KNITTING WITHOUT DOG HAIR IS NOT AN OPTION

I am here - it's late... They had a shuttle from the airport to the hotel - a cute young guy was waving a sign for the shuttle and Jane and I followed the young man willingly.

I am on my second bottle of Black Butte Porter, a local dark brew. Love it. Jane and I had a smooth flight here. Everything went really well. I got my homework done for the Meg Swanson class and we are all set for tomorrow.

Stay tuned - the hotel has wireless in the room.

GOOD NITE!!!

First off, let's start with praise. I have to say that this is the best convention I have been to in a very long time. I have been doing event management for at least a decade of my life and I have organized exhibtions in several countries. Therefore I know how much is involved in getting such a project going and make it such a success.

Stephanie and Tina outdid themselves. They gave a very funny speech at the opening party tonight. No wonder they were totally exhausted and ready to crash. I can vaguely remember how tired I was when I pulled conventions together like that. You don't sleep for weeks and you are fueled by coffee.

I am truly sorry for the people who can't be here, besides the 1,800 people including Jane, Jen and I. But don't worry, there will be another one in 2010.

So, Ms. Jane and I had a class with Nancy Bush today. It was a great class. For six hours she lectured about vintage socks and old techniques.

I enjoyed myself tremedously, even tho' I had to talk to my office several times. Nancy had us knitting a little sample sock with a very stretchy cast on, a Welsh heel and a very interesting toe construction. Now I have to find a bunch of books, Weldon's Practical Needlework, a collection of needlework newsletters from turn-of-the-century England which include exact reproductions of hundreds of Victorian patterns to stitch, knit, and crochet. Not that I need any more books.

Here is what I knitted during class:

Yeah, our class project looks like a sheet puppet head. Maybe I'll put some googly eyes on it.

After the class the market opened for students for two hours and I was all of a sudden very overwhelmed. It is big and it was full of a gazillon people. My oh my, there were long lines for the Sock Summit souvenirs and several yarn boothes. We walked around for about an hour and just looked. Now, I have a better idea for what to look for tomorrow and Saturday.

Catch of the day

I bought a Sock Summit hoodie (it was freezing in the class room today) and a tote bag, yarn, a cow project bag and new clogs. After a short break at the hotel, the girls and I dressed up to go to the opening party.

The party was great. All the teachers were there. I got to talk to Barbara Walker for a minute. She told me that she did not expect people to be so starstruck with her. Well, that what I told her when I visited her a few weeks ago in Florida. I guess, she didn't believe me.

Oh, and we did not get the "Wear your Hallowig" memo...

And I think this is Meg Swanson drinking a beer straight from the bottle. I can't wait to meet her tomorrow. Jane and I have a three-hour class with her at 09:00am. Therefore, I should go to bed now and get some sleep. Stay tuned for the next update...

PS: I didn't know Portland was famous for old women wearing no bra, but pachoulie and Birkenstocks...

It is early in Portland - Saturday morning, 04.30am. Jane and Jen are blissfully asleep. Me, on the other hand, has the East coast time in a death grip. The last two nights I was wide awake at 2.30am (5.30 in Atlanta), the usual time my alarm would go off. But I was able to go back to sleep both times. Not this morning. So I figured, I might as well blog about Day 2 at the Sock Summit, another fabulous day in Portland.

The weather has been very nice for the Georgia girls, temperatures in the 60s and no humidity. LOVELY! I should not have brought so many shorts, but more long pants. But the Sock Summit Hoodie does its job. I did not think at all to bring a sweater or jacket... How in the right mind would someone leave Atlanta in the 90s with a jacket?

So, Day 2. The day started with buying my first souvenir.

A pair of socks, knitted and worn by Barbara Walker

Barbara has a very busy schedule while she is here at the Sock Summit. I talked to her for a few minutes here and there, but I don't think that I can actually drag her away for a cup of coffee. That's OK - I have had my share of BGW when I visited her in Florida in July. ;-) You sure can imagine the amount of loving snarky remarks from my girlfriends about me and BGW. ;-)

So, after I scored the socks, Jane and I went to take a class with Meg Swansen, Arch-Shaped Stockings. I was so excited to take her class. Meg and her mom, Elizabeth Zimmermann, are also my knitting icons.

I finished my homework for this class on the plan. Typical me, always last minute.

Meg and her assistant Amy were extremely funny and a great team for this class. They had high tech equipment, a camera and two big screens for the students to follow the demonstrations.

That sock construction is very fascinating. I made it through the most the directions…

Until I decided that I wanted to rip back to the heel flap because I wanted to change the design on the gussets and the increases on the sole of the foot. Yeah, say it now... I know I am a little on the insane side. My mom's voice of knitting reasoning was very load and clear in Meg's class...

During a break, Jane and I walked up to Meg to say hi and chat a bit. I told her that I am from this tiny Bavarian village where her parents used to go on vacation. She told me that she was just in Garmisch-Partenkirchen with her sister. SO COOL! I asked her if would sign her mom's book that has the photo from the Alpsitze, my bedroom view for 18 years... And she did. I am still pretty darn thrilled. And I think she was a little tickled about that coincidence, too.

Knit on, dear Claudia. Meg Swansen, Portland '09

After the class, we went straight to the big ballroom at the convention center to make an attempt to break the Guinness World Record for “The Most Number of People Knitting Simultaneously” with another 1,000 knitters or so. The current record is being held by an Australian knitting group of some 260 knitters. I think we beat their butts. ;-)

After the record knitting and some lunch, we went shopping, again... I know, hard to believe.

Catch of the day

More yarn... Sock blockers for a shoe size 13... A pair of the fabulous Signature straight needles, they are nice, boy, and expensive... And square circular Collage knitting needles. I think I will ship stuff back with FedEx. It's good that I know the office account number. ;-)

Eventually we plopped down for some knitting at the market place. I had to take a break from sock knitting and started a cute little hat for new nephew.

A kit, I bought at Hazel Knits. Soooooooooooo cute.

Back to the hotel after a full day of knitting to get ready for the evening event, The Sock Hop at the Art Museum in downtown Portland. Well, I had no idea what to expect. It was a great party with music from the 50s, 60s, and 70s.

Knitters dancing

Knitters in great outfits

Knitters trying to hulahoop

Knitters working on their wedding veil

I had so much fun, especially when I can drink beer and gossip with Ms. Jane and Ms. Meg... It's good to be here with a bunch of great friends!

And we came back to the hotel really tired. I truly don't know why I am not still asleep. Too excited to get ready for Day 3? More classes coming up and Jane and I are planning to actually discover some sides of Portland, besides sock knitters. ;-)

There will be more blogging later, no worries.

Well, Day 3 came and went. It was another great day. It ended with beer at the Ravelry party. Jane has pictures. I am not sure how much I need to pay her for releasing them.

So, since I have to pack my stuff this morning - and it's a lot... - I will report back later.

Oh, well, I can at least give you a picture of the damage I did yesterday:

What can I say... More yarn, more gadgets, more patterns, more tshirts... I am glad for my credit card that today is the last day at Sock Summit. There are just too many things to buy...

OMG... I can't believe that the 4 days at the Sock Summit have come and gone. It was great. I can't gush enough about the event. I am so glad that I got to go. So many nice people, so much yarn, so many gadgets, so many fabulous classes and famous teachers. That event will be hard to top. I can't wait for the next one. Hehehe...

But honestly, I am too tired right now to blog much more. I am also too tired to knit. I know... Pretty unbelievable. I got into Atlanta this morning at 6.00am and went straight to work. I have a major task at the office this - we are moving... So, I am going to bed now and a longer post - to catch you up on Day 3 and 4 and the classes Jane and I attended - will follow soon.

I can tell you one thing tho'. The girls and I already picked our next workshop. I can't wait to go. :-)