'Sock Summit 2009' Socks

If you are a sock knitter then you know what is starting today - SS09!! The end-all and be-all of a sock knitter's convention -the greatest sock show on earth- organized by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (the infamous & famous Yarn Harlot) and Tina Newton of Blue Moon Fiber Arts. The list of teachers & panel members reads like a Who's Who of the sock knitters, or just plain knitters, of the world...EVERYONE who is anyone in knitting will be attending. There are classes on any sock-knitting topic you can think of, receptions, parties, a closing panel discussion and there will be a Marketplace of over 150 vendors selling everything you can think of related to socks and more. In other words this convention will be a sock knitter's dream. You may ask why, then, this professed Sock-Knitting-Addict is NOT at SS09 and the answer would be: Portland, Oregon; because that is where SS09 is being held and that is on the other side of the country from where I am and so I stay here on the East Coast knitting 2-at-a-time-toe-up-socks on 2-circs in honor of Sock Summit 2009. While this really does not make up for the fact that I am not participating in this extraordinary happening, at least whenever I wear these socks I can think of SS09. I plan to knit on these socks every chance get during SS09 and may even have them close to finished by the time the exhausted but 'sock-satiated' attendees pack-up their newly purchased stash & head home. FYI: the stitch pattern is a ridged-rib & the socks will have a standard square heel. I used Judy's Magic Cast-on.

On another knitting front, I have switched to wood needles (the Harmony Wood circulars by KnitPicks) from the Addi Turbo and found that the knitting on the Cat's Paw lace scarf is moving along much more smoothly...it is over 2-feet long (unblocked) already and I have only been knitting on it for 2 months! OK, all you fast lace knitters out there - stop snickering, I can hear you. So now I can knit 30 rows at a time without hand fatigue instead of the 12 rows I could only knit at a time with the shorter, slipperier metal needles. You may be asking why is this so? And even if you are not asking, I am telling. The reasons for me are two-fold: the yarn doesn't slip & slide off these needles and the needle length (not the cable length) is longer & easier for me to hold in my hands. I just may be able to finish knitting this scarf before the first snow.

And to all of the participants in Sock Summit 2009 - 'Sock-On'! And a Happy Birthday to the incomparable Elizabeth Zimmerman. On August 9th, Elizabeth, perhaps the person most responsible for moving knitting forward into the modern age, would have been 99. Her daughter, Meg Swansen will be at SS09.

Now it is time for a cup of Davenport Pines morning tea as I sit knitting my Sock Summit 2009 socks hoping that SS10 will be held closer to my home.