Sock Summit Memories

I spent more than a week after Sock Summit in a happy euphoria, basking in the memories of all the fun I had, and trying to figure out how to tell you about it. I'm not going to be eloquent here, and in fact, I'm not going to write very much at all. What I am going to do is share some images from those magical four days and tell you briefly about the three things that stood out the most in my mind.

1. Three classes and one lecture:

I purposely picked classes that were information-based rather than those focused on a technique. I learned about the psychology of color from Sharon McMahon, the genius behind Three Irish Girls hand-dyed yarn, the joys and frustrations of running a yarn dying business from Tina Newton, the owner of Blue Moon Fiber Arts, and cool things to do with self-striping yarn from Sandy Rosner.

These were all wonderful, and well worth my time and money, but the best of the best was "A Bag of Tricks for Stretch and Strength" taught by Clara Parkes, editor of Knitters Review. This was my second class with Clara—I took a class from her at the first Sock Summit in 2009.  I have this fascination with all varieties of fiber and how it is made into yarn, despite the fact that I don't spin (yet). Clara is so knowledgeable, articulate and fun, and I loved that I could take just about everything I learned in class and walk out into the Sock Summit market and use that information to make educated purchases. I would take another class from her in a heartbeat, and I can't wait for her new book, The Knitter's Book of Socks, which will be out in October.

2. Friends:

 I've met some wonderful knitters through Ravelry, and I was able to get together with several of them. In the first photo above I'm with my local pal Nance, (nancyba), Sarah (SarahMKnits) from Minnesota, and her sister, Martha (MEKW), who is also a local pal. In the second photo, Nance and I are with our dear friend, Angela (shrinkyknitter), who lives in Portland. I met all of these wonderful friends either directly or indirectly through Ravelry. Isn't it great that Sock Summit gives us the opportunity to get together?

3. Knitters, in all their glory: I don't need to say much about this one. Just take a look below.

The line of knitters waiting to get into the market. (And this is only about half of it!)

The fastest sock knitter competition.

Practicing for the flash mob.

Fleece to Foot competition.