Well the Madrona Fiber fest was a blast. I didn’t sign up for any classes, as in my typically clueless fashion I didn’t know about the festival until they were all booked. I went anyway, Friday night to listen to Stephanie talk, and then again on Saturday to add to the stash.
Friday night I met Kris and Marti for dinner and the Harlot’s talk. We strolled up the street to a nearby Thai restaurant for dinner after meeting in the lobby. They both were a delight to sit and visit with, and yet more proof that you all are not “imaginary friends”, as my husband refers to you. The biggest hoot, I have to tell you, was sitting in a Thai restaurant packed with knitters, all talking about knitting, some of them actually knitting. I can’t even imagine what the restaurant people thought.
Here’s a picture of Kris and I. It came out a bit blurry, but proves that without a doubt we exist. For some reason I didn’t get a picture of Marti. And none of my pictures of the Harlot’s talk came out. Honest, I had green tea with dinner, nothing else.
Saturday I went again, this time to the market to shop. There were several local shops represented, and a few not-local. My favorite was Blue Moon Fiber Arts, famous around the blogs for Socks That Rock yarn. I have a couple of skeins of this in the stash already, but that didn’t stop me from getting more, as they had a fine selection of colors at the market.
From left to right, Yosemite, Spinel, Prove It All Night, and Heavy Metal. Only the fact that I already have enough sock yarn to last the rest of my life kept me from buying more. One of these will just have to be the next pair of socks once I finish the two pair I already have cast on.
Which reminds me, my one and only NY resolution this year? To have enough hand knit socks by the end of the year that I don’t have to wear commercial socks unless I want to.
I also bought this, which was a totally unnecessary purchase:
It’s pink, very pink. And alpaca, and it has just a touch of a silvery glimmery yarn spun into it. This will be a pretty little scarf, perhaps all for me. This is where we need that “touch me” feature in Typepad; this stuff is heavenly soft in person, not so much in the picture.
After the shopping, I went out to the lobby of the Sheraton, which was full of people knitting. I joined a little impromptu knitting session with these bloggers:
That’s Meg, from Knitting Knot. Go to her blog and tell her how sorry you are that we made her unravel a whole sweater on the spot. What are friends for??
That’s Jessica, from Rose-Kim Knits. She’s working on her Knitting Olympics project, and I learned a few new swear words from her on Saturday.
And that’s Rebecca, from Supergirl’s Blog. She knits at Warp 10, really. I kept staring surreptitiously at her hands, wondering how the hell somebody could knit that fast.
I met with Kris again, who was getting a lesson in the lobby from a spinner, Blogless Betsy, on how to use a drop spindle. And met Kris’ family, including that adorable child of hers, Anna Grace. If I could have been guaranteed offspring that cute, I might have been convinced to reproduce at one point in my life. I didn’t get a picture of Betsy either.
Now it’s back to reality, though I got a real gift this morning at 7 AM. I had signed up for an extra day of work today, for some reason that totally escapes me. (My husband reminded me that it was no doubt to pay down the yarn debt, which is starting to rival the national deficit.) As I was getting my butt out of bed, grumbling to anybody who would listen, the phone rang. It was from one of my partners, to let me know that they weren’t busy enough to need me, go back to bed. Free knitting time!! Here’s where I am on the sock:
That two color heel was truly a pain in the ass to do, though it looks very cool now that it’s done. There’s no need to remind me that I need to do a second one.
All in all a fun and productive weekend!
It was so nice to meet an imaginary friend in person! And I didn’t know that I really knit that fast! I though Meg was on crack when she said that since I spend more time telling her to rip than knit (It is my evil way of being ahead of the game).
I LOVE the socks btw! So fantastic!
I’m glad you really exist.
😉
Looks like such fun.I have some of that Prove it all Night! I can’t wait to make some socks with it.
Free knitting time is the best time. The sock looks great, and it seems you had a fabulout time.
I can only imagine how much noise a large group of knitters must make.
Thanks for your support on the death of my Rosy sweater. I’m moving on but it’s a bit rough right now. All of her yarn is back in a bag next to my knitting chair. It shall remain there for a while. Time apart heals the wound or some crap like that! Your sock looks great…maybe I’ll give them a try!
So you got to meet Tina? I’m so jealous! I talk to her all the time but we’ve never met. Prove It All Night is one of my favorites. 😉
And what’s the sock pattern? I LOVE IT! Are you making it up on your own? It looks fantastic.
I told Meg how sorry we all were about those mean knitters. lol
~
Lovely haul. Glad you had fun.
🙂
It was great meeting you in person. Glad I was able to expand your vocabulary. 🙂
Oh man – I am so jealous I could spit! How do these things happen and I don’t know about them? And Tacoma! Actually close enough to go. Rats. I’m glad you had a great time. And you met Kris and AG? I’ve actually bought her some cheese grits so I can have a gift if and when we meet. Heavy sigh. Have you knit with STR yet? You will not regret buying so much. It just spoils you for about anything else. Sincerely, your not-so-imaginary friend Dorothy.
I had a blast meeting you….made me feel like a real knit blogger. A real Washington knit blogger at that.
So glad that you got your day off and envious that you spent that day with that gorgeous Jo Sharp. That color is amazing.
I’m also living in envy of your lace skills. I discovered I have none and the lace project will promptly be buried in a hole in the back yard! What was I thinking!
I was there on Friday night. I was on the end of the second row on the side farthest from the door. I’m sorry I didn’t get to meet you 🙁 I got some Socks That Rock, too, and some hand-dyed Fancy Image DK weight in Cougar colors. Go Cougs!
Love your sock! I’m ready to start the heel on my Jaywalker sock–right on my schedule. Yay!
Wow, looks like you had such a fun time! I’m jealous! And I love the sock – it is coming out so beautifully..
Great weekend! The socks are going to be a stellar pair, but I can empathize with SSS. I’m about to reach SGS (second glovelet syndrome).
What a freaking gorgeous sock! It might have been a pain so far, but the results have to be worth it.
The sock is gorgeous! WHat brand of dpns are you using? They look quite short – much more user friendly looking thsn the long ones I have that keep getting tangled in my large paws.
Sounds like an awesome weekend! You sock is so pretty that it will be worth doing the pain in the ass heel one more time I’m sure!
What are the sock needles you are using? They look so nice!
Wow! I love that sock. It’s wonderful. I know it will be well worth the extra trouble when they’re done and you get all sorts of amazing comments on them.
I wish we’d met! I’ll have to try harder next year.
Nice haul Lorette! I’m so jealous that you met Kris and AG!! aand all the other bloggers.
Those socks are simply amazing!
MMMM…Socks that Rock. The first colorway I purchased was Heavy Metal, when I was on vacation in Port Townsend. That’s the only skein I’ve used so far, but have 3 more sitting here calling out to me. It’s great yarn. Sounds like you had a great weekend. Enjoy.
A lobby full of knitters!!!! That sounds amazing.
I just had to tell you about this odd little coincidence with your web paige. After attending my very first bluegrass festival during the week of Father’s day last year (and catching a chronic and I fear incurable case of blugrass fever), I stumbled across your blog and was excited to see another knitting bluegrass fan. I posted a short comment and tossed the KnittingDoctor into my favorites. Today, I finally got pack here and notice that you’re reading Don Quixote. Here’s the oddity. I just ordered that same book because it was recommended to me by the manager of the Fifth String Music Store in Sacramento which is where I’m currently learning to play the fiddle. My friendship with the manager has grown out of my showing off my various knitting projects during the last three months. Wierd how the world turns, innit?