Pencily woke up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed on Sunday morning, which is more than I can say for me after three days of Sock Summit. Of course, I’ve seen him early in the morning before and he never seems to get bags under his eyes- he’s always “bright-eyed.” Might be genetic. He isn’t always bushy-tailed though!
He sat in with me on Socktastic Stitch Patterns, which was a great class. I learned quite a bit about compensating for a lack of stretch in a stitch pattern (whether that lack is from tight cables or drapey lace). Much of what we talked about in class I’d already figured out for myself, but it was nice to have my suspicions confirmed. JC Briar was a lovely teacher.
After that, Pencily and I headed over to the Marketplace for one last circuit. I wanted to be sure there wasn’t anything else I wanted to buy. He wanted to meet Heel Flap, Gusset and Instep, the live sheep who had just been sheared for the Fleece to Foot Challenge. I left him to talk to the sheep while I bought a new high-speed whorl and drive band for my wheel because apparently I am addicted to spinning laceweight.
Pencily said they started out talking about the tastiest goodies to eat (Pencily recommended coffee), but quickly moved on to which team they thought would win the competition. We found out in the afternoon that none of the teams had finished spinning and knitting the entire pair of socks in the five and a half hours. The team that got closest was World Wide Mashup. There’s a fun article on the Challenge on OregonLive.com.
After I dragged Pencily away from the sheep, Lowell picked us up and we went to Alder Creek for some kayak supplies. I bought a new life jacket! Then it was back to the Summit for our class with Judith MacKenzie.
Sorry for the cell phone pictures; I forgot to bring the real camera charger (life would be so much easier if it charged off USB like everything else I own) and I was in a rush to get back to taking notes! Judith is just a geyser of knowledge and tips, which is why I didn’t care which class of hers I took- I just had to take one of her classes. As an added bonus, I was interested in learning more about blending colors in spinning. We practiced blending colors at the wheel by holding two pieces of top together and we got to play with hackles to make our own blended pencil roving.
After that… it was all over. The market was closed when we exited class. Everyone was heading home. It was kind of sad, like the last day of summer camp. However, Sock Summit may end, but the fiber you buy there is forever! Or at least should last you until the next one (hopefully there will be a next one!)
The Daily Skein 