In Which Things End as Strangely as they Started

Here are some things that surprised me in the last few days of sock camp.

1. How very, very seriously knitters took making their little sock monkeys. By Friday, clothing and accessorizing the little gaffers had become an obsessive endeavour, and by the time we were all ready to play “show me your monkey” on Friday night, they were all nothing short of art.

Ballerinamonkey2004Bitermonkey2004Monkeyline2004Stashmonkey2004

Yogamonkey2004Bonenosemonkey2004Bongomonkey2004Brokebackmountain2004

Knitterstakingmonkey2004Shrinermonkey2004DownwardmonkeyAnythinghelps2004

There were homeless monkeys, monkeys doing yoga, shriner monkeys, brokeback mountain monkeys, monkeys with “hobbies”, monkeys with habits… monkeys, monkeys, monkeys. Be sure to click to embiggen these monkeys, they are totally worth it. We even buried Debbie, the pattern’s designer, in monkeys…an experience from which she is sure to never recover.

Debbieisburied2004

My monkey? Well. I got a little carried away. My monkey knit a little sock on dpns (toothpicks)

Mymonkeysknitting2004

Mymonkeyknits2004

and because he was busy I made him an argyle vest to wear.

Mymonkeyvest2004

We had a sock puppet show, which was funny from the front,

Sockmonkeyshow2004

but way funnier from the back.

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We had a talent show, with Yodelling knitters (you have no idea how rare yodelling knitters are) dancing knitters and a camp song (Addicted to yarn) sung to the Robert Palmer classic, complete with backup knitters. (I have no good pictures of this. Know that it was the brainchild of Stephen at Hizknits, and will likely show up on the Yknit podcast at some point.)

I think that it would not be a mistake to say that the bartenders for the whole final evening were so stunned that they could scarcely move.

Barkeeps2004

It was incredible to watch them. They couldn’t look away. They were glued. They were stunned and amazed and they had no idea what hit them. The two of them were exceedingly awesome, considering that they were entirely shellshocked by the number and nature of sock camp.

Then, just when I thought it couldn’t get any weirder…

Snowonorcas2004

It snowed.

(I’m starting to take the snow thing personally. I think winter is following me.)

There’s an altitude thing going on here that totally freaked me out.

Snowonmountainorcas2004

See that? Below a certain altitude it all melted off the trees, but for a good twelve hours there it snowed. Totally bizarre. More bizarre? I finished socks.

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Blue Moon Socks that Rock Heavyweight… 3.25mm needles, colourway that is currently a rare gem but will be for sale as soon as Tina gets to it. (Grimm’s Garden, when it’s done.)

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These worked up like lightning, but still fit in shoes and are brilliantly comfy. I’ll write up the pattern for you as soon as I make another pair to check my work. Darned nice. For now, I’m off to bed. Tomorrow is the event at Third Place Books in Seattle, then the Earth Day event in Portland the day after. I’ll be really sad to leave the island, but totally happy to get back to a place with regular internet and cell phone service.

156 thoughts on “In Which Things End as Strangely as they Started

  1. Reading your blog is almost as good as going to sock camp. I love sock monkeys!!! Thank you!

  2. Hate to tell you, but the snow is in Portland too. I LOVE the monkeys and can’t wait until Tuesday! Though it will probably be so crowded I’ll be hovering in the back row.

  3. Both your monkey and your socks are the ultimate of ‘oh my’! I look forward to the pattern…I love a quick knit sock!

  4. As I am planning on driving down to Seattle to see you tomorrow, could you please send the snow on its way for awhile?

  5. MOOOOOOMMMMMMYYYYYYY!!!!!!! I wanna go to sock camp next year!!!!!
    I was so sorry that I missed you in Ann Arbor. It looks like it was a heckuva party, but my non-knitting boss thought it was more important to get the company’s billing finished and insisted that I stay and help. She’s so mean. She is NOT getting new mittens for Christmas.

  6. I’m sad to be off the Sock Camp Island too, though happy to be in touch with the rest of the world, including first and foremostly my family. Even if they don’t entirely ‘get it’ like the roomful of campers, teachers & Sockateers did! That was the best part, being among my people. I hope my yarn follows me home….(Lisa was kindly mailing it for me.) It snowed AGAIN in Seattle, delayed my flight an hour & a half. When I’m flying from Seattle to Minneapolis in April, I don’t expect to need deicing in Seattle, for heaven’s sake!
    Do remember to tell your mother that you have Giselle feet (and by the way, if for some crazed reason you did decide to take up a professional dance career, they are the perfect feet for pointe shoes. P-e-r-f-e-c-t. Much better than tapered toes.)

  7. Oh wow, that looks like it was so much fun! Wish I was there.
    It snowed here this afternoon. Snow, on April 20th. When will the madness end?

  8. Hey Chick, come to sunny Australia, where it NEVER snows in Sydney, and the beaches are perfect all year round (and there’s lots of knitterly type people to talk to).
    cheers,

  9. That looks like so much fun! Thank you so much for sharing those pictures.
    That you could knit your monkey an argyle vest absolutely blows me away. It also made me look closer at the picture, which is suspicously labeled 2004.
    Something else you’d like to share with us? *grin*

  10. Did you happen to ask the bartenders whether either of them was a blogger? I would love to go read their accounts of the evening!

  11. “Blue Moon Socks that Rock Heavyweight…”
    I totally misread that and thought you said Heavenweight. Which, perhaps, they really are 🙂

  12. I have to say that I think that the pictures of the bartenders is the absolute best part of all of this. I am reminded of the look on a caterer’s face once when she catered a party for several hundred linguists (of whom I was one). She had no idea what to do with a bunch of people who all spent their lives paying attention to how people talk and talking about how people talk. Now if only they’d all been knitting linguists…
    I’ve GOT to go to sock camp someday.

  13. Love the monkeys! Sock camp sounds like a blast! Stunned bartenders? You’d think those guys have seen everything. They probably made a pact to never tell anyone about it–who would believe them? Looking forward to the new sock pattern. So glad you’ve had a good time, times like that are refreshing for the soul.

  14. If you believe in forever,
    Then sock camp isn’t all that far,
    And if there’s a knitterly heaven,
    You know they’ve got a helluva bar…

  15. I am going to be the saddest panda ever if I’m not well enough to see you in Seattle tomorrow night. I was going to introduce you to my bebe!

  16. The bartenders! Ha!! I believe they are wondering whether they have somehow stumbled into a different dimension…

  17. wow. sock monkeys. i have been stalking your sock camp posts all week — the whole concept is so amazing to me. but i’m completely blown away by the monkeys. gotta get my hands on that pattern!

  18. Brilliant! Love the monkeys. 🙂
    btw, here in wine country (California), it’s supposed to be 30 F tonight. Brrrrrr. Totally unseasonable. Do you suppose it will get warm again when you’re no longer on the west coast? 😉

  19. Aargh! LOVE DEM MONKEYS! Gotta get me one or two or several! And it snowed here, too– Lake Tahoe… temps at night about 20. Days sunny and gorgeous!
    Want Monkey. Want Monkey. Want Monkey. Arr.

  20. Lovin’ the Monkey Business. Sounds like it was a a good party. I hope you are rested (enough) for the next leg of your journey. Or, should I say yours and Monkey’s journey? Traveling sock and monkey. Oh yeah.

  21. Very cool. Love the monkeys; love the socks.
    I was totally taken aback when I took a trip to Oregon a couple of weeks ago, and got snowed on.
    Snow? At sea level? After Easter?
    As an Angeleno, I was completely disoriented. Angelenos only get snowed on by working hard at it. We have an idiom for it, “going to the snow,” which northerners don’t get at all.

  22. I cannot wait to see you at Third Place tomorrow, but I think it only fair to warn you that it’s been snowing on and off since Friday. 🙁 I will be hoping it’s at least 55 here for you tomorrow!
    Your sock monkey is freakin’ brilliant, btw. Love him.

  23. Thank you again for your time at Sock Camp. It was great fun. I recommend it to anyone. Those of us flying out on the seaplane Saturday morning barely made it out. If we had been two minutes later, we would have had to wait until the weather cleared. The sock monkey gods were with us and we got out. Made it to the airport in plenty of time to get on my plane back to the SF Bay Area. BTW, rumor has it that you may be in SF on May 3rd.

  24. Reminds be of a Barenaked Ladies song!
    Another postcard, with chimpanzees
    And every one is addressed to me…
    Some chimps in swimsuits
    Some chimps in Jackboots
    Some chimps in hard hats
    Some chimps who love cats
    I’ve got some shaved chimps; that’s chimps devoid of any hair
    I’ve got depraved chimps dressed up in the women’s underwear.

  25. MAN! I’ve GOT to get me one of those sock camp experiences! =) show me your monkey LOL LOL do you want to pet my monkey? How many people said that? hahahaha The whole thing is hysterical esp the bartenders – they look morbidly interested and confused (and scared it might be contagious) heheeeee

  26. YAY! I have finished reading ALL the archives!
    Damn… now I have to read one day at a time…
    Hi from Australia. I’ve loved reading the last few years of knitting stories (though my hubby thinks I’ve cracked.) I’ve been inspired to make knitted presents (have started for Christmas already) and laughed myself silly. I was so sad to have missed the 2006 Olympics. I’ve been impressed by your biking holidays, jealous of your wool stash, struggling with the new urge to knit socks and lace, wet-blocking my knitting…
    Canadians, with their metrics and beer, seem very Australian to me. You would be totally at home here, except for the fact that knitted Christmas presents are a bit weird when it’s 35 outside… But we make up for that by (sensibly) having Christmas on one of the longest days of the year.
    We don’t do minus 30, either! And snow is a rare thing in Ballarat.
    Tell me, how did you knit when your girls were small? My 11-month old, Byron, is the biggest wool-pig you could imagine! I can’t knit anything while he’s conscious… unless I let him tangle the wool. Sigh. Is is too early to give him knitting needles?
    Monkey socks on toothpicks…! Ü

  27. Oh, it snowed in my state! I thought my parents were joking when they told me about the forecast. Here in my “other” state (where I go to college) it was 75 and sunny today. Awesome, although not particularly conducive to finishing my wool sweater. Enjoy Seattle!
    p.s. the sock on toothpicks is amaaaazing.

  28. Dude–we’re getting some of that shockingly cold blowback–but I’ve got to say the bartenders are cracking me up. Can you just hear them talking about the gig later? “What’d you do tonight.” “Knitters, man…they were nuts!” “What, did they drink a lot?” “Not a blessed thing–it must have been the wool fumes or something dude…weird!”

  29. Monkey snow, monkey dew. And was that Groucho Marx in the middle? Wonderful fun, thank you for letting us in on it. The bartenders folding their arms defensively against the onslaught are a hoot!

  30. How do I get to Sock Camp next year?
    I love the monkeys (gotta get that pattern!) and the socks!
    You will be in Portland for my birthday. I’m still trying to figure out how to get there.

  31. When you came to Seattle two years ago I could not attend. I think it was my birthday. Last year I could not attend, it was Oldest Daughter’s birthday. This year. This year I made a commitment to volunteer at an event. It is killing me. Could they live without me? Yes. But I did say I would be there. What should I do? I will probably not decide until I am in the car, driving one place or the other.
    Next time you do a tour, please have your publicist call me first? Thank you.
    Terri

  32. Sock camp was awesome Stephanie!! Thank you so much for being a part of it! Yes, the bartenders were stunned! And there was monkey madness everywhere 🙂 Can’t wait for next year!
    Love the socks by the way!

  33. I’m hoping to make it to Seattle to see you tomorrow. God willing, the snow stops and the passes stay open!
    Can’t wait!

  34. the wife has told me that I should absolutely try to do sock camp next year, and heaven knows I want to… do they allow small babies? we hope to have one by then.
    *sigh* well, if not, I’ll live it vicariously (again) through you!
    thank you for sharing- I can ALMOST hear the raucous laughter…

  35. The weather has varied so much in this corner of the country lately. One Saturday Seattle is almost 80F and the next we get snow flurries. The altitude bit isn’t that wierd for here, but it’s rare to get such a good view of it.
    I went up to 3rd Place today and bought a slew of books for both me and for friends who are and aren’t coming tomorrow. I also got a copy to get signed for my one-year-as-of-April-16th Blogiversary contest (comment on my blog before midnight Pacific time Wednesday) and really look forward to seeing you there. I hope you’ll be rested up from camp but still on the knitter’s high when you arrive.

  36. Sock camp surely is the height of inexplicable knitter behavior. Did you plan this al together? I love what you do.

  37. Three cheers for regular cell phone and internet service. The island was lovely (as were all the monkeys) but I’m glad to be home where I can fondle my newly acquired stash. When I showed it to hubby he just said “Is that it? I thought there would be more?” Can wait for next year!

  38. Oh, so you’re the one to blame the snow on, ok. We got tons of snow here in Edmonton, and south of Calgary (by about 2 hours) my grandma is actually kind of snowed in (seriously, she has about 2 feet of snow around her house).

  39. Love those monkeys–they’re priceless! At my cottage in Haliburton on the weekend, it was hot enough for shorts and a t-shirt, yet there were still big patches of snow on the ground. While I was sweating in the sun, my dog was rolling in the snow. Kind of weird. Like we went straight from winter to summer, with no spring in between.

  40. Re: snow. Figures, Toronto (ok, Burlington, to be honest) was quite lovely this weekend – not too warm, but mostly bright and sunny. I shuddered when I saw that the poor Calgarians were under a snow warning and being asked not to go out unless it was utterly necessary.
    Enjoy Portland & Seattle. May they both be a happy ending to what sounds like a heck of a week. =)

  41. Hey, at least you have proper snow. Over here in England you get a few centimetres which usually turns to grey manky slush within a few hours. I notice, however, that you’re visiting in September, so perhaps you’ll bring us some decent snow. One can only hope.
    Those monkeys are very cool, too. You could make a lovely mobile for a cot with them, I’m thinking.

  42. The socks! The monkeys! The sock monkeys! The bartenders! Too Much Fun. We have dial-up at home so I can’t wait to get to work to get close ups of all the monkeys. They look inspired(ing).
    Tam, I was sad too when I finished reading all the archives. Steph, thanks again for sharing.

  43. Instead of a sock-in-progress for the pictures for the rest of your book tour,how about some sock monkey pictures?Or the sock monkey working on your sock-de-jour?Just a thought…
    (Almost couldn’t get past the title of your first sock camp post…too funny!)

  44. Love the socks! What fun colors. I’m glad to hear she’ll make it an official colorway.
    So how many times did you hear the phrase “touch my monkey” over the weekend?

  45. Love the monkeys! I don’t know if I had truly ever seen competitive knitting. 🙂
    We have had snow on & off for the last two weeks–a phenomenon not unknown in Idaho, but snow in April is generally limited to parts of Idaho in which I have the sense not to reside. I think we might have caused it by trying to get an early start on the garden. Rats!

  46. You know, if you gave me those socks, I might possibly get over my jealousy at not going to Sock Camp. You know, in case you feel any guilt about going when the rest of us were slaving away at real jobs.
    And if you don’t feel any guilt, I REALLY want to be you!

  47. I thought the bartenders at our composting and livestock manure management conferences looked bemused. But you guys get the prize for Bartender Shellshock. I bet they dine out on you for a week.
    Hope you got to explore the island… the potteries and the trees are both awesome. Enjoy the rest of the tour!

  48. OMG! The look on the bartenders faces is priceless. I would have liked to hear their pre-party conversation. “A bunch of sock knitters, eh? They’ll probably have a few glasses of wine and then toddle off with their walkers. It’ll be an early night.” Ha!
    Love the monkeys. LOVE the monkeys.
    And, like everyone else, I want to go to sock camp.

  49. My favorite picture is the one of the bartenders. Can you imagine the stories they had to tell? Wow.

  50. I am so jealous of you at sock camp! I live in the east and would love to go to sock camp. This last week of posts on sock camp (with tons of photos!) has just made my life excruciating. Do we need an eastern sock camp? Is there one?

  51. I was once at a weekend gathering of fans (hey man, it was Firefly, I feel no shame in admitting) that took place in a US hotel, and the bartenders were so awestruck and impressed with the level of energy and enthusiasm that radiated from the crowds. One of them said that it impressed him so much because he had never thought it would be possible for people to share such passion and excitement about something in their lives. It had genuinely made him re-think a couple of things. I’m glad your bartenders were so enthralled!
    And I’m glad you’re feeling refreshed, I hope the rest of your tour goes well. THere is definitely plenty of sunshine waiting for you in Ontario!

  52. I’ve gotta get me one of those monkeys! I’m seeing a monkey themed Christmas…the monkey hat with a little monkey friend. 🙂
    Sock camp sounds like a lot of fun!!

  53. Deb! Hurray for Debbie! I love her. I am so glad she wrote up a pattern for you all. I am a big fan of her grey sock monkey. I will be buying that pattern as soon as it goes public. 🙂
    I would love to know how one signs up for sock camp. I would love to go! 🙂

  54. I SO want to go to sock camp one of these days…
    And the bartenders? Sadly I”ve seen that look before. On my brother in law’s face. At the cottage. Every time I pull out knitting. Still, after 16 years of marriage to his brother. Sheesh.
    Guess we won’t see you at the Frolic – one day off between IL and MA, even if you are at home, it’s family time…

  55. Thank you so much for a great start to my day. Those monkeys really had me laughing. I think I like yours best (oh that vest) with the one cuddling her stash second. However so many of them are true originals it is hard to choose next places in liking. Life should be like Sock Camp.
    Namaste,

  56. I’m sure the bartenders had a great time trying to explain what they saw to their friends and family. How exactly do you put all that into words without it sounding stupid? You know the story ends with ‘I guess you just had to be there.’
    Love the sock monkeys.

  57. OK, so, after last year’s sock camp I thought I might want to join in. But, after THIS year’s camp, I know that I MUST attend. How does one go about signing up for sock camp?

  58. Sock camp sure looked like a whole lot of fun! I love the monkeys and those socks you knit.
    And, I think I am going to start saving for next year’s sock camp now. 🙂

  59. Sock camp sounds like a hoot. Looks like fun was had by all. I can’t wait for the monkey pattern.
    I have to comment on something you said in a few post back. You were waiting at the airport and saw another knitter but was too shy to go over and talk to her. This slays me. What didn’t accure to you was that she probably looked up from her knitting saw you and said to herself “Oh my God, thats Stephanie the Yarn Harlot.” and then began to argue with herself over whether she should go over and say hi to you or if you would mind the interuption. And in the end talked herself out of it like you did. So I say the next time you see a knitter at the airport, go on over. They will probably be thrilled with your company. And if the gods are kind that knitter will be me.

  60. I love the sock monkeys. Is there somewhere to get the pattern? Your blog is a hoot. Thanks for sharing with us. I am in rural Alabama so I guess I will not ever get the opportunity to see you in person. Unless you want to come to a quiet little town where no one will bother you..lol

  61. while individually I find the sock monkeys adorable… seeing debbie smothered in them- (albeit smiling) is somewhat disturbing and quite possibly will fuel a knitterly nightmare…
    That said- I will be knitting a gaggle of them as soon as the pattern is up;) just cute. I sense keychains with dangling sock monkeys for my teenaged pals for christmas;)

  62. I love the sock monkeys. They are such wonderful little canvases for knitter minds.
    I’m sorry about the snow. It has been in the upper 50s most of the weekend, warm enough to go running in shorts and a tshirt.

  63. OMGoodness, the look on the bartenders’ faces was freakin’ hilarious.
    Feel for you re: the snow. Although, oddly enough here in Minneapolis/St. Paul, it was warm enough this a.m. for me to walk the shortest to shool with no coat on–not even a fleece or a light jacket. After such a bitterly cold winter, sunshine feels almost surreal.
    I hope you get a lot of surreal, then on the rest of your tour!

  64. I’m sure someone’s already said it, but I haven’t read all the comments…
    Those sock monkeys are a STITCH!
    (((hugs)))

  65. Color me green– with envy!!! I’m happy that all of you had such wonderful experiences at sock camp… but I want to go too!!!!!!! Sock monkeys? Stunned bartenders? Does it get any better than that?! Thanks as always for the fabulous blog. You are a knitting ROCKSTAR!

  66. Please tell us someone got pics of you knitting on toothpicks! That just proves that the Yarnharlot can knit a sock on anything.
    And poor bartenders. They have no idea that they were witness to an historic event — the start of the ‘knitters taking over the world’ revolution.

  67. First of all there is something just so wrong in luring those two innocent bartenders to work at a venue billed as “Show Me Your Monkey”. I’m sure it was definitely more bizarre than the peep show they were expecting, I do believe that they felt they were set up.
    Second of all, don’t you think it a little difficult to defend your position as to the strange and serious nature of the knitters dressing up their monkeys, when you yourself knit an argyle vest and a tiny sock for your own monkey? Clearly, the monkey’s have taken over the asylum.
    And thirdly, after reading all the lyrics about chimps and monkeys by the “Barenaked Ladies” in your comments, I’m beginning to think maybe this monkey obsession is another “Canadian thing” that you brought with you, like the snow. Maybe not, I could be wrong about that, but when it snows in the middle of April, we here in the lower 48 need to have something to point our fingers at. It may as well be our neighbors to the north,(well, it doesn’t make sense to look to Mexico, snow doesn’t come from the south) No, when it comes to snow it’s best practice to blame Canada, failing that we’ll blame Canadians, but don’t take it personally.
    Fourthly, I am clearly jealous, (even if I can’t spell it), of all the fun you all had at sock camp.
    However on a brighter note I also finished a pair of socks, but you don’t get to see them because I haven’t posted them yet. I’m sure you can’t tell by this post but I’ve been pretty quiet lately, I haven’t posted much of anything as of late, not sure whom to blame for that but I’m sure I’ll think of something. I know! How about Mexico? Yeah, I’ll blame Mexico. It’s not like we blame Mexico, or Mexicans for much of anything.

  68. Oh, those monkey pics are wonderful! Thanks so much for posting them! (And for the pic of the bartenders. Wish I could hear them tell their friends how their weekend went…!)

  69. I want a monkey! I can’t believe I dropped the ball again and am going to miss seeing you in Seattle. I have a meeting tonight at the exact time you’re appearing. Grrrr…Maybe next time.

  70. SOCK MONKEYS!!! Why am I not surprised that hizKNITS had you do a music video??? I’m so greeeeeeen with envy right now, that, if I could, I’d register for 2009 Sock Camp right this moment. Please, please, please tell me that there will be one in 2009!

  71. Love the Monkeys — especially your knitting monkey, from toothpick dp’s to Argyle vest.
    Also, love the “deer in headlights” looks on the bartenders’ faces. “OK, boss, no more knitter gigs — those women are DEMENTED! Do you know what they were knitting? Freakin’ Monkeys!!!”

  72. I was just thinking this morning (in anticipation of seeing you tonight in Seattle), that you chose a really interesting week to attend Sock Camp. Our weather has just been plain weird this month!
    So what kind of beer do you want? A nice Amber or a Belgian White? I’m partial to the Belgian.

  73. I am guessing that the bartenders wondered what bar everyone was at before THEY started to serve everyone! To fun!!!

  74. From the looks on their faces, I can tell that those young men are going to be telling their “then there was the time I worked the knitting event” story to their grandchildren. Job well done, I say!

  75. Your blog gives a whole new meaning to ‘Monkey Business’. Very creative and sounds like such fun.
    As for the snow … (caption in our local newspaper) Springtime in Elko — Weather Coaster
    It snowed most of yesterday, altering between melthing and white-outs. Arrgh!!
    Hope the weather improves before your trip to Salt Lake City.

  76. I just love the sock monkeys!! hope we can get the pattern to make our own!! you could come to florida and bring the winter with you!! I’m sure most of us would not mind one bit!

  77. I am seriously IN LOVE with the sock monkeys (love the vest on yours)!
    Since I live in the same general area you’ve been visiting, I had the weird snow effect too. It snowed all around me actually – at my sister’s house (45 minutes away), at hubby’s work (30 minutes away), but not here. I could see snow on the hills and mountains around me, but we just got the cold. I’m very ready for a little warmth.
    Oh, and one quick question – When on earth are you coming back to Vancouver BC?

  78. The “altitude thing” with snow is wonderful. All the good features and none of the bad. It snowed briefly this AM but didn’t stick in the valley. I walked home for lunch and admired my tulips and forsythia (snuggly wrapped in warm scarf and jacket) and then looked out the windows at the snow in the mountains. We don’t plant tomatoes until the snow is gone.

  79. A couple of my knitting buds got the chance to meet with you when you were in Charlotte.
    I’m SO Jealous.
    I think the argyle vest on your monkey is cute.

  80. Need sock monkay pattern. Were can this be aquired. Need more sock monkey pictures. please post links. sock monkeys are cute and adorable and need loving.

  81. Absolutely love your site…my first time to actually read through a month’s worth of blogging. You are the bomb! Loved the monkeys and your socks are fantastic. Thank you for bringing the knitters of the world your humor and insight in this crazy world of ours! I am now wondering why I went to Santa Fe and Taos instead of joining knitters in Denver to see you in person…..

  82. Brokeback mountain monkeys??? Do explain.
    In Colorado, we get that altitude thing with the snow all the time. Pretty cool to look at isn’t it?
    Like your socks. Haven’t tried the heavy weight STR yet though. Might have to get some.

  83. I am of the belief that years from now all this will come back to haunt Stephen. You really should have snapped some photos.

  84. Sock camp looks like so much fun that I want to knit my first pair of socks. Anyone have any suggestions for the least painful start?

  85. Bartenders?! I’ve never attended a a knitterly event with bartenders! Love the sock monkeys. I hope you rested enough to finish the tour in peace and health.

  86. I’m from Victoria and went to Salt Spring for the weekend was totally thinking of you when it snowed. I wondered if you were still on Orca and if that the snow had followed you because seriously, it NEVER snows in this area in mid April. There were record snowfalls. Did you leave on Sunday? Because it was a beautiful sunny day. 🙂 Though it was neat – we went for a hike and it was still very snowy part way up. If the snow really is following you, thanks for the treat. 😉

  87. Your sock monkey doesn’t know how good he’s got it with someone willing to make him a little monkey vest and half knit him a sock with TOOTHPICKS! You wonder knitter, you.

  88. Must. Make. Sock. Monkey.
    Oh, and Rachel H.? A belated **Happy Birthday!!!** Sorry I’m late, my blog-perusal has been sadly interupted by an injury. Just getting back to the ‘puter.

  89. SERIOUSLY! How I get to go to sock camp! Do you have to rock at socks or just love making them no matter how wonky they turn out??? Must go to sock camp…..I looked at your link to the location but no info on sock camp…. Must go to sock camp or will wait at Harlot’s door until she goes next time and give her wool to make her let me go too…

  90. Oh, yes, I am one of those rare birds–a yodeling knitter. Maybe I can come to camp next year and yodel for you!
    Love those sock! Want some of that yarn!

  91. Please, please, please….can we have the pattern for the sock monkey? Pleeeeeease?

  92. For some reason, of all those hilarious pictures, it was the picture of the muggle bartenders that made me laugh until I had tears in my eyes.

  93. Sock monkey who knits with toothpicks. Gads, I can find difficulty in knitting with regular dpns and can only imagine what magic you had to work to make his teeny little sock….lets just color me green and go on, ok?

  94. I’m sorry to have missed an event so magically bizzare and awesome that it stunned professional bartenders. And they can’t even tell stories because. . . who would believe them but other knitters?

  95. YOU are the reason for the snow! I knew there must be a reason beyond nature for it… because nature wouldn’t have done this to us in Seattle without help.
    You know, I left Alaska because it snowed in Anchorage in April. This white stuff must stop!

  96. I made the husband read the blog today. His reaction? “Wow, knitters are funny- and scary.”
    And, by the way? It was 86 degrees here in Oklahoma today. When I turned on the oven it heated up the WHOLE HOUSE so I actually broke down and turned on the AC. My hubby, who’s working in Washington, had to drive to work in the snow. Tee-hee.

  97. I live 200 miles south and east of Seattle. It was 54 degrees out yesterday afternoon and snowing. Go figure. Is that global warming?

  98. Hiya. Love the sock monkeys. What STR colourway did you use to knit yours?
    Fantastic to hear that Tina’s turning the rare gems into a colourway – do you know if she’s doing it with any of the other rare gems? Living here in Australia we don’t have access to all of the goodies that you guys do 🙂

  99. Monkeys!!!
    Looks like a great time was had by all (even the bartenders, once they’d got over the shock!). I’d love to have been a fly on the wall when they went home to their families. “Honey, you would not believe what happened tonight…”

  100. As a card-carrying member of the Association of Primate Veterinarians – and a compulsive knitter – I can’t wait for the sock monkey pattern! Send it soon!

  101. Thanks Stephanie, I can almost feel that I’ve been to Sock Camp now! Your pictures and descriptions are beyond wonderful.

  102. Stephanie, you are awesome. I’ve been reading your blog for a while and you continue to inspire me (not to mention crack me up) on a daily basis. I now want to knit a monkey of my very own.

  103. monkey see monkey do
    go back up to webs and listen
    to the interview if i want
    yarn guess i had better call
    happy birthday to whom ever

  104. I just had to write back and tell you what my husband is now calling Stephanie…The Knitting Wench. He forgot The Yarn Harlot so he’s decided that knitting wench is close enough.
    he’s really a pretty good guy…drove me to Charlotte so I could be in the presence of greatness.
    I, like everyone else want to go to sock camp!!

  105. Love the monkeys and the new socks. I also love your new book which I bought yesterday as a treat for not buying more sale yarn. (Yes, my stash is too big for a slow knitter.) ‘Things I Learned From Knitting’ is funny and thought-provoking. There really is so much to learn from knitting!

  106. Well, your monkey proves that you are not just a good writer but an incredibly talented knitter as well. I love his little argyle vest! Looks like sock camp was a blast….

  107. Looks like sock camp was a blast!
    I hope your event in Portland tonight is fantastic – I was so looking forward to coming to see you, but circumstances (and budgets) have prevented it. I hope you don’t mind the rain too much!

  108. I notice lots of people today are asking about the sock monkey pattern — Steph added this at the bottom of her 4/18 post:
    (PS. The pattern for the tiny sock monkey (and there is a big one too) is from Blue Moon Fiber Arts. You’ll be able to get it on their website, in about a week. Happy now?)

  109. if you have time between your westfield/indianapolis stop, i hope you can get to the indiana state museum in downtown indianapolis to see the “radical lace and subversive knitting” exhibit there. it opens this weekend, and i’ll be among the knitters working in two-hour shifts on strips to be made into one or more blankets for charity.
    see you next tuesday!

  110. Oh. My. Gosh. Mini socks with an argyle vest. So cute!!
    Guess I’ll be stalking BMFA’s site this week for that pattern. 😉

  111. For the past two days I have been haunting your website looking for a new post, and every time I come back and there isn’t one I am a bit disapointed. However, I click on a sock monkey picture and then I am totally amused. It really makes me smile to see them and I can’t wait until that pattern becomes available.

  112. WOW!!! You all had just tooo much fun!! I so wish that I was there, the monkeys are absolutely fantastic – crazy little guys, the lot of them! (Gotta make me one, like NOW)!!!!!!

  113. Love the monkeys! Please, please post the pattern!
    .I have just started reading your blog. Really enjoy it. How do I find out about your upcoming sock camps?

  114. Those little monkeys are TOOOO cute! I can’t wait to make one going to see the Grateful Dead!

  115. Please please please please please make a girl’s day and post the pattern for a basic sock monkey on your blog! Thanx!

  116. Oh my…I still have tears of laughter running down my face at the picture of those poor, poor bartenders! Love the stories, love the pictures, love your blog! Thank you for the daily chuckles!

  117. Looks like fun! My husband looks over and says, “IM me that URL” as I’m looking at the smoking monkey.. Gotta wonder what these programmers think of us knitters!

  118. Dear YarnHarlot,
    Do hope all is well with you and your family, it is the 24th and I’m a little worried.
    Have to admit that this “inexplicable” site keeps me sane . . . I think : ) Best wishes to you and all your brilliant bloggers. maman

  119. Just echoing maman’s comments re you and family. Hope all’s well.
    I look forward to reading of your experiences in the knitting/fiber world and daily family life. So many times, I can relate!

  120. “Show me your monkey”???
    I can’t be the only one who thinks that sounds dirty. ^_^

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