Sock Summit: wow!
August 14th, 2009
We have been recovering all week from the absolutely amazing time that we had last week in Portland at Sock Summit. Our expectations for this trip were high - how could they not be? Incredible teachers and classes, fun events (including our own Ravelry party!), and a gathering of yarn-lovers in a huge marketplace. Each and every aspect of the event was better than we could have hoped. On the very first day, we noticed something a little funny about all the attendees, including us: everyone was walking around with a big goofy grin! It was clear that we knew we were a part of something special and we were all feeling so grateful to be a part of it.
The Ravelry Party on Saturday night was loads of fun. Between 600 and 650 Ravelers came out to the World Forestry Center in Portland and had an incredible time, thanks to our wonderful party sponsors Lantern Moon’s Sox Stix and Namaste (Cashmere Sponsors), and Berroco, Bijou Basin Ranch, Buffalo Gold, Gardiner Yarn Works, and Zealana (Merino sponsors). Thank you so much for your generosity - we hope that those of you who were able to attend had a great time looking around at all the smiles you helped to create - we could not have done this without you! :) Thanks also to the volunteers who came early to help set up the party and stayed late to help break it down (and to ConvolutedString Lisa, the hard-working volunteer coordinator for Sock Summit, who generously helped to round up the awesome crew)! Your cheerful work made it possible for us to have time to eat before the party (a minor miracle) and go to bed at a decent hour afterward (a major one). Thank you! The kindness and generosity of our community is really overwhelming sometimes.
That community spirit was at the forefront of the entire Sock Summit weekend. I think that anyone who was there would agree: the energy was palpable. There were many happy tears and full hearts - Sock Summit was so big, and yet it felt so intimate and special. The Sock Summit team (Tina Newton, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, Cat Bordhi, Debbi Stone, Rachel Harvey, Debra McVae, and JoAnn D.) poured their hearts into the creation and execution of the event, and we all appreciate every moment! (And… ahem… hope for another! Too soon to mention that?)
Here in our Team Chatroom at Ravelry, we can’t get over just how inspired we are - not only with regards to our craft (such amazing classes, projects, and yarn all around!) but especially when it comes to our community and the wonderful people at the heart of it all. Jess and I were lucky enough to attend classes and lectures by the amazing Nancy Bush, Priscilla Gibson-Roberts, Heather Ordover, Barbara Walker, and Anna Zilboorg, and each gave us new skills as well as a deepened appreciation of the history and meaning of our craft. We are so thankful to them for sharing a bit of themselves with us and with everyone else there. Though we were too shy to pose for pictures with all the teachers, when we went to Barbara Walker’s lecture and saw that she was graciously posing for photos with her (many) fans, we looked at each other and said “we’ll really regret it if we don’t ask!” She is an incredible woman and was kind enough to say “yes” and take her picture with us. You can see that we are both a little teary and amazed at that moment… that happened a lot!
I might have to frame that one.
For more pictures from me or Jess, check out our Flickr sets (MH’s Sock Summit set, Jess’ Sock Summit set)! You can also browse the photo pools on Flickr: Sock Summit 2009 (for all photos) and Ravelry Events (for Ravelry Event-related photos). If you’re on Flickr and attended Sock Summit and/or the Ravelry party, please add your photos to the pool! We know that we aren’t alone in our feeling that we’re going to carry our Sock Summit experience with us forever: Casey set up a special part of Ravelry for Sock Summit Memories - all Ravelers can read blog posts and tweets related to Sock Summit, and a common phrases seem to be wow, fantastic, incredible, inspirational, fun, and of course: we hope there’s another!
Thanks again to the Sock Summit team, all the teachers and vendors, our fabulous party sponsors, and to everyone who came up to us and said hello or gave us a hug (or both)! You were all a part of a weekend that we will never forget. To Socks!
update: I forgot the cardinal rule of wearing handknits on the Ravelry blog - they must be linked! :) In several pictures, I am wearing Entomology by Laura Nelkin (the light pink beaded shawl), and Jess is wearing her Ishbel by Ysolda Teague (deep pink lace). In the bottom picture, Jess is wearing her wedding shawl, the Flower Basket Shawl by Evelyn A. Clark. :)
August 14th, 2009 at 4:04 pm
Thanks SOOO much for posting this to the website. This is the only way for me to get to enjoy all you guys have done over the weekend. It sounds like this one is going to go down in the “knitting” history books.
Nat Alea from OK
August 14th, 2009 at 6:55 pm
Looks like you guys had a fantastic time. So much joy in all the photos. I wish I could have been there to see it all.
August 14th, 2009 at 8:07 pm
What a great time you guys had! Thank you so much for sharing this with us.
August 14th, 2009 at 8:39 pm
TO ALL KNITTERS: I was a vendor at Sock Summit and because all of the stock for my booth got lost in the mail (it showed up in Portland on Monday), I got to know fairly well the folks who were working for the company who works with the convention center setting up the booths. They told me that every group that comes through there for a convention or show or whatever has a definite personality and that they discuss this back in the office. I had to ask them, “So, what’s this group (Sock Summit) like?” They said it was possibly their favorite group ever, that the women were friendly and organized and together and that the entire experience was a joy for them. I told them that it was a testament to knitting and she said she had thought about learning for years and that this just might be what gets her started. To me, that’s what makes it wonderful. Yeah for us!
August 15th, 2009 at 12:08 am
Ok, thank you for saying that you got teary too. I blogged that I cried and I thought that I was the only over emotional person. But it was freakin BGW!! I just could not help it it over came me very quickly.
August 15th, 2009 at 6:58 am
Love you gals! (And casey too!)
August 15th, 2009 at 7:19 am
OMG! I’m getting teary reading about it. Thanks so much for sharing this awesomeness! Ravelry Rocks!!!
August 15th, 2009 at 7:47 am
I loved reading every word that has been written about the Sock Summit. Thank you for posting your pictures and for being Ravelry!
August 15th, 2009 at 8:22 am
I am keeping my fingers crossed that there will be a Sock Summit in my future!
August 15th, 2009 at 8:30 am
This was just perfectly wonderful, being a part of such a huge Ravelry event..the little project bags are the cutest and already in use..as well, I got some cute pix of you guys.
Keep The Ravelry Love Going~
August 15th, 2009 at 11:31 am
Besides the wonderful teachers and amazing classes, I was struck by the fact of how many people wandering around the Oregon Convention Center looked right into my eyes as they passed by, smiling wide open smiles. There was such a feeling of community and the joy of knowing learning how to make (and even design) beautiful socks for ourselves and others. It is funny to think that we all came together over such a humble pursuit: knitting socks. But the energy was, yes, palatable. In my last class, I overheard a woman say “I feel so EMPOWERED. I haven’t felt this was since I was EIGHT.” hen she shook her head in wonderment and said “it’s been 49 years since I’ve felt this way.” That was the magic of Sock Summit. Thanks ST-1, ST-2 and Ravelry!! I would go again in a heartbeat!
August 15th, 2009 at 2:18 pm
I have loved reading all the blogs and looking at the pictures, and I just have to know about the cute scarf/shawl wraps Jess and MH are wearing in that first picture. I want to make one!
August 16th, 2009 at 8:51 am
Amazing photo with Barbara Walker! Must frame.
August 16th, 2009 at 9:40 am
Could you post a link to the pattern of the little red wrap Jess is wearing in the first photo? It’s so cute!
August 16th, 2009 at 10:12 am
The warmth and energy and as one woman put it, “the empowerment” is just amazing. I feel lucky to be alive in this day and age and to be a knitter. It all starts with just yarn and needles and grows into so much more. Thank you all at Ravelry for bringing us together on this forum and to the Sock Summit Crew for bringing us all together in person.
It is a wonderful time to be a knitter !
August 18th, 2009 at 7:50 pm
While I didn’t attend Sock Summit, those in my knitting circle who did said this was the best knitting event they’ve ever attended - one of them was one of the teachers there. I hope to get to the next one.
August 18th, 2009 at 9:48 pm
The photos and the description of Sock Summit are so joyful, it is wonderful to see your happy smiles. Looks like this is one of the best gatherings ever for fiber lovers, so glad you got to go!
August 19th, 2009 at 7:12 pm
I’m wiping my tears and reading these comments. I couldn’t attend, but if there’s another (Oh please, please, please!!!), I am going. I sent an email while on the Sock Summit site on the Monday after, asking if there will be another. I received a reply saying it was “too soon to tell, but to keep checking the website.” Thank you, Ravelry!
August 20th, 2009 at 8:23 pm
I am still floating on the high from this event. I can’t believe I got to talk to and actually touch Barbara Walker!!! The Ravelry party was great as were all the events. This was my first experience having a booth and I couldn’t have asked for a better one. I was exhausted for the entire week afterward but I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.
August 21st, 2009 at 5:43 pm
I tried to make it on Friday night, but found out that the Market closed at 6pm! Since I worked over the weekend, I didn’t get to go at all. I hope that this was successful enough that I can make it to the next one.
August 24th, 2009 at 8:00 pm
Thanks for the super summary of Sock Summit (couldn’t resist cheesy alliteration opportunity there!). I’m so pleased and proud that Ravelry had such a strong presence there. Thank you for all you guys do. And thank you and bless you for posting the update with the name of the scarf you were wearing. I was just about to send you a PM to ask you, as I have been dying to know what it was, having seen it all weekend in other people’s pictures!
August 24th, 2009 at 8:30 pm
I missed out on the classes but the market was fantastic. My friend Kathryn and I arrived at 9:30 am and did not leave until 3:30 pm. We visited every single booth. This is the best Market I have ever been to. Thank you wonderful planners and vendors.
August 28th, 2009 at 2:45 pm
I’m not a knitter (daughter and sister of knitters tho!) but am trying to spread the word about IBOL - Iraqi Bundles of Love. Quilters are on board bigtime; has the stick community heard about this? Check it out at ibol.wordpress.com (please!)
September 7th, 2009 at 8:58 am
I love seeing the pictures and the handknit items that were labeled, but who is who? Process of elimination, I picked out Jess and Barbara Walker… please identify. Thank you.
September 24th, 2009 at 12:05 am
I almost fell off my chair when I realized I was gazing upon a photo of THE Barbara Walker. I have been a HUGE fan of her Mosaic Knitting for years. I didn’t know she was Phi Beta Kappa, but the fact that she is a genius in the knitting world was immediately apparent to me the first time I read through the intro to that book. I got so excited about what I was reading, I just HAD to try her technique, and the more I worked with it, the more respect I had for her brilliance. Every time I pick up mosaic knitting anew, it makes me smile.
Thanks for sharing your moment with one of my heroes. Where else would this happen? Ravelry rocks!
September 24th, 2009 at 5:10 am
It looks like everyone had a wonderful time. And let’s face it, who doesn’t like a party? It is a bit far to come over from Australia. It would be great if we could have weekends/retreats like your Sock Summit over here.I for one would be there with bells on (so to speak)…..
Anyway ladies, keep up all of your fantastic work that you all have been doing. I just love this site, I’ve given out the addy & told all the ladies at my Mum’s knitting group to hop on by, and sign up….
September 24th, 2009 at 4:10 pm
mhhhh I’m sighing on the Sponsor bag…. :) Why Italy is sooooo far from this Sock Summit!!! It looks like you’ve got lot of fun! =) maybe someday…
September 28th, 2009 at 3:45 pm
This is a sweater on ravelry. It’s over a year old, but I don’t know if anyone has brought it to you attention. Please open the pictures because she shows a close up of the shoulder, which is very intriguing, something I’ve never seen in a pattern before. Personally, I think it worthy of publication in Interweave Knits:
http://www.ravelry.com/projects/knitty34/princess-de
February 2nd, 2010 at 3:10 pm
This is a really awesome game! I play it like 24/7 and never get tired of it! I actually think it is not possible to be bored. This game OWN the shit out of everything!