how about a guinness for lunch?

no, no, no - not THAT kind of guinness!

the world book of records type of guinness!

and here we are, at high noon on friday, august 7, 2009.

myself and about 900+ of "my people" preparing to set a world record for the most knitters knitting together in one location. it really wasn't too difficult a task as the previous record had been set several months earlier in australia with a mere 250 knitters! we did 'kick arse'!!

the whole process was very official - we had to register on numbered cards with both our printed and written signatures; we had to be using straight needles only (no circulars or double points); and we had to knit for 15 minutes (gosh, not a problem for this cowboy!).

it was both fun and thrilling - here i was, surrounded by a group of people of all ages and all ethnicities, doing what they love to do! you could feel the love and electricity in the air! many, many squeals of excitement and bubbly chit-chat! well organized and very official - lots of officials watching over us with an official start and finish - needles up!!

i had the good fortune of sitting next to a woman from south carolina, who brought her two nieces (ages six and ten) from portland, oregon. they were all knitting blue washcloths as a special memory of the occasion. they were awfully excited to be a part of making history!

the whole affair was tremendous. when in this lifetime will i ever have the opportunity to knit with the icons of the knitting world: barbara walker, meg swanson, priscilla gibson-roberts, stephanie pearl-mcphee, nancy bush, cat bordhi and cookie a; and set a guinness world record? probably not anytime soon! but, for now, its back to the double points and more socks!!

three up - three down

bingo, bango, bongo! when i am beating myself up for not getting anything done, i can take a look at these babies and realize that i actually did accomplish something this summer!! amazing!!

i knit these out of kollage 'luscious' which is a delightful blend of mostly cotton with a touch of lycra to help them hold their shape! very soft and very comfy - i would love to be wearing them each and every day but the weather has been way too hot! ugh! as fall rolls around i'm sure that their time will come! the pattern i used was from interweave knits mag from a couple of summers ago. it is titled: simply lovely lace socks. well, they are lovely with the lace pattern and they are simple to knit so i guess the title fits the description. i think that this will be my new 'vanilla sock pattern' as it is a 4 row pattern with only one row of deviation - my brain appreciates that! and now that i am sock heel literate from my class at sock summit, i can change the heel and whip these puppies out even faster! yahoo!

i plan to use the leftovers to make a pair of striped socks - hang on to your hats, and we'll see if that comes to fruition!! my wool yarn is beginning to beckon.

i just found out by email that another of our local yarn shops is giving up their brick and mortar store front and going online, only! bummer, dude! ordering online is fine and i do it on occasion but when i need a fix now, i need it now - not several days down the line!!

we are blessed in the portland metro area with a number of lys's, but this is the third shop this year to pack it in! makes me sad as i really enjoyed visiting all three of them! however, i did manage to find just a few luscious yarns at the sock summit vendor area and the oregon flock and fiber festival will be here before we know it! btw, mark your calendar for the weekend of september 26 & 27, and boogie on down to canby for a day or two of fun! and...don't forget your plastic as you may find one or two items that scream your name!! i don't seem to have a problem with that...

happy, happy, happy birthday to you, ez!!

"Properly practiced, knitting soothes the troubled spirit, and it doesn't hurt the untroubled spirit, either." - elizabeth zimmerman

if she were still amongst the living, ez (elizabeth zimmerman) would have been 99 years young yesterday!!

and could there have possibly been a better way to spend her birthday than among a great group of knitters knitting and listening to the luminaries of the knitting world:

Cat Bordhi, Nancy Bush, Priscilla Gibson-Roberts, Judith MacKenzie-McCuin, Lucy Neatby, Deborah Robson, Meg Swansen, Barbara Walker, Anna Zilboorg, Stephanie Perl-McPhee, and Tina Newton. words of wisdom from all of them and cake, too!!

NIRVANA!! life just doesn't get any better than that!!

and remember, YOU are in charge of your knitting! and don't you forget it!

ready to rock and roll.....

time to party!!

one day until the sock summit begins and the 'queen of procrastination' has completed her task and is prepared for class! it truly is a miracle! as you can see, i have six little socklettes ready and waiting for their saturday class - "sock heels". i had set a goal for myself to complete these little numbers during the month of july but, as usual, july came and went and alas, no socklettes so sunday, august 2, i put the pedal to the metal and got crankin'. my procrastination actually turned out to be a good thing, believe it or not! since i had to knit all six in such a short amount of time, i was able to use six different types of needles and compare them while the 'feel' of the needling from the previous set was fresh in my mind!

did i learn anything? well, yes, i guess i can come to some conclusions.

first and foremost, i really do prefer double point needles to the other methods for knitting socks. i knew this before but it was really reinforced through these socklettes - it really is the fastest method for me!

secondly, i have been a wooden needle snob in the past! i found myself somewhat surprised by the metal needles i tried - they weren't as slippery as i had thought they would be and the thinnest ones didn't break when i was knitting (i can't tell you how many times i've had wooden size zero or one needles break when knitting lace socks!) gosh, i may have to reset my priorities!

and thirdly, i really like knitting with little needles - both short ones and thin ones!! big needles and thick yarn might get you a product faster but nothin' beats the feel of little needles and thin yarn!

and, what else will i be up to at sock summit?

well, tomorrow morning, bright and early, i'll be learning to spin with a drop spindle. it should be interesting - will i be able to use both hands at the same time doing two different things! ugh, sort of like rubbing your head and rubbing your stomach at the same time! only time will tell! i'll keep you posted!