The hardest part of packing for me is always trying to figure out what knitting I’ll take, and I would like to do while I’m at Sock Summit. Not that I really think that there will be much time for knitting, b but you never know, and I just find it sort of comforting and appropriate to have a sock with me all the time. (Don’t you?) In any case, I thought a lot about what socks to bring. What should you be knitting when you’re meeting Barbara Walker? Maybe one of the stitch patterns from her books? (Which is, by the way, almost all stitch patterns) What if Meg Swansen wants to look at it? What if I find myself knitting near Nancy Bush? I thought I should be knitting one of the teacher’s patterns, but which one, and how could I knit Anna Zilboorgs but not Priscilla Gibson Roberts? Every time I thought about it I got so flipped out that I couldn’t imagine what I would knit. It seemed all loaded, like trying to figure out what to make Julia Child for Dinner or how you would toast Gandhi at a pacifist contest… it was too big. Big enough that after days and days of trying to figure it out and imagine myself knitting on something while they were there, I finally realized that I was about to leave. Really about to get on a plane and go do this, and that I had got myself so flipped out about it that I couldn’t hardly take anything. It had become so charged that all of a sudden it was 15 minutes before Denny and Rachel were picking me up to go to the airport and I had no knitting at all, and I took a deep breath, stepped back and realized in a second that I was overthinking, and I needed to get a grip. (This happens to me a lot lately.)
Meet my new sock. That’s Tina’s new colourway ST-1, being knit into my plain vanilla sock pattern. How perfect is that? Totally perfect. I’ve hauled it all over the place so far. I started it in the cab yesterday when I was leaving to begin this epic, I knit it on the plane, I knit it while I waited for another plane, and then I knit it on that plane. I did a few rounds on the way to our meetings this morning at the Convention centre…
Where they are totally starting to set up tables and chairs. (Yes. That makes me feel really really sick.)
We looked at the empty Marketplace hall, and we looked at the empty lobby where registration will be. (Remember we said “under the dragon boat”? There it is. )
We saw the empty loading docks where all the vendors will bring in their stuff, and Rachel found a machine that she liked, and they wouldn’t give her permission to drive it. (That’s probably best.)
Then Tina found a forklift that she really liked, and I know it’s best that they wouldn’t let her drive it, especially since she made “zoom zoom” noises like a four year old when she was sitting on it. She would drive it fast, I tell you that much.
We rented equipment, we had a very scary “pre-con” meeting where lots of people who were not us had suits on.
We picked up all of the handouts for all of the teachers for all of the classes.
(We know. It’s a lot.) In short, we got it together, and although there were only 4 hours of sleep last night and not a single member of a ST (Sock Team) thinks anything will be different tonight (or in the next 6 days…really) we got a lot done. It’s been a really huge job, but while we’re still writing an appalling number of things on post-its, the jobs we’re scrawling on there are starting to be smaller and smaller, take less and less time and seem more and more doable. I think there’s the tiniest, most misiscule, itsy-bitsy, teeny weeny chance that this is going to be okay.
Still. The sock is pretty freaked out.
(PS. Dye for Glory results are coming. Hang tough.)
My first post! Wish I were there to help and knit a sock with you. It’s on my to-do list. Currently knitting for the grandkids for school. Take a deep breath and have fun!
Good Luck!!
YAY good luck with it all
I look forward to hearing about it.
Hang tough? No can do. My knitting group gives me grief because I lasted less than 24 hours, “hanging tough” and not buying sock yarn before a sale.
I am, however, incredibly geeked and ready to go, and re-overthinking the packing thing. I’m definitely with you on that one.
have a wonderful time and make sure you take the time to enjoy some parts of your creation! BRAVO!!!
My dear Harlotta, it will be fabulous! I wish I was there but all of us in the blog have utter and complete faith in you and the SS09 team. You will sock the Kasbah!
Best of luck to all you. I know you’re going to have a fabulous time, and all of your hard work will be totally worth it. And yes, your sock is totally appropriate – love that yarn!
Those of us who can’t be there are eagerly awaiting many stories – with pictures please! – of a fabulous conference that went off without a hitch. (Travelling from Australia was just not feasible – but don’t think I didn’t dream about it!)
Hang in there, give the sock a shot of whiskey.
My sister is going, and she’s so excited that she’s threatening to buy herself Depends! I could tell her to bring extras for you!
I think knitting your own pattern is perfectly appropriate for meeting anyone…..they probably put their socks on one foot at a time like the rest of us.
i’t going to be fan-bleeping-tastic. wish i could be there. don’t forget to have fun too!
Sock it to ’em Harlot !! hee hee. Couldn’t resist.
Best of luck to all the STs!! Try to enjoy it! Step back and realize that this is quite an accomplishment! (And don’t sweat the small stuff that’s sure to come up….you’ve done the planning for all the big stuff — that will come together just fine.)
It’s going to be wonderful; don’t fret. And if there’s anything that doesn’t get done that needs doing, you know that there are hundreds of knitters there who would gladly help out. Knitters are like that. So take a deep breath, and enjoy your show! You’ve worked hard, and you deserve to enjoy the fruit of your labor. We’re all going to love it. We love YOU!
I think the sock needs some medication, taken with a little alcohol, and it will be fine. Cannot wait to get there! Sending good thoughts of success and even more of gratitude to you and the team for planning such a fab event.
Have fun. I know some knitters who will be at Sock Summit and they were so excited. Thanks for all the hard work in making this possible.
I wish I could be here to help! I’m in for next year, we’re going to plan our family vacation around it. I’m not kidding.
I’m sure it will be fantastic!!! I wish I could be there… just so that I could learn how to knit socks. 🙂
It will be fine. There are mostly lovely knitters, and they will be light that shines. Take lots of deep breaths, ok?
Oh, man, do I wish I could go. But since I cannot, I have to tell you that I really appreciate your blog even more this week. =D It’s like you packed us all in your luggage to come with, except not really because that would have to be one very impressive suitcase.
I was already excited about SS09, but after the “tease” of seeing the Boat, and parts of the Convention Center..this is REAL, and really going to happen! I’m just beside myself!
Can’t Wait to get there and see you all in action. Once again, many thanks to you and the ST Teams!
A plain sock will see you through most situations.
Otherwise, things look pretty intense! All the best with all that!
Dear Stephanie and Tina and all of the ST-2 members:
I’m cheering for all of you. I’m definitely jealous of all those who managed a registration. I can’t believe how similar the ST-1 colourway is to the Lettuce Knit colourway. I will be wearing my Lettuce Knit colourway socks as a sign of solidarity with SS09. If I can’t be there in person, I’ll be there in spirit. AND!!!! The weather is so cold and rainy in Sudbury(it must be monsoon season) that it won’t even look odd to be wearing pure wool socks. Have a blast. I’m wishing you all all the best. Cheers and red wine(or a beverage of your choice!!!!!!) Hazel.
Best of luck with the wrap up stuff. I’m packing up, trying to get work tied up (and promising patients they’ll be in fine hands if other docs deliver them while I’m gone) and oh so looking forward to yoga tonight! See you 2 days- martinigirl
You made the right call on the Plain Vanilla socks. You totally deserve to meet all these awesome knitting gurus while knitting your own sock incarnation because–believe it or not–you too are a knitting guru. Be yourself. It will all come together, I promise you. Can’t wait to hear all about it!! Keep posting when you can!!
Perfect. Sleep is good! Or, very little sleep is very very bad. Please try not to actually drown in good will and wonderfulness!
Everything will be great! Love the sock. On my recent trip to Florida I spent more time deciding what yarn to take than I did on what clothes to take.
Somehow I think I know a place you can get more sock yarn if you run out this week …
Break a leg (only in the figurative sense)!
Lisa in Toronto
It’s going to be absolutely FABULOUS! I just wish I could be there with you. However, we are committed to volunteering at the Second Annual Fidalgo Avenue Block Party and Pig Roast. That’s in Oak Harbor on Whidbey Island. The actual event is on Sunday but as you know only too well, the preparation goes on for days and months before the actual event.
So if the entire Sock Team has not been committed to an insane asylum and there is another Sock Summit, there’s a good chance I’ll be there.
Hang tough and think outside the box when the inevitable mix-ups happen. We’re with you in spirit.
Sock yarn. Sock teachers. Knitters.
No matter what happens, you will be adored for bringing everyone together.
A mantra (Josh Whedon rocks) BEER GOOD !
I am SO EXCITED for this to happen, and to read about it (am in Mpls, will not be able to attend). Just so very, very cool even to be a spectator. Must be mindblowing to be the instigator. 🙂
The sock will be worried right up until things start, and then it will be in it’s element. It will be with socks and sock people. All will be well. A few moments of angst here and there, but not to worry.
Thanks for posting photos of the Convention Ctr, now I know it’s real and I am so excited! Sock Summit is going to be FABULOUS!!!
So jealous that I won’t be there, but at least I’ll have planning for my first ever teaching job to keep me busy.
I’m sure all will go well! I’m so disappointed that I can’t make it – so close and yet so far. Hope it’s a wild success and there are many more!
Great choice! I to am bringing a plain vanilla sock. I’m going to be way too overwhelmed to have to think about a pattern.
When all is said and done, I hope you all sit down to an ice cold beer and pat each other on the back. It hasn’t even started yet and I just know it’s going to be a blast. I’m so grateful to be fortunate enough to participate.
Thanks to all of you for putting so much into this for all of us.
Congratulations on making it! Everything will go wonderfully just wait and see. I wish I was going – next year definitely. But I will knit socks on the beach!
BTW – Did you notice how excited people get when they are first to post? LOL I guess I would too. See there is some serious love for ya Harlot.
Stephanie, We love you and Tina and ST-2 so much. It is going to be a wonderful event, and everyone is going to have a wonderful time, even if there are a few things that don’t go perfectly. So please get some sleep and aspire to greatness (which the event and its organizers have already achieved) rather than perfection.
I’m sure you haven’t had a chance to look at Ravelry, but there are 2800 members of the Sock Summit group, and we are all giddy with excitement. Everyone in the group has been generous and supportive – the list of suggestions from Portland natives, for example, has over 450 posts. There are pretty much always about 100 members on line. The energy and excitement of the participants will guarantee a brilliant event. So enjoy! Bask in the glory of what you have accomplished.
Thank you so much for everything you all have done! It’s gonna be great!!!
Just tell the sock to take deep breaths. Good thing wool breathes.
Yes, it’s really about to happen! I won’t be there, either, but I know that you are going to have the time of your life. Just remember to stop and breathe occasionally (I’ve heard that knitting helps you to relax — you might want to try it(g)) and enjoy the ride. It’s going to be the wildest roller coaster ride you’ve ever been on — but when you get off, once you catch your breath, I’ll bet you’ll find yourself saying, “That was fun! Let’s do it AGAIN!”
Oh, and the sock might want to try a little meditation. Since it might have a hard time knitting itself.
Breathe in… breathe out.
Sip beer.
Breathe in… breathe out.
Knit socks.
All will be well, so don’t make yourself sick with worry and unable to enjoy all of the hard work.
So excited for you. The sock will be fine. It is well loved by many, many people.
Crap…how am I possibly going to work tomorrow when I know I’m getting on a place Wednesday morning to head out there?!?!?! So exciting I just can’t wait. Oh yeah, I guess I should pack something.
Sounds much like planning a humongous wedding reception. Don’t be like a typical bride-too worried and too busy to enjoy it all.
Good luck with all. I’ll throw in a prayer for clarity for all of ST. Enjoy!
It already is the Greatest Sock Convention in History.
You will have more fun and more adrenaline coursing through you than ever before in your life.
It will be a blast – and we all out here will be hanging on every tidbit you can Tweet or blog for us.
I wish I could be there.
Oh – and take good notes…
It’s gonna be great, Stephanie. No worries.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for all of it — and then thank you just a bit more.
That is the perfect sock to knit.
Have a great time!!
You guys rock! It will be great.
You and the rest of the sock team have created a staggeringly fantastic event. Just remember to breathe & all will be fine.
Ya know, if last minute airfare from here to there wasn’t approaching $1000, I’d hop a flight tomorrow. But it is, and I won’t, but that doesn’t mean I won’t be there in spirit. Knit on, baby.
Congrats! Wish I were going but at least there’s next year . . . . right?
LOL…zoom zoom….
Awesome work, t’will all be fine. You’ll see
Is that The Clipboard Of Power there on the conference table?
It’s going to be great! Most people will have no idea that something didn’t go perfectly smooth if you don’t tell them. This event is going to be Knitting History! And I think it is completely appropriate that you are knitting “The Yarn Harlot’s Plain Vanilla Sock Recipe”, in ST-1 no less, when you meet Barbara Walker and Nancy Bush and all the other icons! It’s part of your own legend 🙂
It will be fabulous. You’ll look back on all the work planning the great sock summit and you will be so proud. We are already so proud of you!!!
Have a wonderful, wonderful time, and I hope everything goes smoothly enough that all you really remember is the fun. I’m sorry I can’t be there, but someone has to stay home to read everyone’s blog/facebook/other social networking entries, right?
Steph,
It’s not going to be okay… It’s going to be just plain WONDERFUL!
It won’t be perfect because nothing is, but it will be GREAT! I can’t tell you how excited I am to be going! It’s going to be the most magnificent sock party ever! Woohoo!
yaywahooooooo see you shortly! It will be absolutely awesome–like dinner parties, where they say invite the “right” mix of people (as you have clearly done) and the party will turn out to be fabulous
ps *breathe, beer, breathe, knit* repeat from *
You guys are so cool. I’m so glad I’ll be in the same building with you!
Have a great time, and be sure that the organizers keep cell-phone chargers in your planning room or suite and pop them in to charge whenever you’re there.
And go ahead and splurge: schedule coffee and light breakfast to be delivered to your room in the morning. It’ll make the morning easier.
I love the comment pointing out that wool breathes. Maybe that’s why it is so comforting, it reminds us to do the same. Though I will probably hyperventilate a tiny bit when I check in online for my flight on Wednesday morning!
Loved getting my hugs in today. Loved getting to meet Rachel and Denny. Looking forward to the rest of the adventure. Wish I could have been around for more of it. See you bright and early…well I’ll try to be bright and early.
I am soooo happy that you have charged forward with the dream of a sock convention! All of you Sock Team members should be very proud of yourselves for the dream you have managed to make a reality. I applaud your creativity and energy and…and…everything. I will be attending with the mantra: knit! eat! talk! share! beer!
ps: not necessarily in any order!
You’re going to have a blast! You know you are! And I shouted to you “Plain Vanilla!” before I read the end of the post. So obviously it was my idea.
I am so excited to say I am currently working on my very first pair of SOCKS!!! I have been a long-time reader and admirer of knitted socks….ne’er thinking I could actually accomplish this knitting feat, but I can!! I can! Well….I think I can! Taking a class and Saturday is the heel. EEEK! Should I be afraid?
Exciting to read about the sock summit! I’m undeniably hooked on sock knitting! YAY!!!
Have a blast!
awwww..this is good! you all look like you’re having fun, and the angst is waning, and the smiles are coming more easily.
It WILL be good!!
It seems so overwhelming! I hope y’all can take time to enjoy the convention. 🙂
I think your knitting choice is just perfect. Like a couple other people who’ve commented, I was thinking it before I got to the end of the post.
It’s going to be amazing!
My plan: vicariously enjoy the summit through this wonderful blog I love so much. Thank you!
Oh, and knitting socks in solidarity and not worrying about who I will meet while knitting. (though I sure wouldn’t mind that worry)!
(I knew you needed to do the vanilla sock and, of course with very cool yarn)
Squee! That is all.
Am absolutely floored that you took time to blog amidst the summit madness. Thanks for letting those of us who could not be there have a peak! Best wishes for the event. I’m sure it will be madly successful.
Thank you so much for your excellent and thorough posting, even though you are so super-busy! I will be living vicariously through your blog, as I am in New Zealand and unable to attend. Best of luck! I’m sure it will be GREAT!!!
Still, so totally bummed that I couldn’t make it to the Sock Summit! *pout* *whimper*
I’ll join the sock…as I am totally freaked out too! Is it Wednesday-get-on-the-plane time yet!! This trip is going to be an absolute blast and I can hardly wait for the fun to start!
A loading dock sock! Its colors match what Rachel wants to drive, the bag in the lap, the yellow post below the A. Cool. Have more than summit of a good time, y’all!
It’s good to know that I’ll be just as nervous when I show you my (slightly too big) Leyburns during your class Saturday. Will you like them? Am I worthy? Of course! And so are you. Good luck with all the last minute stuff and I’ll see you Saturday! Wheeee!
I can’t wait!! I am in 112 degrees temps and my former home, Portland, is going to be in the 70’s! And there isn’t much knitting that goes on in Palm Springs so I can’t wait to get back to NORMAL people in the Northwest! See you all at SS09!
Todd
A little over 24 hours till I leave my house and head to the airport and Portland for Sock Summit. I’ve got major butterflies and I’m not able to imagine how you and the team are feeling. Know that we all know you guys have done an amazing job and we will all have a blast! I, too, haven’t gotten my traveling projects packed (I still have yarn to wind). My suitcase isn’t packed, My car was supposed to get registered last week, so I am driving illegally, and I’ve been working every day for the past 6 days, and still have to work tomorrow.
But I hear the weather is better in Oregon, I am so very excited to finally travel to the lovely Pacific Northwest, land of much fiber, great food, good brews, and many, many knitters. Makes everything before totally worth this trip. Life doesn’t get much better.
Brilliant choice of socks.
It’s going to be thrilling and fantastic. I’m so excited my stomach is already turning flips, and we still have two days of getting things finished, organized and ready.
Can scarcely wait! (Are we there yet?)
I know I’ve been saying this on every post you’ve made for the past week, but I AM SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you for all you do!
Have fun! I wish the best sock days for all the girls & boys & ladies & gentlemen who attend SS09.
How exciting!!! Almost makes me want to attempt my first sock…I say almost because I am currently injured and can’t knit. Hope all goes relatively smoothly. Have fun, too!
You guys are the best. Srsly.
Breathe, ST1 & ST2, Breathe! Speaking for myself and a lot of other people, I’m so excited to be heading to Portland tomorrow to take part in this wonderful dream that you created. Yes, YOU created this event. And all of your hard work is about to pay off. Now, kind of like my usual wedding advice — ENJOY THE PARTY! Everything will be wonderful, even the little things that may snafu – or not.
Breathe! It’s going to be great. It just has to be the most awesome thing ever. For students, for vendors, and for shoppers. And it’s in Oregon. Land of full service gas stations.
Sock Summit will be fabulous! I’m sure that all of your sweat, hard work and lack of sleep will be worth it in the end and it will be a lovely, organized event.
I don’t even like to knit socks, but I wish that I could be there – I’m sure it will be AMAZING :o)
I can’t wait! Woo!
Good Luck!
Can I ask how many rows of ribbing you do at the top of your sock? I’m never sure how much to do, but I’m pretty sure it’s never as much as that. But it looks really good! And I’m guessing they stay up pretty well.
(This is probably the exact sort of discussion I could have if I came to Sock Summit, but as I’m in Britain, have a 9-month-old baby and no money, please forgive my non-attendance)
If you’re knitting for comfort, you’re knitting exactly the right thing! Congratulations–and sally forth!
And any number of those women could come shopping in my booth! crap! so excited
With this much on your mind a standard sockpattern is the best. Don’t forget the most important post-it notes: Enjoy yourself and Have fun.
I am soooooooooooo jealous! Have a great time and make sure you take lots of photos for us please! Love the sock – there are times when plain vanilla is just perfect!
I’m so excited for you! I’m devastated that I’m not going to be able to make it down to Portland (from Seattle) because my husband just became one of the elite “under-employed” and I need to save yarn money for things that he says are more important. Like the mortgage. I know there will be other things in the future, but I really wanted to be there to see what you and the whole Sock Team did. I know it’s going to be amazing.
Even if the absolute worst thing in the world you imagine when you are laying awake at night manages to happen, it will still be amazing. Just getting all those people into one place at one time to talk socks should be enough for sainthood. Have a great time and I can’t wait to read all about it.
Have an absolute ball! And, if you could spare a kind thought for us poor soles (or souls 😉 ), like me, who just weren’t able to pull it together to make it to the Summit, that would be great! I will be with you in spirit, anyway.
I have just today realized that the odds are great that while in line for the Friday signing I’ll be knitting BW’s seeded rib on the sock I have started a toe of and then put down to finish my Sock Hop pair. I was > to knitting a plain sock instead but realized that was silly since my stack of Treasuries with a couple dozen bookmarks in each and the copy of the original HB edition of Top Down will give me away anyway.
I hope you know that even if you feel like things are falling to pieces around you and all your plans have failed that thousands of knitters will be having the most memorable and exhilarating time of thier lives at the exact same time. And so will you. I mean, it is Barbara Walker – and PGR – and Meg Swanson – and, and, and – plus the energy of thousands of jazzed knitters. Give yourself a moment or two to enjoy the moment, please.
(Is it overkill to pack 3 pair of sock’s-worth of yarn for an event featuring more sock yarn than has ever before been in one place when I’d usually manage to knit one sock in that amount of time? Why do I even ask the question when I know I’ll pack it anyway?)
Well I finally stopped laughing at myself for long enough to comment. The other day I thought you were looking for clean pants to meet Barbara Walters (hey–you never know–she could be a sock knitter). I just read this post and realized it was Barbara Walker! Even better!
Wish I was going but am going to try to knit a pair of socks while it’s happening. Sort of like my own little knitting Olympics.
What a wonderful thing you all are doing. I’m so excited for you. Really really wish I could be there!
Good luck on your mission!!! Wish I was going too, but at least our yarn will be there with Morgaine, so it’s almost as good as going myself LOL! I wish I was there to see everybody because it sounds like everyone is going to have so much fun. Well maybe next year! Please try to remember that no matter what you do you can’t please all the people all the time. Also, this is your first time planning a giant convention so if things get a little bumpy (I really hope they don’t!) just think of it as learning to knit all over again, it’s just now you’re knitting together a huge convention! It’s that learning curve thing. Most important of all I hope you have a great time! What a cool thing you guys have done! When you go and knit next to Nancy, Judith, Lucy, Amy, Cat, and all the rest of the amazing teachers that you’ve lined up, please soak up some of their knitting mojo to spread around for the rest of us mere knitting mortals who can’t be there. Oh yes, and please take lots and lots of pictures!!!
No money to make it to Sock Summit-but I will be living vicariously through you(and every one else who makes it there)and I’ll be knitting a plain vanilla sock in your honor this week.Lots of Luck and Have Lots of Fun!!!
Even though I totally understand the fear, because I have been on that side of an organizing committee before…I think that there is a more than miniscule chance that this event is not only going to be okay, but really really awesome.
Great sock choice, and we’ll see you under the dragonboat!
First post…I’ve been catching up on Yarn Harlot blog this summer. Saturday, I’ll be learning to knit socks @ Nautical Yarn in Ludington, MI in my personal Sock Summit-inspired sock summit. Thanks for the inspiration!
So wish I could be there. And I’m sure it’s going to be alright. How could an event that has Meg Swanson, Barbara Walker and Nancy Bush at it NOT be totally awesome?
You’ll all do really great! Sock Summit will be great and hopefully somewhere in there you can take a break and enjoy what a great thing you’ve accomplished!
It sounds to me like all of you have it all together even if it doesn’t seem like it to you in the thick of it. Take the time to take care of yourself, please. You will not only feel better, you’ll be able to do a better job of it and that will make you feel better too. Be proud of yourself! You’ve worked hard and it’s coming to fruition. Take the time to simply ENJOY IT! Can’t wait to hear all about it. I know I don’t need to remind you, but take lots of pics! Enjoy.
Jennifer, Canton, MI
I’m packed and heading out for my mom’s house to drop off the cats as soon as I verify my checking balance.
o m g I’m / we’re going to do this!
Why no. I’m not excited at all! 8-]
i’m not even going to BE there, and yet i am sooo excited. can’t wait to see the pictures!
It sounds like an amazing journey you guys are on. Have a great time.
Congratulations! Everything will be wonderful, I´m sure. Have fun!
Excellent choice of sock! I will be knitting it in solidarity this weekend in the Sockgate colorway. It is my consolation prize for being unable to attend SS09. I know you will have an amazing time and can’t wait to see pictures!
Good Luck, guys!!! I know it will be phenomenal. Wish I could be there, but I’ll be waiting for the news.
You have been busy and not been hearing all the people who are calmly looking forward to Sock Summit. Then they get excited about the people they will meet and the things they will learn and the overall glorious-ness, and then they go back to calmly looking forward to the weekend.
I have heard the calm certainty.
Everything will be all right.
So it’s okay to have fun. Really. (Rachel, if you can find something to drive? go for it!)
Stephanie, the Summit is what it is..you and your ‘people’ have done a fabulous job and should be very proud of yourselves, I wish that I could be there but I spent my 2 weeks off with my brand new grandson in Winnipeg. It was a wonderful trade off…he’s a darling.
I am heading to Toronto in 2 weeks and hope that I can find a good yarn store…with some great sock yarn.
Good Luck to all of you, and make sure that you have fun,
Can we do it in Canada (or the Eastern US) sometime?
I am so jealous of all of the lucky, lucky knitters who get to attend your first of hopefully many amazing sock summits. What a wonderful idea and I am so impressed that you were able to conceive this idea and then actually DO it. The doing of things always amazes me (the queen of ADD). My birthday is the 6th so going would have been an amazing present but it is not to be…hopefully one of these years soon! Take a deep breath and enjoy the fruits of your labour. As always, you rock!
Can. Not. Wait!
See you in Portland!
Thanks for taking the time to share this fabulous adventure with us. Please make sure that you take time to enjoy it, after all the hard work that you and the team have put into it. And the plain vanilla sock is the perfect choice, it’s famous too.
V. nervous about my flights, esp. in the wake of the v. scary Continental flight yesterday. But excited, too! You’re doing a bang-up job getting everything ready, and little things will inevitably go wrong, but it’ll be a smashing success. We can’t wait!
You can do it!
I can’t wait to get to Portland Stephanie. Thank you…thank you…thank you… to all of ST-1 and ST-2. This is going to be an amazing vacation. 🙂 Was hoping to get out there earlier, but they apparently don’t do standby anymore…who knew…not me! haha
as the saying goes sock it to ’em
Of course it will be ok! Anyone that can do all that complicated knitting and family and book stuff should find this a walk in the park. I love reading about it all, because it all represents the best of family and teamwork and keeps me hopeful that I can accomplish just a tenth of it.
When my teenager goes to college, I’m looking forward to trying to come to ST-5!
You can do it! And it will be fabulous. (I once ran a large conference a week after my mother passed away and I had moved her entire apt to my house to sort.)
My advice — wear something with pockets. Those post-its will end up in your pockets as you problem-solve. You’ll also want the knitting in a pocket so you remain sane. Don’t think too much. Just keep going. You can also put post-its on your clothing and other people will remind you what to do. Expect to forget what you’re doing quite often.
And it will be fabulous. People will tell you you look calm and organized. (You’ll laugh.) People will tell you everything is perfect. (You’ll laugh.) When it’s over, you’ll see that it really was fabulous.
You can do it!
Dear Stephanie,
You are doing a marvelous job! This first time is intimidating and nerve wracking to say the least.
You are fabulous. It is fascinating just reading your blog and feeling the anticipation with you. It feels like I’m there.
I am familiar with the “this is really happening” feeling in the pit of your stomach,(labour pains with first baby; first day of teaching career) but not to worry. It will all be wonderful. I was trying to think of the ideal sock for you to knit on, and I thought of one of the patterns from Nancy Bush’s Vintage Socks, but of course your choice is perfect. That sock should be mighty proud to be attending the first Sock Summit, where thousands of people will gather to pay homage to his kind. Have a fabulous time. Wish I could be there!
Love it. Have lots of fun.
I think sock summit is really exciting and the only bad thing about it is that I am not organised enough to have been able to be there! Good luck and congratulations!
Poor sock. It shouldn’t stress out, it’ll all work out. Hey, everyone going to the Summit — have a wonderful time and send us poor unfortunates unable to attend lots of pictures!
To Val Champ @8:33
My favourite yarn shops in Toronto are LettuceKnit on Nassau Street(just south of College and just west of Spadina) and Romni on Queen West. LettuceKnit is small, but Denny works there on weekends and YH knits there. Romni is HUMUNGOUS to the point of being almost overwhelming, but they have everything. There are probably others, but these are the ones I’ve shopped at when I’ve come down from Sudbury. Cheers, Hazel.
You are all doing a bang up job on this, and I’m hoping that it doesn’t scare you so much that you won’t think of doing it again. I’d love to go next year (if it ends up happening).
I have to say that I admire your team’s extensive planning and obsessive attention to detail. I’ve pulled together a few events with 100+ volunteers and know that ‘obsessive planning’ is just enough for everyone to have a spectacular time, including the planners in the end. I can also recommend that you try to sleep and eat now and again.
Sox, schmox, check out the fashionable item and models over at the Cute Overload blog…
http://cuteoverload.com/2009/08/04/sweatuews/#comment-357827
Steph, do you ever test the fit of a baby sweater like that? 🙂 I know you have one of those models around your house somewhere!!!
Did you think about having a mixer with the Heeeeee-yuge convention of mathematicians that’s happening over at the Marriott Waterfront? Whenever anyone asks me if MathFest (seriously) is at the Convention Center, I say, “No, because Sock Summit is there.” And if you think you get strange looks explaining sock summit to ordinary folks, imagine the look you’d get telling a bunch of mathmos. (And we math folk are as accustomed to the strange looks and backing away of strangers at parties as knitters are.) I’m just saying, a mixer would have been amazing. Put it on a post-it for next time there’s a convergence of MathFest and Sock Summit!
Did you finish the blanket? Garter and your vanilla sock will get you through.
Best of luck!
Best of luck to the SockTeams! I know this conference will rock (and if you ever do it again, I’m at least flying in to see all the pretties at Market)!
(hug)
If you’re ever in Albuquerque I’m pretty sure I can score Tina some forklift lessons…just sayin’.
Goosebumps. Just sayin’…
I wish I was there already – I would surely volunteer if I were.
Best of luck to you and the rest of the ST. Oh, how I wish I were going to be there!
Alright Stephanie, here’s what ya do. Pop into a few of the LYS (Knit-Purl and Twisted are my faves), I’m partial to the cashmere sock yarns Knit Purl has. You probably won’t be able to actually knit much, but at least you can fondle your yarn as a means to maintain sanity. Find yourself a good bar to get some work done at (I’m partial to 3 Degrees’ outside bar with the rocking chairs overlooking the Willamette, plus it’s got $3 pints and awesome happy hour food, and its right off the streetcar line). Have a good cup of tea (Tea Zone on NW 11th and Glisan has a selection of tea as expansive as most yarn shops’ selections of yarn, PLUS tea-infused booze, AND it’s also on the streetcar line). But most of all, remember to breathe.
Hi There! I was reading Knitting Rules the other day and your book helped me turn a boring WIP of a 3-color scarf into a Hat! 🙂
Thank you so much for that Info!
{I don’t have a picture of the hat on my blog yet, but I’ll try to put it there before the end of the month}
Take Care~
WOOHOO!! Can’t wait to be there!!!! All will be fine, Stephanie. I’ll have some Rescue Remedy (homeopathic anti-anxiety) tincture on me — just ask for it. It did wonders on my wedding day. Just sayin’.
So far, I haven’t heard “and I can’t imagine ever doing this again” so I feel like there’s hope for me for next year!
Breathe!
It will be great beyond all imagining.
You made the only possible decisions as far as the sock goes. I finished a pair yesterday & didn’t have time to start a new pair (I am also leaving for the west coast today but alas not to Sock Summit but to visit my DD, DSiL & grands which actually makes me even happier.) I am taking yarn & that very same Tom Bihn sock bag – I always get to the airport a couple of hours early so I’ll have plenty of time to get a sock started. I think maybe Monkey socks – love that pattern.
You said: “…we had a very scary “pre-con” meeting where lots of people who were not us had suits on.”
As long as they’re not police uniforms covering up a gun, all will be well. I hope y’all have the best time! I am so excited to see who will win the dye contest; it was so hard to choose!
I second Sarah B’s post. The sock needs whiskey! And you, Dear Harlot, Need a big glass of wine! Hope everything goes like clock-work and everyone has a Super Good Time! Carol
*sniff* I wanna GO!
but college boys tuition pmt is out the door next week.. he can’t buy books with yarn:( HAVE FUN!
“like trying to figure out what to make Julia Child for Dinner or how you would toast Gandhi at a pacifist contest…” – I love this! I would feel the same way if you were coming over for coffee and knitting on the back deck. 🙂 Enjoy the comfort of a plain vanilla sock – you wouldn’t want to start anything else that is going to take mind power with Sock Summit at hand. But, you are The Yarn Harlot…. 🙂
I don’t really have much to say, but I wish you the best. Good luck!
WOW! I’m so excited for all of you, Planners and Enjoyers!
Best Wisher to the whole team. And one thing to remember. If you do finish both socks, there may be a skein or two available for purchase so I think you shouldn’t panic about running out of knitting.
I’m so bummed, really, that I can’t be at the Inaugural Sock Summit! Please Tweet often and let us home bound folk know what’s going on.
The idea of a pacifist contest is really funny to me. Sock Summit will be fabulous. Well done.
I KNOW it’ll be fabulous! Everyone is there to have a great time and they will, and you will and the whole ST team will!
I guarantee it.
Me… I can’t wait until my sister comes back with photos and stories and tons of goodies and swag to share (which she will share… I guarantee that too!).
Well, this is IT!!! And, it will be great!! I mean that from the very bottom of my heart. It will be great, everyone will have the time of their lives, and most important you will survive! As will the sock…….
Hmmmm…. as you were fretting which designer’s sock to knit, I wondered why you didn’t just knit your own sock pattern! And you are. 🙂 I like the bag where the sock lives, visible on the table. Is it a GoKnits bag in a new colour??? The toggle looks like it might be…. Good luck to you and your team, and remember that the people you want to meet are wanting to meet you too. 🙂 Really they are! Wish I oculd be there to meet you and them. Think I’ll work on my abandoned sock….
Look at you with your Tom Bihn project bag! No one who has one of those could possibly be disorganized. 🙂
As you know (and we all know) this will be the greatest event ever and a true adventure for all of us.
Thank you and Tina with all my heart.
Can’t wait to see those spaces filled.
You’re so lucky to be in Portland now, instead of last week when we were having the worst heat wave in state history.
Makes perfect sense that you would be knitting the pattern *you* are best known for. Let B. Walker be found knitting a massive collection of stitch patterns in white against a black background. (omg you got B. Walker! It’d be like going to a drama festival and finding out Shakespeare was going to be on the panel discussion.)
I am so excited that you are there and that I am leaving tomorrow to come there! See you soon.
Courage, Harlot, I’ve run big science fiction conventions and the worst bit is always the night before people start to arrive when you wake up in terror of the things that you might have forgotten and the things that might go wrong. Once it starts to roll it all works somehow, the problems get sorted out and the forgotten things turn out not to matter half as much as you feared. All that really matters is that people have a good time, and provided they have somewhere to sit and talk and knit, and something to eat and drink, they’ll be just fine. Hugs.
Don’t forget to enjoy yourself while you’re out there! I’m not going this year, but if you do it again, I might try to compete with the 30,000 (!) other knitters and try to go next year. 🙂
I’m looking forward to the Dye for Glory results. I bought some of the yarn I voted for (and maybe some that I didn’t vote for, but only because I could only vote once per category). I want to see how many others agreed with me!
Oh yeah, I love the sock and yarn! Well done to you and Tina!
OMG! OMG! OMG! I am still at work now and I must pretend I did not read this. I have to FOCUS… Focus on work not Summit:)
I can hardly wait!
I’m so jealous of the attendees I can hardly stand it. Everything looks and sounds wonderfully well organized (not that it’s a surprise with so many great people working on it). Enjoy! As for me, maybe next year!
I know you said before you wish women in business were more respected. What I was wondering is how many people usually put together this size of a convention? Certainly double than the ST-1 team!
My word you all should be so proud of yourselves. Try to relax and enjoy SOME of it..which I imagine is kinda like telling the Bride to enjoy her wedding!
Remember knitters/spinners/fiberfolk are generally wonderful and as long as they can knit/spin/fondle, it’s all GOOD!
Tina making zoom-zoom noises makes me smile. Good that you are taking the time to be silly. Such a great stress relief (and often appears in normally sane folks just before they collapse into fits of hysterical high pitched laughter… )
Have fun meeting all those amazing people – and I bet that a few of them will have copies of your book that they want autographed 😉
You guys are so amazing! I am so thankful for all of you giving your time and creativity to this. I am so excited to be coming, I don’t think I’ll be able to sit still until 5:30 tomorrow when my flight leaves! I just can’t wait to meet new people and amazing designers and take these wonderful classes. It’s all so WOW! Thankyou, thankyou, thankyou!!!!
I find when all else fails, when life is falling apart around you, when nothing seems to be working, then just knit a plain vanilla sock, and all will be well.
I sooooo wish I were going to sock summit. I’m crazy jealous.
If the post title is a slightly geeky Babylon 5 reference, you are my new idol…
Love that you took a simple yet pretty sock to knit. I hope you all have a great time at the sock summit. (I’d want to drive the fork lifet motor, too!)
Thanks for the update! It’s really really happening now isn’t it.
Seeing that dragon boat was comforting somehow.:)
Hey, SS visitors to Portland, you might be interested in the Bite of Portland running August 7, 8, 9, down at the river waterfront.
Check it out here: http://www.biteoforegon.com/
Good thing I don’t have to make a flight to get here, I’m in enough of a fluster getting my stuff organized to attend!
Party on, Knitters!
Now I will have “Simple Gifts” running through my head all day. There are worse fates.
Have a great time! I know you will.
(throws one last, tiny, silent, invisible tantrum at not being able to go)
(Really, it will be awesome. No worries.)
(all right, back to work now)
I so wish I could have come to play at Sock Summit – I hope it’s a great success and I look forward to coming next year 🙂
Congratulations!! I *wish* I could have come this year (dare I say “this year”?) but I know that you have worked so incredibly hard and as a result, it will be a fabulous time for all involved.
Remember to take some time to enjoy yourself, too!
Aaaaaahhhh! Wish I were with you, sockie!
What an accomplishment. It sounds like the conference will be wonderful. Enjoy it and try to find some time to relax and appreciate what you did.
For me, plain vanilla socks are the best when stressed. Will be knitting my own plain vanilla socks in support and sending encouraging vibes your way. When you’re feeling particularly freaky, think of all the sock knitters doing exactly the same thing in support of the great job your team is doing. Have fun!
I know you and the sock can do it. I’m still sad I can’t be there, but finally I can say why: we bought a house yesterday. My yarn will get a room of it’s own. And guess what? There’s now space for more yarn & fibre to grow. 🙂
You know I was really surprised when I read just now that all you took is yarn for one pair of socks. I mean really, just one pair? A plain pair at that? And you’re already half done with one sock, and it’s only been a day? What were you thinking??
But then I remembered that you’ll probably be able to find some yarn there if you run out.
Wish I was able to be there! You’ll do great and it’ll all go wonderfully I’m sure.
I can’t believe I won’t be there. I put in for vacation time as soon as you announced the dates. I followed your blog and agonizing over the Sock Summit. I live within two hours driving time of the Convention Center. Then you opened the website for reservations and after all the fall out, I didn’t have the heart to try for whatever classes might be left open. I’m going to Long Beach Peninsula with my sweetie instead. Can you make this an annual thing? In Portland? I’d love you forever if you did. (Well, I may love you forever anyway, but …)! Have a really great Sock Summit. I know it will be a great success. One worth repeating, in Portland!
Then, could you say that the plain vanilla sock pattern is the little black dress of sock knitting? Always appropriate, always looks good.
Speaking of good, good luck!
Break a leg, everyone.
(I mean that in the nicest way.)
And leave some sock yarn for the rest of us.
It’s not going to be ok, it’s going to be wonderful and I so wish I were going! Get some rest and have fun!
I’m with Heather; every time I read that blog title I hear — was it Sheridan’s? — voice. Babylon 5 was excellent.
I just want you to ENJOY some of the time in Portland after you have spent so much of your time making it exciting for the rest of us! Thanks to all of you for what will undoubtedly go down in history as the greatest sock event of all time!
Breathe. It’s all about the breath.
I’m taking all day tomorrow to pack. And thank you for bringing one of my few heroines, Barbara G. Walker, to a place that is close enough for me to get there and hear her speak. I’m bringing, for her signing, a number of books including a spine-disintegrated copy of her I Ching which helped guide me through a very long and not-at-all-bitter divorce.
I’m way relieved that you rejected my video offer. I’m too old to be part of the nervous-wreck part of getting it all right. And, by the way, it will be . . . not just all right but wonderful.
I’m looking forward to my beer date with Meg and would love to meet you . . . but I expect that you will be way too busy for such things.
Thank you, once again, for your huge effort to promote the craft and foster community around it. It’s a great service to us all and Blessings on this event.
Cheryl
Good luck with the Sock Summit, Stephanie and all the team! I’ll keep my fingers, toes and knitting needles crossed for you all this week.
I’m too far away/on the wrong side of the Pond so attending this time wasn’t an option. But I wish I was with you. I hope it all goes well.
– Pam
Good choice on the sock – you’ll have enough going one without a complicated pattern too. I’m sure everything will go splendidly. Wish I could be there. Thank you for the photos of the convention center and prepping (fork lift and all – move that sock yarn?). I’ll be enjoying the sock summit vicariously through your blog!
I hope at least one of those post-its says “drink beer”!!!!
Cheers! Wish I was there!
Beth
Stephanie,
We came up and said hi to you today in the convention center, and what i forgot to say, because I was nervous and shocked to see you (in real live living color!), was, “thank you”. My daughter and I have had such a great time anticipating this and making stitch markers etc, and even though she’s to young to take any classes yet, she still feels a part of it. Thanks to you and the others responsible for Sock Summit.
Molly Katzen had b’fast w/ Julia Childs, and J made her toast-perfect thick buttery toast. Your vanilla socks are all you can handle right now. Show off your strengths! Good luck!
How about a Sock Summit East? Lots of knitters here in Connecticut!
Is the sock going to meet Barbara Walker?? I’d be freaked out too. But man, that looks like heaven. I wish I were going to be there too!
Nah, you’re projecting on the sock, the sock is not pretty freaked out, it’s just pretty. (That’s it’s job. It’s there to keep you grounded.)
Sounds like it would be great – I wish I could have come. (I didn’t even try, I had already been double-scheduled.)
The Summit was great. It was fun to participate in the Guinness World record feat.
I’m with Connecticut Sheila…Time for Sock Summit East so all of us knitters on the right coast can get our knit on…