My Stars!

(Warning: lots of pictures!)

Last week, I sat out in the peacefulness of my backyard and watched about a dozen shooting stars zoom over my head, courtesy of the Perseid meteor shower. It gave me some time to reflect on Sock Summit and Portland, Oregon and the wonderfulness of the Purlescence crew who gave me the opportunity to attend this event.

Friday was the first full selling day, and it was a loooong day! The market was open from 8:30 AM to 6 PM, to accomodate class attendees. It was also my shopping day. But first, Jade and I participated in the Guinness World Record attempt at the Most Number of People Knitting Simultaneously". The rules were - 2 needles only, knit for 15 minutes without stopping. (And yes, Jade is wearing her handknit socks pinned all over her clothing. She thought it would be an excellent way to show off her work - and I agree!)

We sat with Irishgirlieknits and Christy.












This is where I started







And 15 minutes later, here's where I stopped. Because I don't actually own any long straight needles anymore, I bought some Kollage square double-pointed needles. I liked them a lot! This is the Ann Norling Short-Row Multi-directional Scarf in Crystal Palace Mini Mochi, color 113 (tropical ginger).

This is the scarf I knit on for most of my time on the show floor; it ended up being about 5" wide x 80" long (it took 2 full balls of yarn).

Saturday and Sunday were comprised of more selling and more shopping and meeting more people and more inspiration and more....

Star Purchases:
This is all Sandi's fault! Socks that Rock Lightweight, destined to be a Charlotte's Web Shawl. From L to R: Lauma, Mermaid, KMBFLA, Beached, Tanzanite, Jubilation. (luckily for my wallet, I already owned the Tanzanite and Jubilation)



Other yarn (L to R): Black Bunny fibers, MacKintosh Yarns- Iona in color Taurus, STR Lightweight Rare Gems (2), Kangaroo Dyer, Huntington (Valley Yarns), Meg's Royal Purple from Periwinkle Sheep, Laceweight Colrain (Valley Yarns)

There were more purchases, but most of those weren't photographed before they became gifts.

The fiber (L to R): Crown Mountain Superwash Merino in Purple Rain, Huckleberry Knits Targhee top in Twilight, MaryJane's Attic.





Remember my button purchase? I'm pretty pleased that my color memory was just right!






More Stars:
SuperPurlescence Heroes - courtesy of Handknit Heroes.











Speaking of Stars, here are the Rivendell socks from the Sock Museum. Liz knit them in Dream in Color's Starry yarn, color - Grey Tabby, that has sparkly bits in it - don't know if you can see it in the picture.




Here's one of the cutest stars you'll ever see! Ellie was hugging these big knitted snakes at the Skacel booth. Never mind the man who was knitting 7 pairs of socks on one big (120") circular needle!







At the Luminary Panel. This closing event was absolutely awe-inspiring, tear- and laughter-producing (both in quantity) and worth all of the time on our feet. The Knitting Stars were out in force and we all benefited from their wisdom.




Portland was definitely the Star destination of the weekend. It was a joyous, green, comfortable place. I would go back in a heartbeat!






All in all, Sock Summit created such a knitting euphoria in everyone who attended. I hope that it will continue, in whatever format, as often as people are willing to step up to the plate. The Organizers (ST-1 and ST-2) put together a magnificent event, and I hope they will be able to do so again in the future.

Speaking of socks, I've finished my Mini Mochi socks in the Sunday Swing pattern. Love the pattern, loved the yarn, and they're nice and squooshy on the feet.








Here's a sample sock I'm knitting out of Flat Feet. Well on the way up the cuff, and so far have used less than half the first sock blank.






Other knitting on the needles:
1) Still working on my Sea & Shells stole; maybe about 75% done now.
2) Desperate to start the Farmer's Market Cardigan from the new Interweave Knits (Fall 2009), but must deal with a dye issue first.

3) If I couldn't start the Farmer's Market Cardigan, and needed to work on larger needles to give my hands a rest, then I should start another sweater that has been at the top of my queue since I don't know when, right? This is the Laurel Seamless Cardigan, from Knit 'n Style, April 2007. I've had the yarn (Schaefer Laurel) in stash since well before 2007.





I'll leave you with one final hurrah, from the pumpkin plant that hasn't figured out when to quit! It's come through the brick wall that divides the veggie garden and the patio and there are 2 small pumpkins on it, plus another flower.

And with that, so ends my summer! School begins next week.

Sock Summit - Day 1

It's really happening - Sock Summit has begun!









There is so much fiber and yarn in thousands of beautiful colors that I've been drooling as I've walked by some of the vendors. My credit card will never be the same!

Purlescence Yarns booth:
Before








During











After








Nathania thinks we did a pretty good job.








And then there are the Purl Up & Dye colors - gorgeous! The One-of-a-kind colors are on the tall rack and The Dye for Glory colorways are in the corner, Melantha, Oregon Berry Harvest and Purplescence on the bottom. They're next to the Flat Feet sock blanks. Lots of Mini Mochi, fiber, spinning accessories are also available.


A video taken before the Marketplace opened is in this blog post (about halfway down). I didn't see it because we were on the other side of the doors, but have been smiling and giggling ever since I saw it.

Portland

OMG, I'm in Portland for Sock Summit - OMG, OMG, OMG - I'm having so much fun!

Okay, enough of sounding like I'm a teenager. But I just had a fabulous day out with the Purl Girls yesterday. The towers are of the Oregon Convention Center.



I haven't seen any of the Sock Summit banners yet, but we did find this display in Powell's. An end cap display, right at one of the entrances. Click to make bigger!

There was some squealing involved, and book buying! No knitting books, but I found some out-of-print stuff that was on the To Read List.




Nathania and I left Powell's and went over to Knit-Purl where I fell in love with this little ball of Merino-3 by Catherine Lowe Couture Yarns. It's such a luscious little cake of a color called Black Violet that I had to have it. After all, I am the Queen of Purple Yarn!






We then walked over to The Button Emporium and Ribbonry and found buttons for a sweater she's working on. I, however, found buttons for a sweater that exists only in my dreams so far, but it will be done in the Plum Paisley colorway of Dream in Color Classy. Can you see why? (I can't find a link or a picture of the new color, but it's a darker version of Pansy Go-lightly.) And I loved the sheepy ribbon!

We also were at Josephine's Dry Goods - a REAL fabric store that had luscious fabric. I see that I failed to take a picture of the cute flannel I found to back a baby quilt. Maybe next time...

We happened to find a parking space by the First Presbyterian Church, and I was struck by the juxtaposition of the older church (built 1889-90) with the newer building behind it. It's hard to remember that our cities have hidden historical treasures. You can get a fuller view of the area if you take a little time to find out about the people who are the founders and previous inhabitants of the places you are visiting.

I'll have more time to explore this city later, but right now, I'm waiting for the call this morning to head over to the Convention Center to set up the booth.

(Oh - and Jade - you're an awesome roommate!)

Holy smokes - there's been some...

Spinning!
304 yards of 2-ply heavy fingering to sportweight
Chasing Rainbows - Merino Tencel
Color: Abalone (the color is most accurate on the bobbins)

I loved spinning this! I had a hunch that it would be almost effortless, and it was! It took a total of about 8 hours of spinning (I did half of it Sunday, then another hour+ spent plying it). I think this is the most consistent spinning and plying job that I've done so far.

And with that, I'm bowing out of the Tour de Fleece without finishing this year. After 2 solid weeks of spinning, I've got some other, more critical deadlines that need to be met.

Gardening!
I didn't think it was possible, but we got a larger zucchini than the one the other day. This one was 21" long and weighs just over 5 lbs!

Other garden riches:
In (and around) the planter bed closest to the camera:
Pumpkins: the largest one is 15" across, and there's a new baby too! (and the plant is trying to take over the backyard...)
Basil: which is bolting and I haven't had time to cut it back
Butternut squash: 4 and counting

The back planter box has the zucchini, a yellow crookneck variety, Patty Pans (abundant flying saucers), two types of tomatoes, and apparently a melon plant.

I'm now starting to be afraid of how many figs are on that tree in the back of this picture.

And look! When The Hubby dumped the planter that the potato plant was in, we discovered 8 Yukon Gold potatoes. With the heat we had last week, the plants were getting stressed, and we figured that it was all an experiment anyway, so why not. And we all laughed and smiled and clapped because we grew potatoes! There may have been some squeeing too!



Speaking of the above deadlines, one project involves the sewing machine and it must be done before August 1st. The other project involves socks - yes, I'm going to Sock Summit! However, I didn't win the class lottery, but I'm thrilled to be hanging out with the Sockerati (my term for the Sock Glitterati), including the Purlescence crew. Oh - and go see the Purl Up & Dye entries in the Dye for Glory contest on Ravelry. They're gorgeous!

And other wonderful things too - have you seen the new Designs by Romi shawl pins (her new Ewe pins)? They make me smile every time I think of them!