Sock Summit Day 2

I’m a little behind in posting – there is just no time at “home” at Ed’s in the evenings.  Luckily, there is wifi at the convention center.  I’ve been toting the netbook along so I can post from there.  Yesterday I composed on the MAX ride in and then uploaded at the center just before rushing into class.

I’m writing this on SS Day 3, but I’ll tell you what happened yesterday.  Unfortunately, I don’t have a lot of great photos. Content yourselves with Kris and me at the Sockgate.  I don’t totally get the Stargate reference, but many other people do. This is right in front of the marketplace entrance.

In the morning, I took “Knitting Knee Highs: Do the Math” with Barb Brown, who has a book just out called Knitting Knee Highs.  Her concept was just what I wanted – a formula pattern to customize for any size foot.  The class should have been a one-hour wonder, though – there just wasn’t enough content for 3 hours.  The most beneficial part was that she brought most of the socks knit for the book and passed them around.  We were even invited to try them on.  Trying on a dozen pairs of handknit knee socks turned out to be the most helpful part of the class.  My neighbor and I were both taken with this pair (unusually lacy for my taste, I know – but they fit so well):That ribbon at the top would also help keep them up really well.  We talked about ways to do that, including running lingerie elastic into the hem.  I can’t shake the feeling that one shouldn’t have to put elastic into socks if they fit properly to begin with… but we shall see.  Look how different the socks appear in the book.  Models are always about 6 feet tall and knee socks never come all the way up. This is the exact same sock. I brought my Bohus-style knee socks to the class and consulted with Barb (and my neighbors) about them.  I have a new plan now, and it’s a plan I felt was coming.  Now it’s confirmed.  You know what I’m going to say, don’t you?  RIP!  Those babies are coming out.  I’m going to recheck my stockinette gauge in the green yarn (which is Shelridge Farms Soft Touch Heather).  I might need to replace it, since it feels slightly plumper than the SSYC solids in the stranded section.  I can easily order a similar green color from SSYC and reuse the Shelridge for something else, if I need to.  I’m also going to start over with a MUCH smaller cast-on number.  The pattern called for 104 and I might go as low as 84.  I’ll also use a 2.0 needle for the ribbing at the very edge of the cuff, and then move up to 2.5mm for the stranded colorwork, and then edge back down to 2.25 and 2.0 for the rest of the sock.  My main question now is whether the colorwork section will be too tight over 84 stitches.  Stay tuned for more thinking about that project!

Kris and I decided to bolt from the convention center at lunchtime.  We jumped on the MAX train and got off at Chinatown.  We had a fairly mediocre meal, but it was nice to get out of the OCC and into another part of town.

In the afternoon, I took Amy Singer’s “Making the Next Monkey” class, which is about sock designs published in Knitty.com.  She talked for about 2 hours about what sock patterns have been in Knitty and why.  We looked at the Sock Hall of Fame, which included many patterns we all know now… leading up to, of course, Cookie A’s Monkey, which is the most popular sock published in Knitty.  We learned the story of how it came to be called Monkey (that’s NOT what Cookie titled it in the original submission) and discussed elements that make it stand out.  Then Amy broke down ways to beat the odds and get your sock pattern published in Knitty (by the way, doing the math between sock pattern submissions and how many sock patterns she wants in each issue results in a 1 in 5 chance of getting in).  She also talked about the top 5 ways to blow it, and we spent quite a bit of time looking at photo submissions (the good, the bad, and the very, very ugly).  She dispensed design and pattern-writing tips and encouraged us to submit our designs.  The last part of the class was spent providing feedback to students who wanted her critique of their sock designs.  Some people directed her to Ravelry photos, while others just stuck out their foot which was clad in an original design (Amy then photographed it with her iPad and then connected it to the projector so we could all see it while we discussed it).  It was very informative and interesting.

I popped back into the marketplace for a while, but all I bought on Day 2 was some Soak foot cream (peppermint – I’m such a sucker for mint scents).  Here is a shot that gives you an idea of how crowded it was and how striking some of the booth designs are: This is the booth for A Verb for Keeping Warm.  I love their naturally dyed colorways, but their sock yarns are 100% superwash merino, and you know how I feel about that.  It might be fine for a shawl, but not for socks!

We ended our day at Ed’s and enjoyed some of our dinner courses on the roof deck, which was perfectly lovely.  There was more wine from Edgefield.  We stayed up too late (DOH!) but are here at the OCC again this morning, ready for more sock fun!This last shot is a bit blurry, and yes, it’s because I had a glass, too.  Yummy!