OFFF, socks, socks & more socks

On Sunday morning, I jumped out of bed, ran downstairs and paced the floor, waiting for the arrival of my Oregon Flock & Fiber Fest partners-in-crime Nicholette Hoyer (the brilliant mind behind the knitted crowns in the summer Interweave Knits) and Betsy McCarthy (of Knit Socks! fame). You'd think that the three of us would talk knitting on the drive down, but for some reason we got started on tsunamis, earthquakes and bird flu. Go figure!

As soon as we got there, we headed for the Blue Moon booth. It was total sensory overload, as usual, and as soon as I walked in Tina started handing me huge piles of yarn (she owes me a bunch for designs I'm doing for them). It is, of course, all fantastically gorgeous and is looking really good adorning the top of our piano:



After a trip to the car to unload our goods, Nicholette and I met up with Amanda at the Tigard Knitting Guild booth where we sat, knitted and chatted about all things fiber-related for the next two hours. It was SO much fun to sit and talk and knit, uninterrupted by children, with two people just as obsessed with knitting as I am.

Here's me & Amanda:



Amanda and Nicholette:



and me & Nicholette:



Gosh, it would've been a lot easier to just get someone to take one picture of the three of us together, wouldn't it?

After lunch (where Nic had lamb kabobs - how could she!), we went to the barns to check out the fiber-producing creatures. We got the chance to pet this angora bunny:



I was dying to pick it up and run away with it. I love how even the tops of their ears are super furry! And it was so unbelievably soft. We also saw plenty of cute little alpacas...



and the most adorable llamas:



What a great way to spend a morning! I spent the rest of the day working on my Socks of Doom in preparation for sending them off for assasination on Monday:



I made them out of Knit One Crochet Two Creme Brulee, which made really awesome socks. The gauge that Yarn Monkey specified for the Socks of Doom was a little bit looser than I would've made these for myself, but they were still a fun and super-fast knit. I hope Kentucky Quiltmaker (my target) likes them, even though they will be her Sock Wars downfall...

Sunday evening we celebrated my father-in-law's birthday, complete with pointy hats:





Cute little dunces, aren't they? We also had some a tricycle riding exhibition. First there was some high-speed trick riding by the Wicked Witch of the West:



And then, well, I really don't know what to say about this...



Right now, I am putting off two things in a big way. The first thing is (obviously) the sock update, which keeps growing and growing and gets worse every day that I delay posting it (which, in turn, makes me put it off even more). I was going to do it at the end of this post, but this is getting long enough already so I will post socks in my NEXT post. I swear!

I also am at the swatching stage again, having finised the Handpainted Yarn design apart from seaming and some attached i-cord. It turned out really nice, and the Lion & Lamb is a dream to knit with. I can't show you the whole thing, of course, but here's a little taste:



Isn't that Black Purl colorway to die for? I just love it. But finishing this means that it's time to go back to the drawing board and start working up my next projects. Once I get into swatching, I love it. Getting started, however, is not always so easy. I have a few different projects that are already swatched that I'm planning to add to the GYW line, and I can't even get those started. For some reason, I have this idea in the back of my head that I have other stuff that needs to get done first (although at this point, I'm not sure what that is since I don't have any hard publication deadlines coming up). I'm continuing to work on my 2nd Dublin Bay Sock while I try to make up my mind about what comes next. Wish me luck!