1300.3 miles later

Sock Summit. What can I say. I had a fabulous time.

Last Monday, my dining room table was covered in sock patterns and knitted samples. Not just any patterns or samples; my designs with my new logo on the patterns. When I was finished putting all of the patterns in their sleeves, I had an almost filled bankers box. I also had my fingers crossed that the patterns would be well received.

On Tuesday Wonder Mike, Kathleen, and I met Kristine and Adrienne at the Verb studio to help pack up the van with the entire Verb store. We were on the road by 10:00 a.m . Kristine and Adrienne in the van. Michael, Kathleen and me in my diesel Jetta. We stopped in Ashland for a few hours to take a break. Of course, we went to Websters. I bought more sock needles as if I was going some place where such a thing wouldn't exist. We walked along the creek while drinking iced Stumptown coffee. Then we got back on the road to our destination--Eugene.

The next morning Kathleen drove Kristine and me to Portland. We arrived with time to spare before we had to unpack the van and set up the booth. We checked into our hotel and then met the call for coffee. Near the Oregon Convention Center Starbucks has a monopoly. So we had Starbucks.

Within about 6 hours, we unpacked the van and set up Verb Portland. The booth was right inside the front doors of the marketplace, which was awesome. Kristine and Adrienne did a bang up job of planning the set up--we had maps and everything! Once we were done with the set up, we draped the booth and left it looking like this.















Thursday I took a full day class with Cookie A. on sock design. It was really interesting to hear Cookie talk about her design process. The class was a perfect compliment to her book. After a few false starts, I left with a new design that I'm really loving.

Immediately after class, I went to work in the booth. Where I met a lot of people and talked about my patterns. The highlight of the evening for me was meeting Amy Singer of Knitty. Amy encouraged me to submit a pattern to Knitty. It was so awesome that I wanted to cry!

Friday morning I took a class with Star Athena. Star's class was also on sock design. It verged perfectly into what I learned in Cookie's class. Star and Cookie have very different approaches to design. My approach is somewhere in between the two. Later that day I got a chance to chat with Star and discovered we went to the same university. Ten years apart, but still. Star is a fine artist. Her hand drawn charts are works of art. Mine are an absolute mess by comparison.

Friday, Saturday and Sunday's marketplace a more than a bit of a blur. I worked the booth and talked to a lot of wonderful people about Verb's yarn and fiber. I answered quite a few questions about my sock designs.

I released three new patterns at SS09. Kristine, which uses a new base of 70% superwash merino and 30% silk called Metamorphosis. Kristine is a combination of cables and eyelets and has a regular shaped foot. Caitlin's Lace Anklet, which is a simple lace anklet and perfect for commuter knitting. Oliver, which was originally designed for the Men's Knitting Retreat Spring 2009. The guys attending the Fall retreat will also receive a copy of this pattern.

I didn't buy much at SS09. Two sets of Signature Needle Arts 6-inch double pointed needles in sizes I use most often, a bag from Queen Bee Creations, clogs, a lotion bar from Ildanach Limited, and a wee bit of fiber from Knitifacts.

Monday Kathleen, Michael and I drove back to the bay area. It is good to be home and sleeping in my own bed. That said, I wouldn't trade this experience for anything. Thank you Harlot, Tina and the ST-1 and ST-2 teams!