Wednesday 29 October 2008

The Big Sock in Anchorage



Just received pictures from the crew up in Anchorage at the Knitting Grounds. Check out the flickr group to see the rest.


Looks like several people were able to work on the Sock while at Friday Night Knitting.


I know that Pauline was SO excited at the thought of getting the Sock. Zaynab told me that she kept asking about being able to knit on it. So, I was tickled to see her in the pictures. It didn't surprise me that she got to open the box. ;) Hope you are having a good time with it, Pauline.


The pics from the Grounds are courtesy of Linda who also writes the Friday Night Knitting Club updates. Be sure to stop by and check her out.


Have fun with the Sock, everyone. I hope even more people will get to knit on it over the next two Fridays before it heads up to Fairbanks. I'm looking forward to hearing more about its adventures with you.


Looking good, Pauline!!!! Have fun.

Thursday 23 October 2008

The Measure of a Sock

Inch by inch . . . foot by foot (pun intended)

The Sock is in a Box

The box is in the car

But, before I loaded it up, I took the tape measure to it . . . . drum roll please . . .

Admittedly I was doing this by myself, with the sock on the floor, and it may be off by a titch or two . . . but . . .

61.75 inches!

2.25 inches while it has been in Kenai.

Can you give me a WHOOT! Way to go! Awesome!


I knew you could. ;)

Come on Anchorage and Fairbanks, make us proud.

Oh - and the travel timing is working out amazingly well . . . just falling into place. Someone is willing to take the sock to Fairbanks and another person is willing to bring it back to Anchorage. AND . . . hubby "just happens" to have an appointment in Anchorage the day after the sock comes back from Fairbanks, so we can pick it up and bring it back to Kenai!

So cool.

I have folks calling me because of the newspaper articles - they want to work on the sock. So, we will keep it a couple of weeks in Kenai again to reach as many people as we can. The Senior Center will likely be our first place to set it up. And, then back to one of the coffee shops.

I love it when a plan comes together.
that's Xavier in the picture, by the way . . . he really took to the task. I told him he's a natural. I may just have to find some yarn and needles for him for Christmas. ;)

Hit the road . . .

I'll be boxing up the Sock Thursday and heading for Anchorage Friday with my friend to deliver it to the Knitting Grounds. It will be there for at least two Friday Night Knitting Group knits and I'm told that people are getting excited about it.

My mailbox has been getting hits with questions about what is this all about, why, where, what can you tell me about it, and similar questions. How much fun is that?

There are also some thoughts that the Sock may travel to Fairbanks. One fellow raveler has offered to make a trip up the highway just to take the sock up. Another has offered to bring it back just before Thanksgiving to Anchorage.

Now all we need is a willing LYS to host it during its visit to the suburbs of North Pole.
And, for your reading pleasure, here are TWO articles writting about the Sock after its visit to the Funky Monkey Coffee Shop - btw - thanks and a SHOUT out to Don and Sheraf for letting us sit by the fire and chat and knit and teach others to knit for over three hours last Saturday.




















The Redoubt Reporter article was one I had requested. It's a small, new publication and only comes out once a week. The editor and chief reporter used to work for the other newspaper and recently quit her job to take on this new venture.

That's Jenny in the picture there with me. She had never knitted and we encouraged her to try at least one stitch. She did a great job and said her Mom would never believe she had done it.

Well, we have proof, so yes she will. ;)

I had not approached the other newspaper for an article, because it seems hard sometimes to get them to cover such "small town" news - even though we ARE a small town. So, I just didn't ask.

But, while we were knitting someone who works out with me at the high school pool each morning came in with her family. She and her son even knit a few stitches with us. Suddenly she leaned over and said to her husband, "hey! This would make a good story!" Then I realized her last name and recognized that he is a reporter for the paper. Well, he said something like "Naaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh" and she quit pestering him.

Then another couple joined them . . . friends of theirs . . . and we continued to ignore them and mind our own knitting business. Of course, I invited the new couple to come over and do a few stitches, which they declined to do, but other than that we gave them their space.

Suddenly the man was in my face, taking pictures and asking questions of me and the others there. I asked him who he was and he said Joe from the Peninsula Clarion. "This is too good a story to pass up," he continued. Well, goodness gracious sakes alive! I awoke Monday to a front page article! In fact, both papers printed the articles with pictures on the front page. Pretty cool, I must say.

We're hoping for newspaper AND tv coverage in Anchorage - and if it goes to Fairbanks, there too.

Next entry will come from Anchorage. Whoot!

Saturday 18 October 2008

Funky Monkey and the Big Sock



Hey there folks - I know, I know . . . I promised to live blog today's event, but that just didn't happen. I took the laptop and even booted it up at one point, but then folks started coming in, wanted to knit on the sock, but needed help because they either couldn't knit or didn't knit very well . . . so the computer got put up and I hunkered down to do what I was there to do - introduce some Alaskans to the Big Sock.

And, a grand time was had by all. 22 or 23 people came by to add to the sock - they all signed the book and had their pictures taken, too. Pics will be posted to the flickr account sometime tomorrow. I have them downloaded and resized, but not uploaded to the account.

However, here is a favorite of mine. My two daughters and five of the seven grandchildren came to see the sock, touch the sock, work on the sock, be IN the sock . . .


Isn't that a good looking group? There was room enough in there for several more people, too, but I just love this shot. Because the kids are so small, the sock could not be held up to its tallest, but I think it must reach the top of daughter on the right's head. She's a tad over 5 foot 4, I think. Daughter on the left is about 5' 6" or so.

I was interviewed by TWO newspapers, instead of the one I had requested. A reporter from the second paper happened to be in the coffee shop having breakfast, saw what was going on and told me it was "too good a story to pass up." How cool! I'll post links to the stories when they come out and tuck copies into the binder, too.
We had a great time and I'm looking forward to taking the sock up to Anchorage Friday. Stay tuned for more fun on that trip.

Friday 17 October 2008

Funky

The Sock is going to the Funky Monkey on Saturday - that's tomorrow! We hope to have a reporter from the Redoubt Reporter join us for coffee and pictures.

We also hope to have a lot of people come by to help us add on the inches. I've been making personal invites as much as I can . . . have to hope for the best because I have been pretty sick this week with some sort of cold, respiratory thingy that is going around Kenai. As a result, some of the pre-knit publicity didn't get done.

But . . . with the help of all of my family and friends . . . yup, I have high hopes.

Stay tuned here - I plan to take the laptop with me tomorrow and do a bit of "live" blogging. (hopefully their wifi will work better than the coffee shop from last week.) If you have questions, don't hesitate to post them in the comments and we will do our best to answer.

Saturday 11 October 2008

Alaska has the Sock!


Hey, everyone - just getting a feel for this blog. Wanted to post and let you know that the Big Sock arrived safely Thursday and my hubby was like . . . did you order something? . . . what's in the box?, etc.

Silly man! He forgot I had told him it was coming.

It was sooooooooo hard to let it sit there without opening, but I wanted some of the Soldotna Knitters (a group from Ravelry) to be with me to do that. And, THAT happened today. We had a great time of ooohing and ahhhing over the many colors and reading the various places the Sock had visited and looking at pictures . . . oh, and KNITTING on the sock.

Only three of the group could be there this morning - several of the group work on The Slope (oilpatch in northern Alaska) and one was at her son's football game in Anchorage (State playoffs!) so our numbers were shy.

But we are not (shy, that is). We invited other folks in the coffee shop to come and add some stitches. Customers and barristas alike tried their hands at knitting - some for the very first time. Even one of our knitters' little girl joined in - she's only 3!

We have another coffee shop to visit next Saturday and then the following Friday a friend and I (my bosom buddy) are going to Anchorage for our mammograms (get it, bosom buddy - heh) and will take the Sock with us to leave at the Knitting Grounds for a week or two.

I'm hoping for newspaper coverage here and in Anchorage and tv coverage in Anchorage.

Stay tuned . . . . .

Mew Mew's Yarn Shop!

From 1st September till October 6th, Bigsock was at Mew Mew's Yarn shop in Louisville, Colorado.






In the month it was there Mew Mew's added 7 inches to Bigsock, although in this final photo, Mew Mew can be seen napping on the job!