we all had WAY too much fun

Posted on Posted in book reviews/events, projects

ya gotta love this kind of enthusiasm—it’s our dear friend sheryl, all giggly and excited to be at sock summit and joining in my class. and let me tell you—she really knows how to make a blogger/teacher feel on top of the world at the end of a long trip; just look at how cute she is. not to mention her budding apple shawlette—SO pretty on her, right??

and “whilst” it may be a big job to follow up on david’s coattails this week, i’m going to give it my best shot—i’ve got a bunch of photos from my sock summit weekend (maybe not what you’d expect, but good) and a few from the trip between portland and eugene, where i am now at the home of my friend janel, whose books you have seen here before.

as it turns out, i don’t have a ton of photos from the show itself—i KNOW. but a lot of things about this show were similar to the last one and you can see a recap of SS2009 here.

certainly, we saw a lot of yarn and yarny friends—above is a photo of our friend cheryl from newhue handspuns, who you probably know from our ravelry group. i’ve knit with and shown her handspun yarns on the blog (and the socks i’ve knit from her bunny patch continue to be one of my favorite cold weather choices).

cheryl shared a booth with our other good friends, the jenkins, known for their lovely handcrafted spindles and knitting needles.

then there is this beautiful photo of all the designers involved in the coffee break knits booklet published by kollage yarns. we did a book signing on saturday at lunchtime, which gave us all a chance to have a fun hour or so of chatting and joking (it was the highlight of my day, haha).

and saturday after the show, a flash mob formed outside the convention center to dance and sing for a few minutes. i taped and photographed it (you really REALLY wouldn’t want to see me dance it, haha), but my video didn’t turn out that great so i will refer you to the many better ones on youTube of this event.

in fact, you should also check out the practice video, starring debbi and stephen, as well as the outtakes video—if you can find that—most entertaining, haha.

and there were events before the weekend even got started—i was invited to a wonderful luncheon at gino’s restaurant on wednesday, where we celebrated the work of a number of designers by toasting their patterns during each course of the luncheon.

the brainchild of deb accuardi, partner in pico accuardi dyeworks, as well as the head chef at gino’s, this luncheon is a redux of the yarn-tasting lunch she hosted for the last sock summit. we all had a lovely time, meeting and chatting with each other in a relaxed dining room over nice food and wine; it was a lovely kickoff for the hectic weekend ahead.

although some of us managed to get our giddy up, hee-hee; isn’t sherece adorable?? she paid me the nicest compliment and was obviously planning to have a lot of fun over the weekend; how can you not love her?

what really twirled my skirt this weekend was being in portland itself—what a fab town! i got up very early each day so i could have a nice long walk/run outside before heading into work.

on the very first day i discovered a great neighborhood about a mile or so behind the convention center called sullivan’s gulch, where residents are allowed to fill in the space between the sidewalks and the street with garden plots.

they were magnificent, really—each one more abundant than the next. i couldn’t have been more overjoyed to see them than if it were my very own garden at home (well, maybe i’d be just little happier to see that one, hint hint—DAVID).

the variety of vegetables that people are growing here in spaces about three feet square is truly inspiring

chard and lettuces as you would expect, but also large heads of cabbage, big tomato vines, brussels sprouts

and even this plot of potatoes (and i didn’t even take photos of all the amazing flower beds—you can imagine).

i wish our neighborhood would take up this practice; it would be a great way to get residents outside in front of their homes each evening to work and visit with each other during the summer months.

and the interest was not just in the gardening, though that was a great attraction for me; i also sighted many instances of yarn bombing about.

which made me feel even more at home, haha.

i walked and ran in this incredibly interesting neighborhood a few times, as well as crossing over NE broadway into the—maybe—more posh neighborhood of irvington.

it’s a great city for getting outside, friendly to runners, walkers and especially cyclists. portland is supposed to be the second best city on earth for cyclists, in fact. i could see us living in a place like that, except for the dreary gray winters . . . that would give me pause.

but this week, it was all about summer and we hit the city hard after the teaching days were over to see what we could see. portland is a foody town and we found great eats everywhere—and at great prices too.

our favorite had to be the farm cafe, where we ate lovingly prepared dishes that were served up with courtesy and good humor in a quiet, homey dining room—just what the doctor ordered after a mega-busy day.

we also had a delicious dinner and brunch at tasty n sons (on different days, haha) and a very good meal at produce row cafe, late on monday night.

we even had a few hours in the days before and after the summit to explore the neighborhood thrift shops and print shops—portland is rife with terrific secondhand shops and stationery stores.

the highlight of our shopping excursion had to be this stop at rapha, purveyors of the finest (and most über-chic) performance cycling clothing on earth. their merino wool jerseys and shell jackets are not just the softest, lightest perfomrance fabrics you will ever feel—they are also very smart looking; exactly the kind of stylish thing you would never expect to be able to ride in.

not that yours truly has any business shopping in a place like this—i was just browsing (snicker).

seriously, i did have a purpose other than gawking—mister knitspot has been trying to get his hands on a couple of items that were discontinued and i though i might be able to score them here (sadly, not).

however, slate here gave us a nice preview of the upcoming products for 2012, including a few new items for women cyclists that i drooled over. i offered to test drive them, but i’m not sure he took me seriously. heh.

after that, we left town to make our way to janel’s and decided to take the oceanside route, so i could see some of oregon’s stunning coastline.

but first we had to get there—to do so, we drove through pine forests so thick, the light of day barely penetrates the trees. we also drove through the extremely fertile willamette valley agricultural region, where a variety of small commercial farming flourishes, including nurseries, crop farms, and fruit farms, many of which are organic.

we wound our way slowly down along the ocean, stopping here and there to stretch our legs and take pictures when we saw something especially beautiful or interesting

(we admit that this head flattening information got us started on a strange but interesting discussion about body art gone too far).

the coastal highway has the prettiest and most well-planned rest stops i’ve ever seen. janel told me that many area residents use them as frequently as travelers do for daytime getaways and picnicking.

this one had a beautiful view of the ocean and another of a small cove where a cave is worn away into the forest that leads descends down to the shoreline

well, you know from previous trip reports how much i love the ocean and the shoreline, with its constantly changing variety of textures and colors.

here we have the dunes area which is a change form the more deeply forested shorelines we left behind us. i love how the sands provide a dustiness to the colors here that change them entirely.

soon we headed inland again for the last leg of our trip to eugene. we arrived a little tired and hungry, so we scooped up janel’s husband and headed for a local wood-fired pizza place that was an excellent ending meal to our day.

we fell into bed afterward, so i haven’t had a chance to photograph the yarns or knitting i have from sock summit,but i’ll make that happen today so you can see those in my next update.

i’ll be here until tomorrow, when i go back to portland to catch a flight to san francisco and my next teaching gig in berkeley. more on that later—time to get organized here!

27 thoughts on “we all had WAY too much fun

  1. Sock Summit looks like it was loads of fun! Thanks for sharing. The scenery in Oregon does look stunning. I’m looking forward to seeing the yarns you got at SS. I wonder if you spotted any potential club yarns for next year?!! There is great excitement in the Clubhouse at the moment with the anticipation of packages!! Happy onward travels to you. I bet you can’t wait to be back in your garden again.

  2. So jealous! Excited to see what cool things you picked up and all the new yarns. Enjoy the West Coast where finally we’re getting some sun and warm. 🙂

  3. The Oregon coast is just the best! (Aside from chilly water haha.) Glad Janel got you out of town to see some of the natural beauty of Oregon. And now you’re headed to another cool city!

  4. I truly enjoyed the Sock Design course on Saturday. I looked forward to it for months with great anticipation and was not disappointed. It was very informative. I gained a lot of confirmation on my own thoughts regarding the designing of my sock. I am a very visual person, so your use of knitting samples and PowerPoint manipulation of pattern adjustments provided the emphasis I need to grasp ideas/concepts quickly. I will continue to work on my Socks that Rock Seashell socks and thank you for your input.

    Your designs are truly elegant and fluid. I find your whole approach to this craft to be inspiring. David, Thank you for being such a wonderful supportive partner to this talented woman.

  5. Thank you for sharing the photos from the Oregon coastline. I’m trying to talk my daughter into looking at colleges there. She is uber creative, and loves overcast, cloudy days. Sounds like a fit to me! Anxious to see the yarns you selected from SS. Even though you are so energetic, you are probably ready to be home in your own garden. Soon! Have a great time in Berkeley. You will be with my sister and niece!

  6. Wonderful pictures. Now I’ve added Oregon to the places I want to visit. Beautiful pictures as always, Anne. Sounds like you’ve had a great time. Sorry you didn’t find the things David wanted. That’s a bummer.

    Hope you continue to have joyous days. Know that we miss you. And one person may be impatiently awaiting her club package – but i won’t mention any names.

  7. Marvelous photos! I love Portland and the Willamette Valley – haven’t had a chance to visit the Oregon coast yet, so I really enjoyed your pix.

  8. SS sounds like just a world of fun. Maybe next time I’ll be able to go see for myself. Such beautiful yarns and I bet the classes were amazing. But in this post I love the photos of the gardens and especially the Oregon coastline. You used to be able to buy smoked salmon from vendors on the beach. I lived in Eugene back in one of my other lives (Actually graduated from UofO – Go Ducks) but it’s been years since I’ve been back. There was a wondeful little batch of shops and vendors down by the tracks under the Coburg Street Bridge and I rememebr some really fine yarns that I bought there one time.
    Anyway – hope you enjoy your stay. Can’t wait to see the yarns and what you will eventually make of them!

  9. So glad you had fun in Portland! The weather cooperated and made the city sparkle.

    That’s Sherece (Ravelry: Sherecie) in the picture at Gino’s. She’s delightful! I was sitting across the table from her.

    Safe travels!

  10. Thanks, Anne for a great class. I was in your “Holes in our Socks” class and really appreciated seeing all your swatches and how different yarns behaved. It will definitely make a difference in how I choose yarn for future projects.

    Hope you have a safe journey to California!

  11. Oh, maybe by the next SS I will have my life organized enough to go – it looks like such a blast and I know Portland is tons of fun. The coast is very pretty.

    Enjoy the rest of your time on the west coast! I’m sure your tomatoes are calling you!

  12. I always enjoy your photos. You see very different things. The little gardens in Portland (fab). That gorgeous food (ditto fab). I love the beautiful drive through thick pine forests and little farming communities, finally arriving at that glorious coast.

    After another relentlessly hot summer in Texas (it was only spring when you were here and you remember how hot it was), grey, cool, rainy, misty days sound rather wonderful.

  13. Beautiful scenery. I just love that flash mob video – so very funny! Looks like a lot of fun – knitters are the best! 🙂

    Oh, love the yarn snake in the tree!

  14. I confess to ‘hunting’ for you in the flash mob when I saw it on Rav – before you posted it!

  15. So glad that you had a delightful Sock Summit. I’ve lived most of my life in the Pacific Northwest and the coast on a sunny day is like a little piece of heaven on earth. Vegetable gardens should be encouraged everywhere. They’re so much more practical than lawn. Cheers!

  16. I agree – the neighborhoods were fantastic! We were about a mile SE of the convention center and saw lots of veggie yards and even a living driveway. I took my runs through an old cemetery (early 1800’s) and past Voodoo doughnuts.

    Also fantastic – your design class. I’m halfway down my heel flap and adapting as I go, so far, so good. Thanks for sharing your process formally – I think I’ll go reread some of the design posts and appreciate them even more now. Thanks!

  17. Wow! You are in my home town. I wish I had known, I would have loved to have met you. I’m sure you already have a tour guide but it would have been fun to show you my town. I hope you enjoy our green city.

  18. Sock Summit was the most fun I’ve ever had. And getting to meet you was icing on the super-cute-mini-Sock Summit-cupcake! 🙂 You’re even more beautiful in-person!

  19. I’m so glad you had fun at SS. I feel like I got to go with all your wonderful pictures. Instead I just sat and remembered the wonderful time I had last SS (and I got to meet you). What a great event. I LOVED your walk. It’s almost like someone was calling to you with the knitting and the veggie gardens. ; )

  20. Hi Anne!! Thank you so much for a wonderful class and allowing me to cross something off my knitting bucket list: meeting you!

  21. I really enjoyed your Holes in your Socks class Friday morning! Although I have knit lace before I really did not understand the theory of it and how the placement of different stitches affects the fabric. I had many AHA moments Friday morning! And your swatch museum may be the best thing I saw all weekend! Thanks for a great class 🙂

  22. Oh rats – sounds like you’ll be in Berkeley just when I’m up meeting friends on the Oregon coast! Bad luck for me, but I hope you have as lovely a time in northern California as you did in Oregon.
    (As for winter weather: I’ll take grey and drizzly over midwestern blizzards any time!)

  23. You always put so much thought and effort into each blog post. I just wanted to express to you how I enjoy each one!

  24. You saw so much good stuff in Portland! I’m very impressed (knowing just how busy you were). And your coast trip sounds absolutely perfect – there’s nothing better than a gorgeous coastline…

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