Sock Summit 2009 - Part 2.5 - Marketplace Acquisitions

(Confessional Note - created 9/5/2009 - finished and posted...04/23/2011)

This is part of the August 6th & 7th adventures - having to do with my Market Place Adventures.

Hyper-detail oriented that I am (but way too short on time to do a proper job of it), I'd taken a map of the marketplace created by some clever person on Ravelry and jotted down...

• all the vendors from the Dye for Glory that had Yarn I'd fallen in love with, 
• Vendors that I'd heard tell of, 
• fun events to pursue...
• as well as places I needed to drop off/pick up yarn.

Thusly, I turned left when I went into the Marketplace and started in the left-most corner, exploring the marketplace and searching out the especially marked places on my map.

As previously noted in bottom of the last SS09 Blog, I visited the Lollipop Cabin booth and got one of my very few Marketplace pictures:

Now there's a story that goes with this yarn order...

I'd become smitten with the shades of brown with some white in the "Toasting Marshmallows on Wonderland Trail" when I'd reviewed the Dye for Glory Entries on Ravelry.
The Lollipop Cabin folks had created the one skein for the Dye for Glory entry but I could order one to be made and sent to me later - which I did.
From their booth, I selected a skein of "Hiking Along Icicle Ridge" - a yummy dark teal and grey. It's a different texture - organic yarn and not a superwash.

Here's the rest of the Lollipop Cabin story that happened a few weeks later when I received a package delivering a surprise yarn lollipop and the skein of "Toasting Marshmallows on Wonderland Trail" that I'd ordered at the Sock Summit! 

Aptly named, yes? Makes you think of toasted marshmallows, right?

And the Tag said this: 

E'yup...I'd received the actual Dye for Glory original skein I'd seen on Raverly. 

I believe there was minor hyperventilating involved and some yarn hugging when I opened the package. And then my conscience kicked in and I e-mailed to thank Ialiuxh for the yarn lollipop and to confess that I had inadvertently received the original Dye for Glory skein:

"As tempted as I am to hug it and run off to knit something - I must ask, did you mean to send this skein to me?
I mean - wouldn't this be the special skein you'd...um, frame or knit up yourself or something?

I had to ask...just in case.
Please let me know. It's lovely stuff - you do good work."

Her response was fun and rather charming. She was tickled with my query and the appropriateness of my receiving the original skein, since I had been their first SS09 customer and had been a bit of a knit-geek (fan-girl) when I turned up at their booth. 

She indicated she truly had intended to send out that skein. Because she lives in a very small cabin (<300 sq. feet), she could not keep all 8 Dye for Glory entries (for framing or other purposes). She'd kept them long enough to compare the new skeins she'd dyed, then marked the original skeins and tossed them into the shipping pile. It had been sheer, random luck that I had received the original skein that had inspired me to go visit the Lollipop Cabin booth first at the Sock Summit marketplace. (kewl!)

Back to the SS09 Marketplace: 

So...much of the marketplace was a blur. The yarn fumes were PROFOUND and plentiful. 

{happy sigh}

I also found out something odd about myself. 

I was knitting whilst walking about the marketplace. Apparently this is, uh, peculiar. 

(I truly thought everyone walked and knit at the same time!). 

But vendor-folks would come out of their booths to comment upon my knitting round-n-round on Joyce's socks whilst I explored the marketplace (a couple of people tried to talk me into gifting them with the socks {wry grin}). Fellow shoppers commented as well, and I began to realize that I was a bit odd. Ok, more odd than I already knew. 

But I was surprised and inordinately pleased.

HOWEVER - this gent SO has me beat. His knitting stopped me in my tracks and he graciously agreed to let me photograph his sock knitting prowess! 

All hail Stephen, nice guy and expert sock multi-tasker!!

This is Stephen in the Skacel booth - knitting on 7 Pairs of socks at one time!

(Please forgive me if my  sock count is off, but it is still a wondrous thing regardless!)

And the rest of my marketplace treasure?

I kept poor notes of what I bought where but I'll try to add comments to the pictures as I go along. 

Here goes: 

Same yarn as the socks for Joyce I was knitting upon - Colinette Jitterbug (on sale)

MamaLlamaSuperDK - Yep, I am quite fond of Blue and White. 

I believe I picked up this lovely bit of sparkle in the Simply Socks Yarn Booth. 

Malabrigo (Yum!) and another Dye for Glory entrant I had to track down: "Neon Bible" in the Abundant Yarn booth.

I was a little busy in the Paradise Fibers booth. I found the above Claudia Hand Painted Yarn and succumbed to two of the (then scarce) Zauberballs.

I also dropped off yarn to support a charity and to earn a discount in purchasing the Buffalo Gold #3 (featured in Vogue Knitting Fall 09) that I had pre-ordered on Ravelry as part of the Buffalo Gold Bailout. The yarn I (and 250 other people) dropped off was going to a cooperative of Bhutanese refugees from Nepal who will "use the yarn to handknit goods for sale to support their families.". 

Buffalo is very tactile and yummy!

I couldn't resist getting one of these from Paradise Fibers too!

 The last of my Dye for Glory gotta-haves: Sockfetti (and Bluefetti for the toe/heel) from SpindleCat Studio.

There were many other stops on my map. However, some of the Dye for Glory options were sold out, had not arrived via post (tragic, that), or I had brief moments of will power and decided to skip that particular DfG entry. (I'm as surprised as you are that I had any yarn will-power. It is a rarity for me - and there was sooooo much lovely stuff at the marketplace!)

I did visit Jennie the Potter's booth as well:

(Spiffy, huh!?!)

And lastly, I picked up some Sock Summit Swag in the Marketplace:

This is a seriously nifty bag, let me tell you!

Considering it was my first major Knitterly Event and Marketplace, I did behave reasonably well. Everything fit into my suitcase and I didn't even have to ship my dirty clothes home! {wry grin}

Sock Summit 2009 - Part 2 - Classes, Marketplace, & Opening Ceremonies

Simpler times - Revisiting my Sock Summit Trip. My humble apologies and a request for understanding for the delay. Life happens.

Minor Field Trip...
I slept reasonably well after travel, registration day/mini-skein trading evening. The Red Lion Hotel has an interesting ventilation system whereby at a certain temperature they vent in outside air to cool the building. Snuggly cool.

Cindy popped over to invite me on her trip to Trader Joe's. Her plan was a sound one. Food budget was part of the yarn budget. So if she picked up the fixin's to make most of her meals - more funds for yarn. Smart woman.
We hopped on Max and traveled back up the train line to where we'd seen a Trader Joe's as we passed by the day before. I hadn't broken my fast just yet, so we enjoyed a breakfast panini at Panera (a yummy bakery in the strip mall just down from Trader Joes). Yep, it's NOT a good idea to enter Trader Joe's with an empty stomach.
I picked up some water, Gingeroo Cookies (yum!), and one of the pesto chicken wraps of which I'm inordinately fond.

Sock Summit Classes!
Back to the Convention Center for my 1st class: Judy's Magic Cast On with Judy Becker.



Here's the lady herself - kindly participating in a "sock" picture.
(Yep, Joyce's socks were Sock-Summit-Blessed).

SPIFFY concept, Judy's Magic Cast-On! I came out of the class with a serious yen to cast on some toe-up socks.
The back of my brain reminded the impulsive front of my brain: "And just how do you plan to do a heel turn backwards when you haven't conquered your top-down heel turn angst yet?".
Oh.
Yeah.
Good point.
However, I do have the handout from Ms. Becker adorned with my notes. I think it'll be ok (and decipherable) when I try a toe-up sock. Bonus - she taught us a Circle Cast-on too!

I had an hour before my next class, but I wasn't yet hungry after the breakfast panini so I went outside to sit and enjoy the Portland Weather.





Look at the lovely green-ness right outside the Convention Center.






A light breeze and cloud-cover - lovely.


Sitting outside at noon is not something I could comfortably do in Tucson this time of year without earning a sunburn and a lot of perspiration.









Gingeroos and knitting in a pleasant, cool outdoor setting. Happy Sigh.



T'was a charming interlude - unfortunately interrupted by a young lady soothing a need for nicotine. My getting-older lungs will pitch a major fit identified by annoying coughing for hours if I get a good lungful of someone's nicotine-fix.

So I headed inside and found a table with some nice knitterly-types that were quite willing to allow me to share their space and we traded show-n-tell on our projects. The welcome got even warmer when I shared my Gingeroos! Seems other folks have the same great taste in ginger cookies!

I began to realize I was at an event where I had a strong, vital, shared interest/passion with pretty much everyone in the building. It's a bit heady and feeds the soul to be around so many people with which you have an instant connection and ready conversation is always available.

Cindy found me there and some Stitch Marker Trading ensued! I had brought all of 3 to trade - and I traded with Cindy for a "Beer-goggle Strawberry stitch-marker (so named because "it would take beer-goggles for this to look like a strawberry").
I also traded for a coffee bean, and a fimo-flower stitch marker:




I was out of Stitch Markers, but Cindy was trading all weekend - she'd come prepared!

I think Michelle (?) gifted me with the blue glass bead one.








Cindy and I were both registered for the early afternoon class: Hooked on Beads with Sivia Harding.
I, foolishly, did not take any pictures around this class - and there was so much to see!

IndiaJoy arrived to take this class with Sivia Harding. I'd seen IndiaJoy in conversations on Ravelry and I'd been struck by her humor, kindness and she lives in India. Fascinating blog! I haven't read too far back but the view into another country and culture - with a fibre perspective - is very interesting.

Indiajoy was equally as charming in person, wearing a kind of "pillbox" hat from India literally dripping with Stitch Markers. She'd begun making them months ago, long before folks thought to try and setup a stitch marker trade. She noted having them attached to this particular type of hat was in alignment with how the hat was used in India to advertise/display wares for sale. And she graciously accept one of my mini-skeins for a "Joy" Stitch marker.
(Why yes, a picture of IndiaJoy would have been truly excellent here {kicking myself again}.)

Sivia Harding was charming, elfin, knowledgeable, magical, adorned in beautiful knitting, a very good teacher, and her class was great fun and I came out of it with a serious yen to knit some socks with beads. And the samples she brought...lovely and inspiring!
I had another conversation with the back of my brain and didn't start Joyce's 2nd sock with beads in the leg...

Pre-Marketplace.
Next on the schedule was the opening of the Sock Summit Marketplace at 4:30 and I had some time to kill - but not enough to comfortably go "off-campus" into Portland.

I believe this is about the time when I let go of the Yarnia dream. I'd wanted to travel to the Yarnia store where they create/ply yarn for you from the strands of your choosing. But I'd realized I wouldn't quite have time and reality had set in - I had NO clue how much yarn to have made. Next time I'm in Portland, though...

I went back to the hotel to partake of 1/2 of the Chicken Pesto Wrap. I came back to the Convention Center and found Mary Ann in the main seating area and I sat down to knit-a-spell. Cindy rejoined us after she'd attended another class. I met some more lovely folks and was particularly taken with a young lady wearing a Serenity Shirt!




(I have the same shirt...)
(yet another sign of intelligence and excellent taste!).

She was also a familiar Ravelry name. In the non-Raverly world, I got to meet Robyn.







She had leetle, tiny Jayne hats she'd knitted and was trading for Stitch markers.




As previously noted, I was already out of stitch-markers for trade. However, Robyn generously gifted me with a mini-Jayne hat AND a temporary Serenity tattoo (did you notice it above in the Stitch Marker picture?). I definitely owe her a stitch marker....

A Very Little of the Marketplace.
Before we knew it - it was time for the Marketplace to open so we queued up:



You're looking at this picture with your head cocked to the left, huh? ;-)




Being that this blog entry is already pretty darn long...I'm going to post pictures of the yarny delights I acquired in the next Sock Summit blog.
The Yarn Fumes were PROFOUND - and I only took ONE picture inside the MarketPlace on Thursday night. Sad, I know, but, well, the yarn fumes...it's hard to explain...everything is a bit fuzzy (and punny).

Here is the ONLY picture of my Thursday night Marketplace adventure - the first stall I visited and one of the yarns on the top of my list:


Lolipop Cabin Yarns.









I was in search of one of the Dye for Glory Entries: Toasted Marshmallow on the Wonderland Trail.

This is Ialiuxh and her husband, creators and purveyors of the yarn I was seeking.
{I'm scum, I forgot his name...but any guy that supports such creativity is an good soul in my book!}

I was their very first Sock Summit Customer and sale.
I'm a little tickled about that.
And I got to order my Toasted Marshmallow yarn to be delivered in a few weeks.

More on the Marketplace in the next blog.

I stayed so long at the Marketplace, they were flashing the lights at us to remind us the Opening Ceremonies were about to begin.
Told ya - yarn fumes. Intoxicating!

Opening Ceremonies!
There was a Silent Auction setup outside the ballroom benefiting Doctors without Borders, one of my favored charities.
I dashed through the first table without bidding on anything. Found 3 intriguing things on the 2nd table, upped the bids on those 'uns by $10.00, and dashed into the ballroom.

And there was Cindy! Inviting me to sit with her and several of the knitters I'd met at the airport.   Blessings.
We filled small plates with cheese, meats, and fruits, admired the knit-works-of-art walking by, and were simply delighted to be there.

Another apology - seems I can take pretty decent pictures out of an airplane window - but across a ballroom seems to be beyond my abilities. I took a lot of pictures that didn't look too bad on the tiny camera screen. On the computer - not so great.
Here be the pictures that weren't entirely lost causes...but they're pretty bad...


We were welcomed by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee and Tina Newton to the first ever Sock Summit.
And we were delighted. They did build it - and we did come.

They read us the proclamation from the Mayor of Portland declaring August 5th through 9th Sock Knitting Week.

Stephanie Pearl-McPhee and Tina Newton (ST1) told us the Story of how the Sock Summit came into being. It went something like this - the two of them taking turns and telling their part of the story:

It turns out Cat Bordhi was the original source of the concept. "Wouldn't it be nice if...".

ST1 noted that they'd brought up the concept and talked about it numerous times.
"Kind of like how you talk about running away to Belize..."

One day, Tina called up Stephanie and said "I did something.".
Stephanie asked "What?".
Long pause.
Tina again: "I did something...".
Stephanie is becoming mildly alarmed and asks again "What?".
Another pause.
Tina offered "You may not ..."
Stephanie is beginning to consider the cost of a ticket from Canada to Portland because obviously something is seriously wrong..."Tina!?!"
Pause.....
"I rented the Oregon Convention Center."
"What?"
"I rented the Oregon Convention Center."
"You did WHAT?"
"I rented the Oregon Convention Center for that sock thing we've been talking about."
I believe Stephanie noted some expletives may have been offered at about this time...

They went on to explain how much of the Oregon Convention Center they rented...
and then rented some more...and "Oh, we also need the ballroom..."
and then they needed some more room and rented More space.

Apparently there was some rampant disbelief at the concept of all that space being needed for:
"Knitting?".
"Yep.".
"For ... socks?".
"Yep, sock knitting.".
"Socks you wear on your feet?".
"Yes, socks you wear on your feet."

AND....
"You need more loading dock space to unload...Yarn?".
"Yes."
"But yarn doesn't take up much space really, does it?".
(When I correlate this ignorant comment to my own scary stash...oy.)

I must commend the patience and restraint of the ladies that gifted us with the Sock Summit.
It couldn't have been easy to deal with such reactions month after month and not throttle one of these muggles, not even once, not even a little bit...



See - not great pictures.








(I didn't realize until now that Lucy Neatby was right in my line of sight! Kewl)
{grin}

(This is actually a little later in the ceremony, after they'd called up the rest of the Sock Summit crew so we could thank them and show general adoration.)

They introduced all the Teachers. Barbara Walker got a Standing Ovation!



There was some good natured, general harassment.











And a lotta love.







One of the ST2 ladies (apologies, I don't know everyone on sight...) was asked to read the back of Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's shirt.



“Knot Hysterical Productions”








Some reference was made to the next Sock Summit - but nothing conclusive or promised.
We'll see what the future brings.

Once again, the intrepid Cindy enhanced my Sock Summit experience.
She wanted to go thank one of the teachers for a blog about choosing a spinning wheel - and we met all sorts of Knitterati. I think Cindy knows most everyone and their specialty on sight.

We did speak a few moments with Stephanie Pearl-McPhee and Tina Newton.
I expect they were still in the glow of the amazing first day of the Sock Summit and the crowning glory of the Opening Ceremonies - and the fatigue was catching up with them some.
They had their priorities straight. Accomplishing the goal of a lifetime,





Food,

beer,










and comfort.








They were kind enough to gift me with a sterling Sock Summit memory:




(Cindy did the honors.)








I found my Tri-fold Knitter's Bowl teacher from Tucson, Heather Ordover!
It was SO lovely to meet someone I admired that I actually knew. Sounds odd, huh?
Heather is a warm, kind, rather brilliant person.




And she has a GREAT smile.







(An Aside...Heather was in NY during the 9/11 attacks. Some of her amazing and poignant comments on the subject are here.)

Here is a picture of our "Hooked on Beads" teacher, Sivia Harding.



With Cindy!
(Notice Cindy's beautiful Clapotis?)






As previously noted, I was a bit overwhelmed by the Knitterati. And I can be profoundly geeky - to make some of these moments truly embarassing and quite  memorable.

This clever lady intrigued me - wearing what appeared to be a hand-woven tunic - and spinning cheerful apple-green thread that matched her shirt!
I sensed a kindred spirit because I was walking about crafting as well (knitting on Joyce's sock).



She allowed me to take a couple of "action" shots of her spinning.

Too fun!










She was very kind and responded playfully to my teasing if she dressed to match the roving or vice-versa?
She said she always matched her spinning!
A fair effort was made to convert me into a spinner, too.



She was very graceful and I enjoyed speaking with her.


I wasn't even too geeky!


I found out later, this is The Denny McMillan.
{wry grin}




I met SOOOOOO many nice people. Cindy gifted me with that.
I wouldn't have gone up to speak with all these amazing, talented people.

I think Heather tried to help me put it into perspective:
"We all put our socks on one foot at a time.".

The Opening Ceremonies were great fun - Barbara Walker summed it up nicely when she said {near quote} “Stephanie and Tina should take their comedy routine on the road. They could call themselves the “Knit Wits”.”

Oh - the Silent Auction!
I got back out to the tables after most of the offerings had been packed up.
I apologized and asked if the organizers could check to see if I owed them any money.

Bless their hearts - they went through everything still on the tables and packed away.



And they found I'd won all three of the items I'd bid upon!!





Details in the next SS blog.
Night.

The Kindness of Strangers

Today was not initially a great day. I felt like persona non grata on several fronts mostly relating to work. And I was a little tired and weepy. Yeah, I'm all sorts of fun to hang out with right now.
Gotta get some sleep.

I did get to go meet up with a variety of lovely crafty folks at Grandma's Spinning Wheel and that seriously eased some stress.

But profound kindness was gifted to me when I swung by Trader Joe's after crafting.

I picked up lunch salad stuff, something for a pot-luck, office chocolate {extremely important}, yummy Greek honey yogurt, and some rice pudding as a treat for the DH.

I also asked the cashier if I could get a gift certificate.
She had already established herself in my eyes as fun and friendly as I'd seen her dashing about the store earlier with a grin and "Pardon me".

She dashed off in search of a card to make the gift certificate.
I noted I was trying to help out my brother by picking up a gift card a week from places around town. (Yes, this is something I've been doing to help a very little bit in the past few weeks.)

She did the deed, I wrote the check, and as we waited for the receipt to print, she dashed off again and brought me back this:




"I hope you like white" she said.







I stammered something along the lines of "They're beautiful." and I think some kind of stunned "Are you sure?"/"I can't"....




"These are because you're trying to help someone else".





I believe she also said something like "We need to stick together and help each other".


I was pretty stunned and trying not to cry at this point. I gave her a hug and she hugged me back and I quietly said "My Sister-in-Law died a little over a week ago" because I wanted her to know how much this special gift, this show of kindness - from a stranger - meant to me at this particular time in my life.





I cried on the way home. Yep, still weepy, but thankful and feeling blessed by a young lady with a very good heart.

My Sister-in-Law has had a profound effect on our Lives.

Life happens. A lot.
My life shifted gears quite a bit last week when my big brother told me his wife, Caren, was in the hospital.

We lost my brother's first wife, Candy, to cancer about 6 years ago. He married her when I was relatively young and I grew up with her as a second sister - the tall blond one with sparkly eyes, a ready, impish smile, and such a sweet person. Yes, I still miss her a lot.

I was missing her all over again this week, along with other dear people lost to cancer or illness/age: my Mom, my Dad, a favored Uncle, my Godmother, grandparents, another friend Karen, the hubby's grandparents (who adopted me right away when DH and I first started dating; "When are you getting married?" his Grandma asked after we'd been dating maybe a month. {fond grin}).
I've also been thinking about the folks in my life that have been battling cancer, but are still here to bless my life in person. A week of memories. Some very good. Some bittersweet. Some that fill my eyes with tears and my heart with longing.

Yesterday, I got to say goodbye to my Sister-in-Law, Caren.
Today, she left her body behind.

Caren was a cancer survivor of maybe 4 years when we met her. She was amazing. She made beautiful, stunning corsets. She had survived some things in life that no one should have to endure - and she worked diligently to heal others. She was a Reiki Master and Hypnotherapist. She could sew anything. She had a definite green thumb and was profoundly generous.

She made my big brother happy and maybe gave him what he needed to find a more grounded center. He has bloomed in many areas of his life and is more spiritual now.
She also gifted my big brother with the "daughter he always wanted". Both Caren and her daughter decided to take my brother's name and they all chose to have adoption papers drawn up to make it official. My Niece is very accomplished and succeeds at anything she turns her mind to with grace and confidence. I have no doubts her life will be interesting and successful in any direction she chooses to turn.

Caren was also very private and much of the recurrence of her cancer was not known to me or our family...or even many friends, I think.
I suspect my brother has been almost solely focused on Caren and helping her battle her cancer for the last 2 years. He's also been working more than full time at his job. I've learned some of what's been happening in the last week. It explains a lot of odd conversations and delayed/canceled meet-ups.
Knowing more of their path of the last 2 years, and more specifically in the last 4 months, takes some of the sting out of my confusion, and yes, some hurt, at the odd turn in our relationship.

But I feel like I missed many opportunities to spend time with Caren, to share knitting, to support them in this battle, and to learn more about and from her.

That's a common feeling when you lose someone - "I shoulda...", "I wish...", "If only...".

My Sister-in-Law, Caren has had a profound effect on our lives.






She will continue to have a profound effect on our lives.

But still I wish...

Sock Summit 2009 - Part 1 - Getting to Oregon

I'm going to try to post my Sock Summit observations in sections. Mostly because it was a wonderful and overwhelming experience and because it's WAY too much for one blog.

***ALERT/CAUTION***
Extreme Knitterly Content in this Blog.
Folsk with a low knit-gab tolerance or folks only looking for kitten pictures should skip this blog. Gryphon, CooPurr, and BobCat cuteness will return in a later set of blogs.

Confession #1:I had many, many, many, moments of "Demmit - I should have taken a picture of that!". I do have some pictures and some very spiffy ones...but not as many as I would have had I not been agog of my surroundings, the Sock Knitterati, and hyperventilating just at the thrill of being there.
My apologies for not doing a better photo-job.

Confession #2: Caught up in the Sock Summit thrill/yarn fumes/general fatigue, I had a couple of moments where I snapped pictures of teachers without having gained their specific permission or where I was not in a setting where wholesale picture-taking was occurring. (We're not talking about Kinnearing here.)
Having come to my senses early at the Summit, I resolved to delete any pictures that were not in accordance with the Sock Summit guidelines. And I have performed said deletions as required by my conscience.


So...Getting to Oregon:
Prior to my "Reality after the Surreal Sock Summit" post, I wrote of feeling that I'd won a "Golden Ticket" when, via Lottery, I had been offered a place in Sivia Harding's "Hooked on Beads" class and a ticket for the Opening Night Reception.
I was able to purchase the 2nd 1-hour class I'd wanted most, Judy Becker's "Judy's Magic Cast On", from a young lady that had been unable to attend the Summit.

I got serious about getting a (belated) Airline ticket (ouch) and tracking down a place to sleep (ouch-er) - not an entirely easy task less than 2 weeks before the summit. But I felt a bit more settled about the trip. I began to live on the Sock Summit 2009 discussion group on Ravelry. So much to read. So much good advice. So many nifty people planning to attend! I began to take notes regarding places to visit and eat and bonus events folks were offering/cooking up.

I also created a home-made "Greetings" button (since I was too late to order a real one from Ravelry), acknowledged that I wouldn't be able to make stitch markers to trade, measured off 25-yards of sock yarn increments from a skein I pulled from my stash for the mini-skein trade at the Red Lion, and started knitting a mini-sock to pin to my person.



I tried the knit-slip heel and ribbing all the way down the sock and I am profoundly tickled with the results!

(It made me feel like a real sock knitter not to knit just an entirely plain sock. Well a real TINY, real sock knitter.)
(Cherry Tree Hill - left over yarn from my first pair of socks.)


I belatedly purchased a spot in Barbara Walker's Lecture "How I became a knitter" via Ravelry discussions. Honestly, I was profoundly clueless as to who Barbara Walker was in the knitting world, or the world at large. A very little bit of research showed me this was not something to be missed.
The nifty lady I purchased the ticket from was somewhat heartbroken that she couldn't attend the Summit - especially so that she couldn't go to the Barbara Walker lecture. I promised to take notes and try to pass on some of what I heard to lessen the woman's heartache just a little. I'll publish highlights here, but not the whole nine-yards as that is a bit too close to "recording".
(Yep, honor-bound again.)

I now had 2 classes and 2 events for my Sock Summit!

I plotted to participate in the attempt to break the Guinness World Book of Record for "Most Number of People Knitting Simultaneously" and take some of my knitting books to be adorned with author signatures at the book signing event .
Beyond that, I was going to seriously explore the Marketplace, acquire YARN, visit VooDoo Donuts, attend a presentation at Powell's Book Store: "A Night for Knitters", and try some of the restaurants I'd been reading about on Ravelry. Bonus - the DH brought to my attention some restaurants from the Travel Channel's Man vs Food Portland show.
I packed and stash-dived to find donations for the World's Largest Handknit Sock and for the Buffalo Gold Yarn Bailout.
And I decided the only local, Portland Yarn Store I'd visit would be Yarnia.

Flying:
I got on a plane Wednesday morning, checking 1 bag, carrying on the rolling backpack I'd acquired (the Knitting books stayed with ME) and everything else I needed (knitting/purse/boarding pass) stuffed into my Sunset Knit Dr. Bag.

I sat between Sylvia and Becky who did a tag-team cross-word puzzle.
Becky: "What's a 9-letter word for a basic swim stroke that starts with a "D"?".
Sylvia repeats the question and says there isn't one.
I'm in the process of agreeing when Sylvia bursts out: "Dogpaddle!".
When Becky couldn't fill in any more words, she passed the crossword puzzle to Sylvia.

There was a surprise stop-over in Vegas that wasn't mentioned on the SW Airlines itinerary...
Becky and Sylvia exited to meet another plane and an Oriental couple sat down to share the ride to San Jose. They spoke more English than I do of any other language and the woman complimented me on my tiny sock knitting. I helped them with their stubborn seat belts and opening packets of peanuts. ;-)

I was surprised to find I could take pictures out the plane window!

































Knit Ingenuity- I finished the Mini Sock on the plane, but lacking a finishing needle stepped through the Kitchner stitch on knitting needles (it's kinda backwards when you do it with needles) and pulled the yarn tail into the sock with my knitting needles.
Ta-Da!! (I can't believe it worked.)

I dashed off the plane in San Jose to get to my plane to Portland with minimal time for the Ladies room.

Two Gentlemen sat with me on the jog to Portland...questioning, as had Becky and Sylvia, how I got the pointed sticks on the plane? (Security hadn't blinked an eye.) They also asked if I'd seen all the people knitting in the waiting areas? Knitting? Where?
I'd totally missed them in my dash for the plane.

But they'd seen me in my Black "Agree (1)" Ravelry shirt.
And they somewhat adopted me on the way to the baggage claim when we got to Portland.
I'd found my "people".

Cindy, Mary Ann, Melanie, Michelle, and several other ladies whose names escape me {Sincere apologies - if you trip over this blog, pipe up and correct me/enhance my memories!!}.
We collected luggage and figured out how to purchase tickets on Max (Portland's excellent light rail system - I was very impressed with their mass-transit and map goodies. Well done!).

Finally at the Sock Summit:
We arrived downtown and figured out where our hotels were (close - it was very nice!).
I spied Cat Bordhi and Sivia Harding in the lobby of my hotel!
Well, yeah, I did stare some...but I wasn't too creepy. Honest.

I returned to the Convention Center to Register for the Sock Summit 2009!!!
In front of the convention Center was the Sapporo Friendship Bell.




It sounds off randomly.
It has a nice tone.

















{They have a sign to warn folks the bell could ring at any time... ;-) }

Inside....as promised... Sock Summit 2009 Registration under the Dragon Boat:



Note the lady who got her packet, stepped back just a little, and dropped down on the floor to review it right then and there.
{grin}











I gathered my packet and stepped back about 25 feet and realized - everyone, after collecting their registration packets, turned to walk away with a smile of delight/joy on their faces. Lovely.

I met Megan whilst loitering there along with a few other grinning, registration-in-hand knitters. (Megan wins my award for best use of mini-socks. She attaches them to a wood hair stick so they dangled from her hair, interchangeable with her outfits. No, no pictures. But what a clever idea!)

About then some of the knitters I'd met at the airport turned up! From left to right: Mary Ann, Cindy, ?Michelle?, and the newly-met Megan:















This is about when the Sock Summit 7 sightings began (SS7 = the ladies who created/organized the Sock Summit for us). As previously noted, I saw Cat Bordhi at my hotel and at various times around the Summit. JoAnn from Blue Moon Fibers was nearly always to be found in the Registration area. Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, Rachel H. and Tina were also constantly about, busy, and making sure things ran very smoothly. As were Debra and Debbi... Amazing. They all did a truly amazing job. Such organization. I can't even begin to explain what a feat they pulled off. And all the folks that volunteered...
They built it and we came. Well Done!

Some folks had places to be and we generally split up.

Cindy blessed me with her excellent company and very impressive knowledge of pretty much everything knitty and we spent the evening together.
She helped me put together and delivery some Hawaiian Shortbread/Starbucks Gift Certificates for the Sock Summit 7 at the Convention Center.
We tried out Burgerville for dinner. Pretty decent. I enjoyed my burger and fries. The chocolate shake was ok...but the blackberry shake I had Saturday was wicked good. I SO want another one!
Moreover, I LOVE the Burgerville "culture". They buy fresh and local. Essentially all of their containers can be recycled/composted - and they have bins out to help folks sort their "trash". My kinda place!

Cindy and I returned to the Red Lion Hotel - a mini-skein trade had been plotted on Ravelry at 9 PM in the bar at the Red Lion.

Now... the Hotel Bar area had been reserved by an unknown party prior to our planned 9 PM mini-skein trade invasion. We Ravelry-ites suspected...the Sock Knitterati were there having a dinner...and we were correct! We entered the bar area just after 9 PM and we found a variety of famous Knitterly folks - and Cindy knew them all on sight!
She's my hero and knit-world mentor and she doesn't even know it. Basically - she rocks!

Jackie had baked/decorated these totally spiffy sock cookies and the Sock Knitterati were quite tickled. The cookies were terribly cute and looked VERY yummy.



These kind ladies stayed for a few moments to chat with us but exited shortly thereafter singing "Good Night Ladies" to us as they waived goodbye and headed toward the elevator.






Mini-skein trading:
(the lady on the right is Jackie of the nifty sock cookies.)

















Spiffy mini skeins for trade!

Mini-sock anyone?









Ya know - I don't think I got to trade with this lady. {rats}










We stayed to chat and knit for a while but Cindy and I left around 10, worn out from our first day at the Sock Summit.
Sleep was achieved quickly.

Reality after the Surreal Sock Summit 2009

Still reeling from my several days of profound knit-geekiness (maybe dorkiness applies better) whenever I met up/spoke with any of the Sock Knitterati/Sock Summit Seven....I got home last night after my short trip to the Sock Summit 2009...and reality struck with a vengeance.

Home to find BobCat is a day behind in his wet food consumption - and a day behind in the meds that are in the wet food I setup for BobCat for the days I was gone.
[sigh]
I added an extra dose in today's wet food and BobCat is eating better today than when I was gone.

Gryphon has been so happy I'm home - he's gifted me with several banzai kitty attacks on my arms at various times in the last 14 hours. [sigh/ouch].
However...he did let me sleep through the night.
Kitten's nails have been trimmed (he was very nice about it) and Squirty bottle is being applied as needed.

Unfortunately my baby brother, whom I love just about best in the world, called in the early hours of this morning to see if we were going to walk and do breakfast today. I passed in the feeble hope that more sleep could be achieved, but I was delusional and I was awake. [sigh/yawn]

More unfortunately, DH managed to spill a very large, very full cup of coffee in our bedroom over two cloth-covered storage ottomans and a chunk of the floor. Blessings - the ottomans are brown to begin with, the carpet is well-loved already (i.e. overdue for replacement), and the DH drinks his coffee black. So we sopped up and scrubbed what we could and our bedroom smells pleasantly of cleaning solution and coffee.
[sigh/deep inhale of still lovely coffee aroma]

So now, I'm doing laundry and pondering all the lovely knitters and friends I found at the Sock Summit with whom I managed not to be entirely socially inept...and trying to decide how best to document my Sock Summit adventure.
[sigh/kinda wish'n I'd stayed for the whole thing...]