Sock Summit - day 2: Opening Reception

On Thursday evening, August 6th, several hundred knitters congregated in the great Oregon Ballroom at the convention center for the Opening Reception. Of course we got to sit at round tables and knit all the while.


Stephanie and Tina welcomed everyone, told the story of how the Sock Summit came to be, was more than two years in the making. They formed a company, rented a whole convention center, and proceeded to invite teachers. None of them said no. They were all ready to carve out time and teach at the biggest such endeavor ever. They had to make it clear to CC management, hotels, IT people, graphic designers, printers, bankers, everyone involved, over and over again, that Yes Knitters will come to a Sock Summit, and in great numbers. Everyone thought they were crazy. Which they were, but sort of in a good way....

I delighted in witnessing a great friendship between two women who respect each other's work and decided they can do this despite the odds.


They introduced their Sock Teams, women who helped them tirelessly to accomplish this feat. It really sank in for me then that there was no other organizer, that this was them, they were it, these six women did it all.
All throughout the summit, they were there right on the floor, making sure everything went smoothly.
Left to right: Tina Newton, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, Debbi Stone, Joann, RachelH, and Debra.


After a lot of laughter and some tears, too, they introduced all the teachers. Then it was time to meet them. There were many, and I caught a glimpse of:

Barbara Walker

Meg Swansen and Amy Detjen

Anna Zilboorg and cookie a.

Nancy Bush

I later heard a story where a young woman had a wedding shawl on the needles, and she asked a bunch of the teachers to knit on it for her. I think this is it! Meg is working on it.

There was also a raffle of donated items, where I had donated a skein each of all the Luminary Panel colorways. This was the lucky bidder who won - she donated $250! She was very happy and I was so glad the yarn and roving went to a good home. She told me she was going around to all the panelists to get their autographs on my write-up. (Lucy Neatby is behind her, with the pink hair.)

By the end of the weekend, she had gotten all but two. Good for her for being so generous!