SPA 2007

I took embarrassingly few pictures.  *beats chest*

It was an event that unfolded as you would expect.  Lots of hang-time.  Copious spinning and knitting.  Morbid fascination with other peoples' projects, purchases, and machines.  I had the same focus on sock knitting machines (think Eloi being called to the Morlocks from 'The Time Machine' by HG Wells) that Mel did.

This is a picture of turning a heel.  I almost didn't have time to focus the picture before it was done.  The good news is that learning to use the machine takes more time than knitting a pair of socks.  And picking up dropped stitches is NOT trivial.  It WOULD make my sock yarn stash seem more rational.  I think Tony Federer said it takes an hour and a half per pair of socks.  Not the point?  Thank god.

That Laurie did it again.  She had another amazing hand-dyed, hand-spun hand-knitted sweater on.  I did manage to get a picture, but the three ladies never stopped moving.  The Goddess modeling the sweater was the worst of all.  Constant motion.

They were deaf to my pleas.  "Hey, kids, this isn't a video camera, fer gawd's sake!"

You may recognize Nora Gaughan's design.  The other ladies to the left are Juno and TooMuchWool.  TMW is wearing her cashmere lady cap and Celtic Dreams in soft, squishy wonderful I have to buy some BFL.

There were educational opportunities.  I watched an Alden Amos wheel change ownership.  This wheel spins like .... I can't say this on a knitblog.  You know what I'm thinking. 

Carole needed a new drive band.  This is 15 feet (or so) of spun Coopworth morphing into a three-ply driveband.  Marcy to the left, Carole to the right.  The driveband lasted about an hour before it stretched beyond the wheel's adjustments, and it was replaced with thick cotton thread.  That was much less dramatic than plying 3x5 feet of yarn in a room with no room for people, let alone plying bodies.  Juno's purpleheart Canadian production wheel is visible below Carole's right arm.

Monica spent some time practicing.  That is PumpkinGirl in her arms.  Both ladies were remarkably quiet, and seemed to be satisfied with the transaction. Monica looks wonderful.  (And IS wonderful.)

This is a whack of socks under a sock knitting machine.  They are joined by a waste band of yarn that is used to separate/start the next one.  If you do it this way, you have to finish off the cuff AND the toe.  The guy in the first picture does it one sock at a time, so all he has at the end is a toe to kitchener.

Stash acquisitions to follow in another post. 

Comments

[Carrie]

Ooooh, the sock machine is tempting... I know the point is to enjoy the knitting, but I enjoy my sock knitting so thoroughly that I rarely get to enjoy sock-wearing! (Couple that with the fact that I am wearing store-bought socks with shot elastic, and they're bunching up under my feet!)
Looks like loads of fun, anyway.

[claudia]

Thanks for the pictures and description for the sad, work-fettered ones.....

[Anne]

It looks like a fantastic time - but when isn't it??!

[Dorothy B]

Wow, a pair of socks on an hour and a half! Amazing. Although if I did it, it would be a heck of a lot longer. I can mess up a machine faster than all get out.

[Joni]

I’m in the process of doing some massive ring maintenance for the FiberArts Bloggers ring and I am contacting you because there’s a problem you may have noticed with your code. I will go ahead and e-mail you the basic ring code now, but if you don’t get it please let me know.
Please feel free to contact me with any questions/concerns. Once you have your code up, if you want to send me a note I’d appreciate it, so I can check it out. Thanks!
Joni

[Jo]

I've never seen a sock knitting machine before - that is very interesting!

[kmkat]

I was knitting a sock at my last doctor's appointment, and she told me that one of the other docs at the clinic has a sock machine. I am intrigued by them. Would it be too tacky to ask how much one of them costs? Ballpark figure is good enough.

[Kim]

It was SO good to see you this weekend!

[Kim]

It was SO good to see you this weekend!

[PumpkinMama]

Those sock machines are mesmerizing. Great to see you, wish I could've been there longer, but my time will come.

[Stephanie]

Sniff. Thanks for the pictures. It takes a little of the sting out of missing it.

[Lucia]

It was great to see you, however briefly. Much too briefly. I'm so glad you got pix of That Laurie and her unbelievable sweater -- I got to meet her, but she was far too quick for my camera.

[Norma]

The sock-knitting machine is da BOMB! Very cool. Wish I could have seen it in action. I guess it does take away something from the whole point of knitting socks, though, eh?

Glad you all had a wonderful time.

[Marcia]

Some one of these years I'm gonna have to haul my bum up to Portland for this affair! What always keeps me from going is the thought of Maine in February...the year I go will be the year of the biggest blizzard New England has ever had! Glad you enjoyed...show purchases, please!

[Manise]

Great weekend! I loved the turning of the heel on the sock machine and the pattern the yarn made. SO glad I went.

[Carole]

It was wonderful to spend so much time together. Thanks for the drive band, even though it didn't last, I'll treasure the memory. ;-)

[margene]

Smith would love to have a sock machine! It looks like so much fun and I know it always is. I miss you all!

[Stacey]

I picked up an Autoknitter on Ebay and am in the process of cleaning it up. A friend of mine let me borrow hers so many times I figured that I might as well own one! I usually crank out (pun intended) a pair of socks in 2 hours...but I tend to get distracted.

I blew through so much of my sock yarn stash that my husband comented about the lack of "yarn piles" Gotta love a reason to go buy more yarn!

[Stacey]

I picked up an Autoknitter on Ebay and am in the process of cleaning it up. A friend of mine let me borrow hers so many times I figured that I might as well own one! I usually crank out (pun intended) a pair of socks in 2 hours...but I tend to get distracted.

I blew through so much of my sock yarn stash that my husband comented about the lack of "yarn piles" Gotta love a reason to go buy more yarn!

[Cathy]

Good - love the photos...now to get to the good stuff - stash enhancement!!

[Sylvia]

Thanks for the photos. For a moment it felt as if I were there...

[Heather]

More gadgets-oh no! Look at miss Monica, just ten weeks to go and she already has the hang of it!

[Cheryl]

I wish I could have seen you for longer! And wasn't Marcy's Alden Amos a dream?!

[Beth S.]

Holy cow! Check out that "ribbon" of socks under the sock machine! That is amazing.

Spa looks like it was wonderful. Ah well, maybe next year!

[sandy]

I am soaking it all in like I can make believe I was with you. :) Thank you for your wonderful pictures. They are a balm to my lonely knitter soul!
:)

[Kathy]

Sounds like a wonderful weekend! And to try a new wheel -- how fun!! Look forward to seeing the new goodies.

[LauraJ]

As you probably know, I was so happy to see you. What a surprise: I need human contact. Only the best will do.

So THAT sweater was That Laurie? I talked to her and I didn't even know....

[Teyani]

those sock machines are incredible - yet I'm not sure that I would ever give up knitting socks by hand. It's one of my most favorite of pastimes.
thanks for sharing all the great photos. Looks like fun was had by all!

[Monica]

It was so nice to meet you! I'm glad you got a picture of me holding PumpkinGirl, I was so zoned into the moment I didn't think to take one.

[julia fc]

I am sorry to have missed the technical details. I always learn so much.

[Amelia Garripoli]

Isn't it cool to see a train of socks like that under the machine? The tops are selvedged, usually, so all you have to do is take the waste yarn off and close the toe. The top of the sock won't unravel, the selvedge holds it in. I have some info on selvedges on my blog here -- http://askthebellwether.blogspot.com/2007/02/sock-machines-hem-or-ribbed-top.html
(or for all my Sock Machine entries see here: http://del.icio.us/askthebellwether/SockMachines)

And there are great sock groups on yahoo, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sockknittingmachinefriends and http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sockknittingmachines

[Marcy]

And on that note, I am selling my perfectly functioning sock machine...details at http://portland.craigslist.org/yam/for/283224357.html. Wow, that sweater is gorgeous! And I'm drooling over the thought of a purpleheart wheel!!! I want one!!! Is that too many exclamation points?

[Liz (the crazed weasel)]

okay okay okay so I followed the link on Mel's blogroll, and like, wow. You are the only other person I have ever seen quote that line from the story about Apollo and Artemis arguing about moderation. Whoa. Dude.

And thank you for identifying the person in the gorgeous hexagon sweater that I was hanging out with and chatting a bit with - oh! how cool! the blogland, she is a tricksy beast of wonder, that she is. I knew not that it was That Laurie. A lovely person.

And hello. Um. Hi. (waves, goes back to whatever the hell I was doing a few minutes ago)