To Be Continued

We have some test results back; not all of them are good. I'll let you know when we have more information to share. In the meantime, please send good thoughts; we're going to need them.

We now return to our regularly scheduled programming.

Remember the sweater I started way back when? The one I dragged around Sock Summit and the hospital and then back to work? It's done, been blocked, and been worn! Here it is on the day I wore it to work.

It's a simple top-down, round yoke cardigan. I started the yoke in garter, then put in a few rows of stockinette, a few more rows of garter, a few more of stockinette, a final single purl row on the right side and moved to all stockinette by the time I divided for sleeves. I did put on 10 rows of garter on the sleeves and bottom hem to prevent rolling. I also added garter button bands and found cute pink and orange buttons to pick up the colors in the yarn. Although it doesn't look like it in the picture, the pink in the sweater is the exact same color as my top, which is sleeveless and just a tad too low cut for the office. The sweater covers up the decolletage and my arm flaps so now I can wear this top to the office.

One of my co-workers, Katie, said her mother spins and had goats; I told her to give her mom the info to join the PDX Knit Bloggers and Portland Spinnerati and let her know that she is welcome to join us anytime. Well, it turns out Katie's mom owns Applebright Farm Pygoras and she very kindly sent me this sampler!

If those cute little goaties don't charm you, their fiber certainly will! All of the fiber is very soft and clean and the blends are just gorgeous. The little sample at the top is "Kona", a luscious pure white pygora that, I swear, is as fine as the cashmere samples I got from Judith McKenzie McCuin at Sock Summit.

I swore I'd take this to Westside Wednesday so the gals can get a feel of it before OFFF. I'm doing my darnedest to keep from spinning it all right away!

And I have been spinning. I finished and plied all the grey Jacob and about half of the gold/orange/green locks from Meg. I also spun singles of about half of the moss green and half of the turquoise from Meg, too. All of those are spun woolen long-draw for bulky yarns, which will eventually become Christmas presents. It's too late to get good pictures of the yarns, so I'll try to get them on next week's post.

I needed some commuter knitting, so I started a pair of socks for ToolMan. He liked this yarn from Sensations; it's called Bamboo and Ewe, which is a blend of superwash merino, bamboo, and nylon. It's my standard toe-up recipe with a made-up stitch pattern of simple knit and purl stitches, which turns out to look rather like crocodile skin when it's on his foot.

I'm using the knitting bag I got at WWKIP day to hold my knitting. It's just big enough to hold my pattern and two balls of yarn, and it has side pockets just made for holding socks in progress.

And it's the perfect size to fit inside my Sock Summit bag which I've using my big Sock Summit bag on a daily basis to carry all my stuff; it's big enough to carry my wallet, lunch, and knitting, and I use the outside pockets for my phone, water bottle, mp3 player, key cards, etc.

One last bit before I go; ToolMan had a colonoscopy and endoscope on Friday afternoon. The immediate results were mixed; some good and some not so good. We're waiting on biopsy results, which should be back on Wednesday afternoon. I'll post as soon as we have the results.

We're still here. Barely.

My Knit Sib, Cindy, sent an email asking how ToolMan and I were doing. I'm glad she did, because posting here had escaped my memory, so my response to her was most of what I'm posting here.

I feel like I haven't seen anybody in weeks! I know everyone was at Sock Summit, but I didn't really get a chance to just sit and knit and chat. Plus, I missed Wednesday knit night before and after Sock Summit.

ToolMan got to come home on Wednesday, which was my first day at back at work so our son Chris sat at the hospital until he was released. He is REALLY tired; napping both morning and afternoon so I've been doing dinner duty and getting Andy fed and shots, so both of us have been to bed early all week. By Saturday, I needed to catch up on laundry that hadn't been done in 2 weeks. There was just too much to do and I was too tired to get downtown for Spinnerati on Saturday.

I'm finishing up the round yoke cardigan this weekend; the body and both sleeves are done so only the button bands to remain to finish. I stopped at Joann's yesterday and found the perfect buttons. I'm making up the pattern as I go, but since it's top down construction I've been able to try it on as I go and adjust as necessary. I'll post pictures after it's been finished and blocked.

I have been spinning up the grey Jacob and some of the locks from the Exploded Clown box, but not much to look at yet. I'll post pictures of the yarn after it's been finished.

That's all for now; I'll try to post later in the week with the finished sweater. In the meantime, to paraphrase Elizabeth Zimmerman, "Knit on through all crises."

Another not so good day.

I had hoped to recuperate from Sock Summit over the next two days before returning to work on Wednesday. Alas, it was not to be. ToolMan woke up this morning coughing up blood, so it was back to the ER this morning. A brief exam shows that he has internal bleeding from at least two areas; one in either his esophagus or bronchial area and another in his colon. We're hoping it's a simple case of too many blood thinners and an adjustment of medication will take care of it. Meanwhile, they've administered two units of plasma, drastically reduced his blood thinners, and are monitoring his intake and output. Tomorrow will be tests; X-rays, scans, endoscope, colonoscopy, etc. He wants to come home tomorrow, but I think they will probably keep him until the test results are back. Let's hope for a clean bill of health; both of us are more than ready for a couple of quiet, boring weekends.

Sock Summit 2009, Days 3 and 4

Remember Paula, my fangirl from Day 2? Thanks to Tami and her fast kinneering, the moment she asked for my autograph is now preserved for posterity.


And I eventually composed myself enough to actually sign the sock blocker. I hope I left room for the real KnitStars to sign it, too.



Day 3 was the second full day in Judith's class; no pictures from that, but here's one from Day 4. She was teaching "Spinning Exotics for Socks". That's one of my Spinning Sisters, Melinda. She's gldelx on Ravelry and her blog; she says it's "goldilocks" but I think it's "girl, deluxe".

I hope she remembers the parts of Judith's classes that have since fallen out of my head. I'm sure some of it fell out; there certainly can't be enough room in there to hold everything she said over the last four days!

On Day 3 (Thursday, right? They're all starting to run together. Seriously.), I went home after classes, got Andy Rooney fed and his insulin shot in, and went back to the World Forestry Center for the Ravelry Meetup.

There were LOTS of people. Go over to Tami's Picassa album; she's got way better pictures of the meetup than I do.

I did spot Charisa Martin Cairn, who had come down from Seattle for the Meetup. She didn't go to Sock Summit (silly girl!) because she's not really a sock knitter. She's contemplating starting a new knitting (and maybe spinning, too) guild in Seattle with thoughts towards some Pacific Northwest retreats or workshops. I left her sitting on the steps, dove into the crowd, and came up with Deb, whom I drug (somewhat forcefully, I fear) over to Charisa. My introduction?

"Deb, this is Charisa. She wants to do Northwest fiber events. Charisa, this is Deb. She does Northwest fiber events. Discuss." And I left to go find the bar.

All too soon, it was dark and then Jess was on the p.a. system saying the bar would stay open as long as there was food, so we should either drink fast or eat slowly. Then they started calling numbers for door prizes.

Day 4 was a morning of classes and then the Luminary Panel in the afternoon. I tried to take pictures, but we were so far in the back that none of them came out very well. Go over to Rachel's blog, she's got better pictures of that than I got. There was a professional videographer set up, so when they offer a CD, I'll definitely buy one. Oh, and check out Duffy's blog, too; she got the ultimate souvenir. Wish I'd thought of it! And if you want the Sock Summit report to end all reports, go read MonicaPDX's blog; she'll take a few days of recuperation to get it all up, but I guarantee she'll have the most complete report of all!

At the end of the Luminary Panel, I went up to the front to say a final goodbye to the teachers I babysat: Nancy Bush and Judith McKenzie McCuin. They thanked me and I them, we exchanged hugs and emails, and promised to let each other know whenever we are near another's home so we can touch base. I don't know when I'll next see Nancy, but I hope to get over to SunRiver to see Judith at SOAR.

There had been drawings going on at the Marketplace for doorprizes, many of which were apparently not claimed. So, the ST-2 gals had bunched them into bags and were calling random names and giving away bags until they were all gone. Immediately after I had said my goodbyes to Nancy and Judith, my name was called for a bag. And what a bag of goodies it was! Inside was a packet of note cards and a packet of postcards of Knotes for Knitters from Local Gringos; an audio book of A History of Handknitting from Knitting Out Loud; a box with two skeins of Louet Gems, a bottle of Soak, and a sock pattern all from Louet; two bottles of goat's milk and shea butter hand lotion in Cupcake and Lemon Chiffon scents also from Local Gringos; a skein of beautiful green merino sock yarn from Sliver Moon Farm; three button from Katrinas Wool World; a set of five glass and silver stitchmarkers from Purrfectly Catchy Designs; and a set of six ebony Sox Stix dpns in size 1 from Lantern Moon.

As nice as it is to have goodies to bring home and fondle, I really do miss the Sock Summit! I've been to TKGA and Black Sheep and Oregon Flock and Fiber, but they really do not compare to Sock Summit. To have that many knitters, the vendors, the teachers, the Knitting Rock Stars, the Ravelry friends, all in one place, creates an atmosphere of camaraderie and friendship that simply cannot be described. I feel extremely grateful to Stephanie and Tina for sharing it with all of us and extremely blessed to have asked to take part. It was an experience that I will never forget.

Sock Summit 2009, Day 2

I rode in to Sock Summit Day 2 with Tami again today. It began with hordes of knitters lined up. For the MarketPlace. The line started at registration,



Stretched past the Starbucks, and



down almost to the other end of the concourse.

While I waited for time to set up for classes, I kinneered a few KnitStars.

Here's Kelly Petkun, owner of KnitPicks. Actually, Kelly and I are friends; I teased her about missing so many Portland Spinnerati meetings and told her she'd have to start attending to hear all about what I'm learning from Judith McKenzie McCuin.



Meanwhile, Cookie A was looking for something; I think maybe it was her classroom?




Jess and MaryHeather of Ravelry were spotted grabbing their coffees.



Lucy Neatby was wandering the halls, looking colorful. I know this was blurry, but she was moving FAST! And yes, her hair really is pink and purple; her shoes were pink and green. One of each.



I spent a wonderful morning listening to Judith McKenzie McCuin talk about spinning exotic fibers for socks. Can you imagine socks made of cashmere? How about baby camel? Yak and merino? Silk? Her favorite? A blend of merino, angora, and silk. Can you imagine how luxurious those must feel?

Here's Judith handing some Chinese cashmere to some of the students. The one in the black is Sandi Wiseheart, of Knitting Daily, who was back for a second class with Judith.



Here's my spinning sister, Sara Ferguson, who was also in the class today. I helped Sara get started spinning and taught her exactly one lesson before she sprouted wings and flew on her own. I got the best compliment possible today when Judith looked at her spinning and said, "Well, it looks like you've been doing this forever."



Class was only 3 hours today because there were plans afoot to set a new Guinness Book of World Record today. I stayed to lock up Judith's classroom, so I missed the event, but I know they not only broke the old record of 256 people knitting simultaneously, they absolutely smashed it with over 1,000. While waited for Judy Becker to finish helping set that record, I was busy kinneering again.

Here's Ann Hanson, who had just finished teaching a class on designing socks and was probably plotting to teach even more people to design socks.



Here's Stephen of the hizknits blog being chatted up by fans.



And I have no idea who this guy is, but I'll kinneer any man brave enough to: (1) wear a kilt, and (2) go to a knitting convention.



Then Judy showed up and could hardly contain herself. She had a class this morning with Barbara Walker. I KNOW I would have been squeeling, too! After her class, Barbara had asked her students if they'd like to buy some things she was selling. Can you believe it? Judy got a pair of socks (knitted by Barbara!), a little talisman bag (again, knitted by Barbara!) and a deck of Barbara's Tarot Cards!

She's always told me that she has dibbs on the ToolMan, so I asked her if she'd trade me for the socks. She turned me down. Some friend she turned out to be!

I grabbed a quick bite and headed over to make a turn through the Marketplace and give StitchJones a chance to shop while I watched her booth for her. Guess who I spotted in the tables?

The one and only, elusive, MonicaPDX! I know; she's blurred. I'm tellin' you, these knitter people are so high on yarn fumes that they are moving FAST!

Here's Brian from Skacel. Not the best picture, but this crazed knitter is knitting seven pairs of socks on one circular needle. Yes, you heard right; a week's worth of socks in one swell foop. He's either genius or crazy, we haven't decided which. Yet.



I made a stop by Abundant Yarn and captured this scene. No, it is not a porno film in the making! That's Stevanie Pico, the brilliant dyer, licking a temporary tattoo which she has stuck to Larissa Brown's . . . um, . . . chest. Good thing they're friends.



I got to StitchJones booth and took over for her so she would have a chance to cruise the Marketplace. I loved having a chance to pimp her yarn and brag on my friend. Just as StitchJones returned, Tami also returned.

We were chatting with a couple of customers and getting ready to leave when a woman walked up to me, she said she read my blog and would I sign her sock blocker! I blurted out something along the lines of "Somebody get a camera because I found the person who reads my damn blog!" Yes, you can dress me up, but you can't take me out in public. Paula, wherever you are, you MADE my day!

Sock Summit 2009, Day 1

Today at Registration, the line wasn't quite as long as yesterday, but there still were people coming in.

I hitched a ride with Tami, and we arrived about 8:30 a.m. The place was already crawling with knitters.

Every chair at every table had a knitter in it.

There were KnitStars to be spotted; if you look carefully at that front table below, you'll see the Knitmore Girls. That's Jasmine with the bright pink hair and Gigi to her left.

I also spotted Sandi Wiseheart, Amy Singer of Knitty fame, Joan Schrouder, Chrissy Gardiner, Deb Accuardi who does the "At the Kitchen Table" podcast, Cat Bordhi, Morgaine of Carolina Handspun, Jess and Casey (and Bob) from Ravelry, and Judy Becker. I spotted them and either I was running an errand for one of my teachers or they were in the midst of something, so I didn't get pictures. I'll try to get shots during the book signing tomorrow.

When class time came, the concourse looked practically deserted.

See, there were even empty chairs at Starbucks!

I had been assigned to be the volunteer teacher's aide for Nancy Bush, but when I got to the classroom and introduced myself, Nancy said she was pretty self-sufficient, but . . . . And then Stephanie poked her head through the door. Nancy explained that she really didn't need an assistant, but Judith McKenzie McCuin was next door and her usual assistant was not able to come with her. So, I was tagged to cover both teachers!

Judith's class today was "The Gentle Art of Spinning for Socks", and I can tell you that even without a wheel, I learned a tremendous amount. I think I probably have enough new information to build several lesson for Portland Spinnerati!

Classes let out at 4:30, so Tami and I hit the Marketplace. We made a beeline to the SockSummit booth and each of us snagged a great knitting bag with the Sock Summit logo on the front.

We made a quick swing around to see StitchJones' booth and decide we needed a plan before tackling the whole thing. Thank goodness we have 3 more days to snag whatever we can't live without!

Now, I've got to unpack the two bags I hauled today, consolidate into the new bag, and rest up for tomorrow. I plan on Kinneering as many KnitStars as I can.

Sock Summit 2009 Early Registration

So, ToolMan and I trekked downtown to the Convention Center so I could register early and get my final volunteer instructions. We worked our way over to the Dragon Boat, under which was the registration desk. Holy cow; the lines were already waaaaay long! I whipped out the camera to take a picture, pushed the power button, and . . . . nada. Dead battery. So you'll just have to take my word that the PDX Knit Bloggers were there in force. Some were working the desk, and others squatted at a table and were knitting. MonicaPDX was there; so was Judy Becker, whom Rachel and Angela embarrassed by going all fangirl on her (like they couldn't get her autograph any Wednesday night!). And the Knitmore Girls, who came over to schmooze and snuggle trtlbby. Of course, Tina was there, and Stephanie, and RachelHoftheComm. I also spotted lots of others, too many to mention really. And we met some new friends who came for the Summit. I got my credentials and my marching orders: I am to be the teachers aide/bodyguard/nanny for Nancy Bush for the duration. But I will be sneaking out from time to time to take pictures for the nightly blog posts. Provided my camera works. And yes, the battery is charging right this very minute.

Just checking in

Just a few lines to let everyone know we're doing fine. ToolMan is recovering slowly but surely. He's taking it easy, especially during the heatwave ("Sunami 2009") we recently had, but is already back to puttering in his garage and working on sock blockers and shawl pins for OFFF.

I'm busy getting ready for Sock Summit next week; lots of fun stuff to talk about there! I'll try to get at least a short post up every night of the Summit, with pictures, so you can see the goings on.