Sock Summit.

I was going through my yarn this evening, looking for a skein of not-particularly-variegated sock yarn so I can test-knit Ellington (woo hoo! test knitting!) and I realized that I never wrote about my experiences at Sock Summit. So, four weeks later, here goes:

I conned Tim into a trip to Portland with promises of beer and fine dining. I hoarded my money for a couple of months so I could blow it on fairy-fart sock yarn, Blue Moon Fiber Arts Rare Gems and Mill Ends, and other yarn that struck my fancy. I exceeded my budget by an amount I would rather not discuss, but the yarn I purchased…just wow.

My trip mainly centered around the market. Because this was a vacation for Tim and I, I didn’t want to leave him on his own for an entire day (or half a day) while I took a class. After everything that happened with the class sign-ups, I’m glad that I made that choice. I entered the lottery to try and get into the one-hour wonder for Judy’s Magical Cast-On, and was shocked when I got a space in the class. I never win anything selected by a random number generator, but I guess I won the one time that it actually counted! So I learned Judy’s Magical Cast-On directly from Judy Becker, and lo, it was indeed magical. Judy is also a very patient and pleasant teacher, and I came away from the class confident in my ability to repeat the cast-on.

Anyway, the market. I decided to go on the student preview night because I could (and because I wanted the best possible yarn choices). Sock Summit reminded me of ALA (American Library Association, for non-libraryfolk) both in terms of attendees and in terms of the near-riots over free shit. I had no idea that my professional and my personal interests attracted such similar crowds!

So there was a line (obviously) to get in to the preview. And when the doors opened, there was a crush of people all trying to get to a few places at once. Number one on most lists (mine too) was the Sanguine Gryphon booth, home of the mythical Bugga. The quest for Bugga at Sock Summit was not for the claustrophobic or faint-hearted. I managed to grab two skeins before I got frustrated with the hoarders who were purchasing 15+ skeins (most likely to use as currency on Ravelry). I buy yarn because I want it. I don’t buy it so I can trade up or whatever. I buy colors that I like and that I plan to use, and I have little patience for people who purchase mass quantities of the Yarn-of-the-Moment in whatever color they could grab so they can exchange it with someone else for something else. So to the woman in front of me at the Sanguine Gryphon booth who had so much Bugga in her arms that she couldn’t even hold it–and who was yakking on about how she’s traded Sundara and Wollmeise and whatever for other yarn–I hope you rediscover the joy of buying yarn that you actually want. Perhaps some of these “fairy-fart” yarns would be more available to others if the hoarders would lay the eff off.

Following my Sanguine Gryphon experience (which was made okay by the super-niceness of the women working the booth–grace under pressure, I tell ya), I headed over to the Loopy Ewe booth to see what goodies Sheri had in stock. And, speaking of fairy-fart yarn, she had Numma Numma. I saw one particularly lovely skein (Toasty in Black Cherry Jam) but none of the other colors were of interest. When I was getting ready to check out, I saw a really pretty skein of purple yarn, and it, too, was Numma Numma (The Usual this time) so I bought it as well. As I was checking out, the dyer stopped by the booth and she was very sweet and gracious (and kind of taken aback by the several people in the booth who went all fangirly over her).

Rainy Days and Wooly Dogs (home of GothSocks) was my next stop. I’ve chatted with Stephanie on Ravelry, and I knew I would like her. She’s really fantastic and just as cool and goth-y as I expected. You wouldn’t know it from looking at me now, but I was really into the goth/industrial scene in the early-to-mid-1990s, and there are things about the goth aesthetic that I still like. Stephanie’s yarn “speaks” to that side of me. So I bought a lot of it. I’m glad I did, because I think she sold out!

I wandered around on my way to Blue Moon and picked up some great sock blockers with cats on them, a couple of skeins of yarn from Crafts Meow, including one of her Dye for Glory entries, and some patterns from Knitspot (at the Briar Rose booth).

I went a little nuts at Blue Moon. I told myself that I wouldn’t purchase any of their regular colorways, because I still have my Rockin’ Sock Club coupon that I can use until the end of the year. So I bought mill ends and rare gems, and I bought a shitload of them. Seriously. They needed their own carry-on to go home. I did buy them over three trips to the market, so it’s not like I blew my money all at once. I did it gradually. And I got some great stuff, too. It’s all in my Ravelry stash (my Rav name is nanette) so you can take a look.

The trip to Portland was awesome overall. I had some great meals, drank some excellent beer, and did some good shopping. It was nice to go somewhere with Tim that didn’t involve attending a conference of some kind. I even dragged Tim into the market once, and he bought me a Paradise Fibers swift for our anniversary (the 5th anniversary, conveniently, is “wood”).

I’ll try to return with an update later this week that actually involves pictures of the stuff I’m knitting! I’m about 40% (maybe further) through Girasole, and I just bought yarn to make a second one for the home office. (Tim is changing jobs in November and will be working from home, and we’ll need a blanket to put over the fancy desk chair he’s planning to buy so the cats won’t scratch on it.) I’m about 2/3 of the way through the first of my Cleopatra’s Stockings (the toe-up project I started in the Judy’s Magical Cast-On class at Sock Summit), and I started a pair of Sunday Swing socks with my Bitchy Witchy GothSocks. So the needles are full, at least for now, and I should take some progress photos. But now I am tired, and this entry has gone on long enough!