Sock Summit 2011

Holy Teacher List, Batman!  The list of teachers is finally up, along with the list of classes and vendors.  There's 60 teachers, 130 classes, and a whole crap load of vendors.  I didn't get to make it to Sock Summit in 2009, but I am so not missing it this year.  I don't want to miss it because Anna Zilboorg will be talking about her free sole socks (which is mind blowing) among other wonderful classes, but also because I have a class.  Three hours of Friday will be devoted to trying not to pee my pants in public. I'm teaching It's Hip to be Square - Bosnian Toes.  It's a one hour wonder that repeats three times in a row.  It's a fun little class (or I really hope it to be) that takes away the cumbersome toe-up cast on. I really love it for baby booties, but it always looks so fun on adult socks too.  We're not just learning the plain Bosnian toe either....we're going to mutate it too. 

The list of teachers is amazing.  There are very few that I don't recognize immediately (but upon clicking on their name, I feel like a dumbass for not knowing).  There's a teacher dinner where I'll be in a room with these amazing people.  I'm quite worried that I will not get all of my freaking out done ahead of time.  (I did okay at Sock Camp, but really was speechless when Anna Zilboorg started talking to me out of nowhere).

Sock Summit 2011.  Amazing.

Hooping

In March, I attended my first ever Sock Camp.  It was amazing and I loved every second of it.  There were times where I didn’t like a particular food or thought something was really weird/odd, but the truth is that I wouldn’t change any of it.  I was able to meet so many wonderful people.  I flew into Seattle where I met up with Hizknits’s mom and we were picked up by a super friendly, calm, and caring knitter from Canada.  The weirdest thing that I’ve taken from camp isn’t leaving little hats or chickens around, but hooping…hula hooping.  After a bizarre and embarrassing afternoon, the amazing JC Briar told me to try her hula hoop.  I hooped. I couldn’t believe it, but I did.  Plus, I have two witnesses.  It’s a fact.

I came home really wanting to make my own hoop.  JC made it sound so easy.  I went off to our local hardware store with my beloved, who was trying really hard not to tell me I had gone bonkers.  He really believes in that whole exercise thing so anything that will get me off of my knitting chair and sweating is a good thing to him.  Sadly, we couldn’t find ¾” or 1” tubing….we did find 5/8” and thought it should be dandy.  It was quite dandy, until I filled it with some water and made a lovely little fountain out of tubing in the living room. Yep, I did continue to pour water for a second or two after seeing it fly out of the other end.

I made a hoop, but it was a little leaky and little woobly for it to be any good.  A week of inactivity passed, but I convinced beloved to take me to the sports store. I would try to hoop in the store. I found a weighted exercise hoop, I hooped. Then I followed him around as he looked at hiking things and exercise equipment, hooping for a bit in each spot.  It felt like forever, but was only a few minutes.

It’s day four of hooping. Day 1 consisted of 5-10 minutes of trying to pelvic thrust like a pro.  Day 2 was good with some steps and consistent hooping for 30 minutes.  Day 3…well I procrastinated a bit and didn’t hoop until bed time.  I was able to hoop and floss the top teeth together.  The same cannot be said for the bottom teeth. Their tricky jerks and the hoop wouldn’t stay up. Day 4 will involve some turning, some hoop dropping, some Torchwood to keep me steady, and hopefully another 30+ minutes of hooping.

In other news, some VERY exciting things are beginning to happen.  I cannot believe they are happening to me, but they are.  Keep a watch out because I am so very amazed and excited to have these opportunities.