Needles and post SS pics

I had to use my new Signature Needles right away.
They are 7" long and size 7. The yarn; bought at SS, hand dyed by Teresa Ruch it's two strands...one bamboo and the other tencel.

The pattern for the scarf I am making out of this glorious yarn is Palette from Knitty.

The needles are a work of art. As short as they are they have a quite heft in the hand. Probably too slippery for this yarn, I'm happy to ignore that to use both of my new goodies. Lovin' both the yarn and the needles. As I like to say "buy quality and cry only once"




















This is Kathleen Taylor. I've been reading her blog for a long time. Her "The Big Book of Socks" just came out and I highly recommend that you get a copy. You can see that she has a sense of humor. She appears to have knitting needles through her head! This shot was taken at SS... I semi-stalked her. (semi= no restraining order)


As we were leaving Oregon I stopped in Ashland to visit my pal Karen's favorite Oregon yarn shop; Websters. It's very pretty. I didn't buy much considering all that I had already purchased.














Even though I HAD to buy more yarn than I had intended, due to the theft of my stuff...it's not without trepidation that I post a picture of what I bought at SS. Here goes....behold the stash enhancement!

We have a winner!!!!!

I used both low and high tech methods for choosing the winner of the contest. I wrote down the names of all of the commenters in the order that they were made.




Then, I used a random number generator to pick the lucky person.



#19 is iamtheinfidel. I will contact her and mail the lovely Lorna's Laces yarn.


Thank you all for leaving comments! It made my trip way more fun knowing that there were folks following my trip to Sock Summit.

I will say that next time (if I get a chance to go again) I would love to have friends actually there to share in the fun and awe.

I still am catching up on my sleep. Not to mention all the paperwork I have to do to turn in to the insurance company to replace my stuff.

I have some pictures that didn't get posted while I was in Portland. Stop by later, I'll be posting them.

Last Day of SS09

It was a lovely day.













I had a class with Crissy Gardiner. She taught us how to do a textured colorwork. It is in the Bohus style. (pronounced: Bo-hoos) It's really like Fair Isle knitting except that there are purls along with the knits to add a color and textured effect that is really cool.




















Here is my little sample


We left the class a little early and went to the Marketplace. I bought more stuff. I picked up a copy of Free Range Knitter (ya, that's right... the one I brought from home was stolen) I snuck over to Stephanie at lunch time and showed her my pen and the book. she stealthy signed it so as not to attract a gaggle of women asking for the same. She is the nicest person anyone would ever want to adore like a teenybopper.






Click this picture to make it big. This is the Luminary panel. I can't explain sufficiently how awesome this event was. We laughed and nearly cried and hung on every word. Every dime I spent on this event was worth just this one moment with these incredible women. I got a front row seat to witness the brilliance.

Today is 99 years since the birth of Elizabeth Zimmerman. At the very end we all sang Happy Birthday to her and had cake.

A perfect ending to a fabulous 4 days of knitterly fun.



oh ya......one more thing.....


I scored this!!!!!!!















We came out of the elevator in the hotel and this was just sitting there. Sweet!

Getting up early tomorrow to drive half way Home.

A quick exhausted post

It was a long but terrific day. This is Lorilee Beltman. She taught the morning class, Seismic Socks. She showed us how to do a vertical stranded design. It wasn't as hard as it might seem. she is a good teacher and I suspect she'll write a book about this technique.

I was a few minutes late to both of my classes due to breakneck shopping. Lunch was a yummy taco bar.



















Sivia Harding is a modest, sweet lady and a great teacher. We learned to do a beaded baby bootie. I got snagged a couple of times and didn't get far on mine. I will finish the pair later, I really love the pattern. There was a gal in class that is a super speedy knitter, she finished a bootie in class.












I had dinner with the Hubby and arrived after all the swag bags had been passed out at the Ravelry party. I chatted with several ladies that I had classes with. There were door prizes ... I didn't win anything.


as you can see there was a big crowd.
MUST... GET... SLEEP!

Friday Fun Day

After a quick walk around the Marketplace before my morning class, I decided that I needed a strategy for the afternoon. I figured I could wait until the very end of the Book Signing time slot to get my books signed. The thinking there was that the lines would be short at the end which would give me lots of time to browse the marketplace. That plan worked like a charm.

The class was satisfactory. I didn't really learn anything new. The teacher was nice, she had a good Power Point lecture on fixing common mistakes and how to determine if you were a "fixer" or a "fudger". Turns out I am in the middle of that continuum. (that word doesn't look like it's spelled correctly, but spellcheck says, yes. )
We all left a little early for the Guinness Book of Records event.









Heather (who was in my class) and I got great seats right behind the teachers. At first Amy Singer (of Knitty.com fame) was the only one in the teacher seats. When I asked her if I could have a picture with her... she insisted that I SIT ON HER LAP!!!!!













Stephanie got up on the podium and was her typical hilarious self. There were Guinness people to make sure that it was legit. There were big time camera men types. There were lots of ladies standing in the front of our huge crowd taking pictures.







that's Amy Singer in the lower left hand corner)

We all knitted for 15 minutes and I think we can be pretty sure that we broke the record. Wow, while I was googling to find out what the old record was I found THIS . You can hear and see the Harlot for yourself and if you look closely you'll see me.


See that yarn in my hand? That is the yarn that I picked for the BLOG PRIZE. It's Lorna's Laces dyed just for Sock Summit. The lady who dyed it signed the label and is posing with me for this pic. Don't ask me her name I'm sure she told me, though.
edited to add: She is Beth Casey the owner of Lorna's Laces. Duh!


I got in some good shopping. Briar Rose laceweight and an Ann Hanson pattern. Also a little Silk and Cashmere for a cowl from Red Fish. I bought a lot of little notions to replenish the long list of stuff that got stolen.

I had lunch with some ladys that I know from Ravelry. That's Monica on the Left next to Marie. It was like meeting old friends for the first time.

















As I had guessed, half and hour before the Book Signing was over I had time to walk to my hotel room, get my books and walk right up to the tables and get autographs.

First Was Anna Zilboorg, she wrote "Knitting For Anarchists".













I had Barbara Walker's "Book One" to be signed, I didn't ask her for a picture since I had already asked last night.


Then the beautiful, gracious and funny Meg Swanson. I asked her if she felt like a Rock Star. She said she did!
















Then I just came out and asked for a picture with the Harlot.

















I hope to get a little more sleep tonight. Two classes, and the Ravelry Meet-up tomorrow.

I am not a morning person

Let's see...I went to bed at 1:30am....woke up at 5:30 and I don't know how much sleep I got after that....then got a wake-up call at 7:00am. I wanted to be certain to get a ticket to the World Record Attempt.
I am taking "Getting Out Of a Mess" class at 9:00.
Gonna do a 30 min. walk-about in the marketplace before class. Yesterday I just kinda got saturated and my brain wouldn't let me buy more stuff, I was overwhelmed and exhausted. So, I hope this coffee kicks in and gives me some Super Shopping Powers!


The book signing is in the afternoon.

Opening Day at the Summit

My day started out at Starbucks for coffee and a scone. Then, I arrived early at the convention center to do a little people watching. This is Meg Swanson she is fast on her feet and had a melodious "Good Morning!" for Stephanie.










Jess and Mary Heather look adorable and that's "small Bob" on my finger. (you can click the photos to make 'em bigger.) They gave me a new Ravelry button.






My first class was with Charlene Schurch.

OK- the name is Swiss-German and the "S" is not pronounced. She mentioned that first thing...evidently everyone asks her about her name.

I learned a lot about making socks last longer. Established that I probably should use a size 1 and go to a zero just on the areas that I tend to wear out. she showed us several styles of socks that are best depending on where you get wear on your socks.


During the lunch break I took photos of some of the lovely socks!













Next was 4 ways to do a toe up sock. we were supposed to be really comfortable doing Judy's Magic Cast-on. Some of the students needed a little review, she is showing the cast-on in this pic.


Of all the stuff I learned in this class my favorite is the idea that her cast-on can be used as a provisional cast on. BRILLIANT!!!













the Opening ceremony was a touching recount by Tina and Stephanie of how this whole extravaganza came about. Written with the Harlot's usual brilliant humor, it was quite hilarious and at the end touching. They thanked each teacher by name and when they got to Barbara Walker there was a standing ovation.


Oh ya ...Barbara Walker....she's the person I am standing next to in this photo.

















I shook her hand and then stammered like a goober. It was great!


After that I chatted with a few people and watched the shmoozing. Then walked to the hotel where there were knitters in the lobby. One lady there was massively full of herself..... I think she invented spinning... she has wheels custom made for her by God himself.

oh ya, I forgot to mention that I did a little shopping:












see anything you like?

Nighty Night!

I am on my way to bed and I have a couple more pictures to share.









This is the line for registration. That went smoothly.





this is where we went to pick up the swag.









There was an informal meet-up and swap at the bar in the Red Lion. I had nothing to swap and felt a little out of place. But then this woman swung by and warmed things up a bit.

















That's RachelH on the right.
I don't know what the details are
about the sock cookies
that they are holding up.


Tomorrow is a big day; two classes
Durability Issues and 4 ways to do a toe-up sock.
plus the Marketplace opens at 4:30 and then the Opening Night Reception.

At this moment I am too tired to be excited. zzzZZZzzzZZZZzzzzzzZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Ensconced at the Red Lion

We left Veneta and went through Eugene this morning. One stop at Soft Horizons in Eugene and I now have the yarn and needles for my classes. I feel ready to go...sorta. The ladies at the shop were so sympathetic towards my sad situation. They really helped me get all my stuff together and at the end of my purchase they threw in some of it for free. If you are ever in Eugene you have to go to this beautiful and superbly stocked shop!!!!


I am sitting in my room at the Red Lion Inn. I rode in the elevator with Lucy Neetby- she told me that my shirt (that Debbie K. made) was spectacular!!!! The lobby was full of the who's who of knitters. I Kenneared Cookie A. (that's right Cally!!) and half of my fantasy came true. Barbara Walker was in the lobby surrounded by people, no chance to approach her for a picture much less a book signing. But she is staying here!!!!












Look at that lady next to Cookie....see all that beer and wine? Looks like the beginnings of a great party! I am going to go to the convention center and register. I thank God that I still have my paperwork for all my classes!


edited to add: Look! I did get a picture of Barbara Walker after all.

Moving on

The car window is fixed. A stop to Costco provided a new GPS and a few changes of clothing for me. I think I would have been way more upset about this if I hadn't experienced the loss of my friend, Robin, last week. It's just stuff...this kerfaffle is going to make my trip less fabulous but I'm not going to let it ruin my vacation.

I have no knitting needles, yarn or notions and I am headed toward a large concentration of people wanting to sell me all of those things! Woohoo!

Tonight we will be in Veneta (outside of Eugene) to see old friends. When I say old I mean that we have known Steven and Michele since I was a teenager. Steven crashed my first date with the Hubby. They live on a beautiful little place called Minnie Mae Acres. I think they only have dial-up internet so you probably won't hear from me until I am in PORTLAND!!!!!

Highway robbery!!!

Details to follow. Our car was broken into in the wee hours of this morning. ALL OF MY KNITTING STUFF IS GONE! ....oh ya and all of my clothes and other stuff. I'm posting from a borrowed computer.

We left Tulare this morning. I met this lady while taking Minnie for a walk. She is a bit crazy and was dumpster diving... I brought her a pastry and drink from the hotel.













she consented to pose for a picture with me.





There was knitting. Those beads glow in the dark.









We arrived in S.F. this afternoon and I have consumed spirited beverages.

Leaving for Eugene-ish tomorrow.

that is all.

Yo Quiero Taco Bell

Look! we sneaked an entire DOG into the Taco Bell. It was 9:00 pm and still 90 degrees outside. We couldn't leave her in the car now could we?

You know, I tried to use the word "snuck" and found out it's not really a proper word. Word-Dectective.com says it is sub-standard English. You can read more about it here.

On the way to the Vay-Kay

I really really really need this vacation. I had two days off this week to get ready to leave. My priorities changed on Tuesday when I got a call that a friend was dying. I spent that time with her to offer some help and to say goodbye. She did something for me when I met her that I thought I would never be able to repay... I'll just say that karma came full circle.














That is my stuff waiting to go in the Pathfinder. Minnie totally knows that she is going too.
I'm not sure what I'm forgetting to pack. I'll let you know when I discover it. See that Barbara Walker book? I've fantasized that she is going to be staying in the room next to mine and I'll bump into her in the hallway. "Hey Barb...how about signing my book and a picture or two???" Hey, it could happen!!!!

I better turn the lappy off and get it ready for the trip. First stop is Tulare (it's half way to S.F.)

oh, I almost forgot...the contest. Leave a comment while I am gone. 8/1 - 8/11 (to be fair keep it to one comment per post please)

I will number each and every comment. I am going to bring back an extra skein of yummy sock yarn and choose (via random number generator) one person to win the SWAG!!!!!