Knitting overcomes fear. But not geekness...

I hate driving in large cities.  I just do.  I could almost honestly say I am a little afraid of same.  Then a friend of mine asked about going to Sock Summit in Portland.  Loonng drive from our houses, and it was in Portland.

Ugh.  But I really wanted to go, if no other reason, it sounded like a great deal of fun.  (There was even a flash mob of yarn dancers.  I really wanted to join in, but when I started thinking about going home in the evening, after being on my feet all day, in rush hour traffic... No.)  So, after convincing my friend to be NavCom, we headed out with only minor fear and trepidation.

She had a GPS.  That helped some, after it decided that we were, in fact, on I-5, and not in Dallas, Oregon, going to her church.

"Turn left here. Now."

"Turn left here. Now"

"You will be arriving at the church in .8 miles."

(Uhhh, computer?  We are on a major highway, and there isn't a church, or a turn off for a church anywhere.)

After she fiddled with the battery and re-animated it, it finally decided we were indeed going to Portland, and then was actually helpful, if a little quick on the info on where turns were.  We missed where to go for parking, and had to backtrack.  This was a little strange, they had a lot for $9, we went about a block the other way, and there was one, closer, and it was $6.  Strange.

So, we went in, and were greeted with this:

For those who don't watch sci-fi much, this is the portal from Stargate, but the "writing" on it has been modified to be charted knitting stitches, and renamed Sockgate.  My nerd antenna went up immediately.  I found several such items.  I was going to take a picture of a Doctor Who knitting bag, but it was snapped up by a (slightly scary) knitter with a squee that nearly deafened me...  So, imagine if you will a bag, with a snap style top, that is green, with blue police call boxes printed across it.  There were some mentions of Harry Potter, Battlestar Galactica, and I believe one or two mentions of Star Trek. 

Yep, they are my people.  Knitting, and Sci-fi. 

Better yet, no one looked askance at having pointy sticks in my hand. 

The funny one tho, my friend saw a guy, loaded up with yarn, bags at his side, and a very grumpy wife, saying something to the effect, "Haven't you got enough yarn?  Can't we go now?" 

I was greatly amused.



I just had to include this, Husband is always commenting that I call anything and everything, well, a thingy.  Well, obviously, I am not the only one... And I have proof!

This was a temporary tattoo I received while I was there on Saturday.  I write this blog on Wednesday, I have washed a few times since, and the tattoo is still there.  I have since found out, that to remove it, I need to use rubbing alcohol or nail polish remover.  Since it still looks fine, I am not going to worry about it. 

I bought a couple things, one I won't say what is, as the person it's for reads my blog. (Hi, Mom!)  I bought some yarn that I had been coveting looking forward to trying, it's black wool with silver in it.  Yes, silver, like the stuff a ring would be made of.  I think it looks wonderful, I have read reviews from several people that say it wears beautifully, too, so if I can find the pattern I want to use for it, I will make myself some silver shot socks!  Foot bling?

In other news, the llamas have been released to our back pasture, (more or less 10+ acres), and are finding it a llama buffet.  They sort of showed up for breakfast today, but it's been the first day they've even paid attention to me of late.  I am not too worried, they have plenty to eat, (and will have more when the blackberries ripen), and I will feed them when they need it, but I figure, they can go munch down some stuff out there.  

I was a good kid, Husband was a good kid.  We have laid off the sweets, we have been eating better, I have added 150 sit ups to my routine. 

Husband has lost an inch on his waistline.

I gained two pounds this week.

I am going to force feed him donuts next week... Snort... 

; )