This weekend, I went 3 hours in the opposite direction, to Portland, for Sock Summit. Yes. That would be an entire conference … for sock knitters. I took two classes, one of which wasn’t quite what I expected (I was hoping for more technique, but it was still inspiring, particularly to get serious about Cat Bordhi’s New Pathways), but the second was a knee sock class & it was *fabulous*.
I took the train down, and by happenstance wound up sitting with three other knitters, which was pretty cool. I went straight to the convention center from the train station — not even stopping off at the hotel to get rid of my backpack — so that I could try to make the Guinness record attempt. And I *did*. And it was about 16 kinds of fun, just as promised.
After that, I wound up getting totally overwhelmed by the marketplace and wandered around downtown Portland. Saturday was coffee & breakfast with friends, a strategic attack on the marketplace, where I succeeded in buying 3 skeins of yarn, and then an afternoon class, then more marketplace, where I scored the last copy of Jared Flood’s pattern book. Dinner with my sock club, the Ravelry party, etc etc. And *still* I wish I had spent more time down there. It was a really inspiring weekend, and I truly hope that they hold one again sometime, and even better, that they keep it on the west coast.
& 
Other things:
1) We all found out this weekend that Barbara Walker *invented* ssk. Now I want that as the tattoo on the back of my other leg EVEN MORE.
2) It was very hard for me to remember that I didn’t actually *know* people, like Amy from Knitty.
3) I wore Coraline, and got complimented on it all weekend long.
4) I felt like Queen Bee should have given me a cut, since I got to demonstrate how a heavily-used two year old Trucker bag still looks practically brand new.
Also v important, stuff I want to buy, post-Summit:
* Laurel Hill’s ebony crochet hooks.
* Zauberball sock yarn.
* a loom.
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