balled yarn in a jar as a display, and thought I’d make off with one of those, since there was no time to wind. But Lorajean cheerfully gave me her little sock start (colorway Snapped Dragon) and told me to knit from the other end of the ball. This is what I ended up with. I didn’t cut the yarn to practice the sewn bind off, so she can just frog it and carry on…

When I got back to the market, I ran into the cutest hobo ever. Doesn’t Stevanie look like she’s running away from home? But really, she was bringing the trunk show for the Created in Oregon datebook to the Twisted booth.

I haven’t seen many knit hats being worn, this being summer. But there seems to be two other types of headgear being worn at Sock Summit. Tiaras, sparked by a conversation on Ravelry, I think. This is Kellie, who is really pleased with her new yarn! She was in the class I taught at Twisted on Tuesday.

The other headgear is…knitted Viking helmets! I love the flower buttons on the right.

Knit on!

…pricing with Lorajean (Knitted Wit) yesterday

helping her block her Marrowstone Shawl this morning (half done and you can see what blocking does for lace!)

blocking and weaving in ends of my last Zen Rain (Alpha B Luxe yarn, 50/50 merino/silk) so I could wear it

to Deb Accuardi’s pre-Sock Summit luncheon at her restaurant, Gino’s, today. What’s in the goodie bags?

I’ll tell you in a bit. First, I have to say that lunch was beyond fabulous. All vegetarian, with a wine and a pattern for each of six courses, from the amuse bouche at the beginning (complete with yarn and beads)

to the panna cotta at the end. The purple knitting next to the panna cotta is a luscious scarf/stole pattern by Larissa Brown called Ankeny and Ash. We also received patterns by Anne Kuo Lukito, Chrissy Gardiner, Kathy Zimmermann, Beth & Cindi at Left Coast Yarns, and Stevanie & Deb.

There was even a commemorative cupcake (chocolate with cream cheese frosting).

Each participant received a Pico Accuardi tote bag which had some sweet swag including this beautiful yarn that Stevanie dyed as an exclusive for Sock Summit luncheon participants. The colorway is Nude. Stevanie was inspired by a Radiohead song by that name, and she wanted the yarn to evoke a first crush or fresh love. I think she captured it perfectly.

Knit/Purl also donated some of their new sock yarn, Staccato. Looks and feels wonderful!

Lantern Moon donated these cute rulers

and their 10th anniversary pin and some assorted buttons. Beautiful!

This post is pretty picture heavy, so I’m going to break here and tell you about the pre-summit cocktail party in the next post…are we having fun yet? Why, yes!