Thursday, August 6, 2009

Sock Summit Field Update – Wednesday

Brought to you in conjunction with Knotions- Knit smarter!

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Greetings, readers! Jasmin and Gigi here, ready to give you the scoop about what’s happening over at the Sock Summit. Okay, we know that it doesn’t start until Thursday, but in order to maximize our experience, and get prepared for the event, we flew in on Wednesday. Our day started very early- at 4am, in order to be at the airport for our 6am flight out of San Jose up to Portland. It’s only an hour and a half flight up, but our flight had some serious star power.
Steve Young, from the San Francisco 49ers was on our flight! (Sorry, no pictures with a sock. Even at 7:30 am, when we landed, I thought it was too early to ask for a sock picture.)

We dropped off our luggage at the hotel, and walked down for a leisurely breakfast at Mother’s Bistro. The food was great, the coffee French pressed, and the service, stellar. We had a charming waiter, Jason, who was obliging enough to take a picture with the sock I’m knitting for Andrew:

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Mom liked their mugs SO much, that she picked one up. Can you blame her?

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After that, we walked up to Powell’s, which is, in my opinion, the Bookstore to End All Bookstores. On our way there, we encountered a VW Bug that was FULL of water. I’m totally not kidding!

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Complete with rubber ducks!

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It was to promote some sort of extreme sports thing. The young man who provided the explanation (along with the occasional rock of the VW to attract attention to it’s full-of-water-ness) was charming and polite, and the first of quite a few helpful and friendly Portlanders we encountered on our adventure. After our trip to Powell’s, we recharged our batteries, and headed out for Sock Summit Central- the Oregon Convention Center.

As with any adventure, our band of merry knitters just might have taken the wrong MAX train- but, as I mentioned earlier, no fewer than three helpful Portlanders helped us get to where we were going. The signs all directed us where to go, which is where I wandered into the vendor hall to pick up some of the swag for our meetup on Saturday! I saw some gorgeous sock yarn (at Simply Socks Yarn Company), which I just MIGHT have stuck my face in. With these colors, wouldn’t you?

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While I was out picking up swag, Mom was hanging out with the eager knitters who showed up a day early to register, hang out, and generally just soak up the sock mojo. While I was chatting with trtlgrl (and borrowed her charming baby), she introduced us to none other than Judy Becker!

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Judy is SO nice, and a brilliant knitter, to boot! (Might I add that she had tassels on her Clapotis- a detail that really makes the piece!) Judy and crew recommended Burgerville, which another friendly knitter (and Portlander! I told you they were exceptionally helpful!) escorted us to. After a day of exploring, it really hit the spot.

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We’re going to go put our feet up now- check back in tomorrow!

13 comments:

  1. Sounds like you are already having a blast!! Can't wait to hear more!! Love the pictures!!!

    Have fun and buy lots of sock yarn!! :)

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  2. I warned hubby that I *might* be chained to the computer all weekend reading tweets and blogs, just to try to experience a tiny piece of Sock Summit. Thanks for helping me out with details! p.s. luvthemug :)

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  3. Thanks for the updates, much appreciated!! I so wish I could be there...this is my vicarious long weekend!!

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  4. Powells is fabulous! Glad you got the chance to go.

    Love the cup! May need to buy three for my kids! :)

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  5. Fun! I think Steve Young is nice enough that he would have indulged in a picture with a sock, but probably appreciated your good manners more.

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  6. Hi Jasmine, Hi Gigi :)

    Your podcast is excellent, you both do a fantastic job. Thank you for all your hard work and for sharing your knitting with us!

    Love from England x

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  7. Oh, the wonders of living vicariously! Please keep posting, as I am a gazillion miles away, and I would love to know what's going on there anyway.

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  8. If you get a chance and want an EXCELLENT Thai dinner, try Ping (http://www.pingpdx.com) at 102 NW Ave, three blocks west of the Max train at Chinatown. It was named Restaurant of the Year by the Oregonian (http://www.oregonlive.com/diner/index.ssf/2009/06/rising_star_of_the_year.html). And Fong Chong just a couple blocks north on the other side of the street has amazing dim sum.

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  9. Thanks for the great update. I miss Burgerville.

    Rubber duckies!

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  10. I so wish I was there. Keep the posts coming...I'm living vicariously through you ladies!

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  11. I've been dying to know what's going on up there so I came over to the blog & YAY - an update. I can't wait to hear more.

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  12. i am fortunate to live in portland- Powells, the nice people, Mother's, coffee, pubs, yarn- all the goodness!
    Thanks for the goodies- I met you on Saturday (was 3rd in line) for the goody bag!!! now i'm listening to all your podcasts!

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  13. So far behind still... These posts make me miss Portland. Isn't Powell's the bestest? I want to live there.

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