Travelogue: Camp Cockamamie - Rockin' Sock Club Camp 2007

Warning: Picture heavy and long post ahead

Our Sock Camp adventure began with a puzzle. Cookie has a teeny tiny little car and I, as previously mentioned, travel with lots of stuff. We managed to cram everything in eventually and off we went. Neither Cookie nor I had yet done our homework for Camp: knit a chicken. There was lots of discussion about what kind of chicken, which techniques to use, what yarn, and so on. I brought some BMFA Twisted in the Rooster Rock colorway and four coordinating shades of Cascade 220 with me to work with. We made a stop at Walmart for stuffing, as I had forgotten mine at home, and then cruised north to Seattle where we kicked Cookie's friend out of his bed and made him sleep on the sofa. We were up early the next morning to catch the mid-day ferry to Orcas Island.

There were knitters everywhere aboard the ferry. We were still knitting chickens, so we didn't socialize too much. Here Cookie is busy stuffing her chicken. Later she knit it a single leg, a three-toed sock and a scarf.

An hour and a half or so after boarding the ferry we arrived on Orcas. We drove past fields of sheep as we headed for the other side of the island and our destination - The Rosario Resort. The resort sits on a small bay just outside the Moran State Park. The main buidling is the Moran Mansion where the administration, restaurants and spa reside. The rooms are all in outbuildings, scattered around the resort property. Our room was about a 10 minute walk from the Mansion, up the hill. We checked into our room and then joined the rest of the staff who were preparing for the retreat.

Each camper was assigned to a tribe (Dixie Chicks, Chickabidees, Rhode Island Reds and Cluckers) and given a camp name, each the name a of a STR colorway. Mine was, of course, Nodding Violet, the color I named and Tina's nickname for me. Cookie was Titania. We had a lovely welcome reception with lots of cake and a lovely gift bag for each participant. Pretty soon the Chicken Chuckers were broken out and chickens were flying all over the room. Fantastic!

Later Cookie and I completed our chickens while watching American Psycho up in our room. By that time my rooster had earned the moniker "Frickin' Chicken" after many long hours of trial and error to create the shape I was hoping for. Thankfully, after adding his cock's comb and lace tail he looked less like a duck. I finally got to bed some time after 1:30am and woke bright and early for the first official day of Sock Camp.

Each of the four groups attended 4 sessions. Both Stephanie (the Yarn Harlot) and Cat Bordhi taught sessions on different aspects of sock knitting. Tina taught a class about color. I was entranced by the sock color wheel arranged on the table in her classroom.

Before Camp, Cookie had come up with the idea to have several people knitting simultaneously on the same project. We brainstormed how we might do that and decided that knitting a stacked spiral would be the way to go. We hadn't had a chance to fully test the procedure though, so we were thrilled when people got it. Here Leslie, Vicky, Sharon and CeCe are working on their blanket. All the blankets will be donated to a children's hospital in Portland.

We closed the first night with awards for the funkiest chickens, hippiest chicks, penniest hens and more. Then we had a big chicken swap. The Sockateers had come up with a fabulous game for passing chickens left, right, left, left, left, right, left, and on and on until all the chickens were dizzy and had found new homes.

Wednesday morning we boarded The Mystic Sea and headed out into the Sound for a whale watching adventure. I took my Dramamine and had a delightful time on the boat. I spent a good deal of time out on the bow with Alice, chatting and staying warm in our hoods, trying to knit against the wind and hoping to spot some good wildlife.

Before long we were rewarded with a bald eagle sighting. The captain of the ship angled us up nice and close and I took a couple dozen shots. Between the rocking of the ship, dying batteries and a less than steady hand with the zoom I only got a few usable shots. This is the best one. It's quite an amazing thing to see these majestic birds in the wild. Look at how fierce his gaze is!

While there was nary a whale to be seen, we lucked upon a group of Steller Sea Lions lounging on a tiny island, resting for a bit on their way up the coast to Alaska. These enormous animals weigh in at about a ton and are among the largest pinnepeds in the world. We were honored to see these endangered creatures as they only visit that area for about 2 weeks during migration.

Our next stop was off the shore of a small island which has for years been privately owned by wealthy individuals and corporations. One big game hunter decided to stock the island with exotic game and their descendants still live on the island. There were gazelle and African deer. It was odd and incongruous to see non-native animals grazing on the slopes.

Upon our return to shore we donned our bathing suits and headed to the therapy lap pool in the basement of the mansion. Cute Stephen, a competitive synchronized swimmer, gave us a few pointers and we had some impromptu synchro in the deep end before the competition got underway. Then, each competitor cast 10 stitches onto their waterproof needles (I had size 13 Addi circulars) and knit as fast as they could for 30 minutes. Cat got disqualified early when her needles came out of the water. She was sadly disappointed, as this was the event that she brainstormed. She splashed about behind us while the rest of us continued to knit. Cookie was my on land yarn assistant and I knit for all I was worth. Victory was mine! And here's my gold medal prize: a felted chicken purse!

Our indoor "campfire" included a wonderful story by local storyteller Antoinette and then s'mores by the outdoor fire. Yum, s'mores!

Friday the classes resumed again and more Olympic events followed. This time knitters paired up and did the knitting version of a three legged race. One knitter for each needle and they some how had to knit together. Cookie and Leslie paired up. The coolest thing about it was that each team had to do a sort of embrace in order to keep their other hands out of the way. The had arms wrapped around shoulders and waists and it it looked like the best kind of knitting cameraderie. Witness:

Christine and Lisa (the two beautiful blondes) turned out the most knitting as a pair. Then Stephanie and Cat battled it out to see which method of circular knitting was faster - circs or dpns. The competition was fast and furious and soon turned hilarious as they upped the level of difficulty by knitting over their heads, on one foot, in yoga poses. We think Stephanie may have won, but no one is quite sure. It remains a mystery.

Our last meal together was a spectacular seafood buffet. Campers reminisced over the fun they'd had the last few days while Kaci and Linda did tequila shots. After we'd stuffed ourselves with a delicious dinner we made our way to our last "campfire". Awards were passed out to many of the campers amidst much laughter and heartfelt hugs.

This sweet lady was our oldest camper and, I think, Kaci's favorite. She was delighted when Kaci asked her to draw a name for a random prize and she pulled her own name out of the egg! After the drawing the tribes each presented their camp song, all of which were clever and quite funny. A parade of our proudest achievements in knitting followed. You may have seen a picture of me over at the Yarn Harlot's blog, looking like the prow of a ship. Cute Stephen and I were practicing synchronized swimming form.

Speaking of Cute Stephen, I love this picture of him and his darling momma, Susan. They came to Sock Camp together, he from the Bay Area, she from New England. They were a delightful pair and I loved every minute I got to spend with them.
I made so many wonderful new friends and I have precious memories of all of them.

There were lots of hugs and promises of pictures and blog posts. We all bid a fond adieu of each other.

Cookie and I stayed an extra day on the island to decompress and spend some quieter time with Tina and Stephanie. We wandered about East Sound, shopping in the little stores, taking pictures of the local sights and enjoying a quite time at a cafe with internet access. Maybe Stephanie will post some of the silly pictures we took. After a lovely dinner at the local Thai restaurant we had a little pajama party in Tina's room and watched movies.

We departed early Sunday morning on the ferry for the mainland, then met up with Tina and Erica for lunch in Olympia. After a bit more shopping we finally said goodbye to our friends and headed down the road. Clear skies offered us a picture perfect view of Mt. St. Helens in the distance as we drove through Portland. We stopped in Eugene, OR for a quick visit with our dear friend and lace knitting muse, Eugen Beugler. He is a sweet, gentle and generous man in addition to being a brilliant designer. Cookie and I took turns sitting in his knitting chair, soaking up the lace knitting vibes.

Eugen brought out all kinds of treasures for us to look at: little bits of lace patterns he's working on, a new design for Fiber Trends, doilies he's tatted, Hardanger embroidery, and a couple of gorgeous lace shawls. He gave us a tatting demonstration and we talked lace design and inspiration. It was a thrilling visit and we were so glad we took time out to spend some time with him.

As we were readying to leave Eugen presented each of us with a shawl to take home with us. We were humbled by the generosity of his gift and honored to receive the benefits of his wisdom, creativity and friendship. We both came away with a renewed passion for the art of knitting lace and full of ideas.

As for knitting on the trip, much of my knitting time was spent on the charity blanket project. I also finished my Marble Arches socks (modeled shot forthcoming).

Somewhere outside Seattle I cast on for the first Winter's Eve sock and got most of the leg knit on the trip home. It's a great knit and I'm so happy with the beads I chose. The cable pattern is intuitive and easy to follow. I predict the rest of the knitting will go quickly.

I regret not a moment of the trip and though exhausted with all the travel, I know I'll not hesitate to sign on for the next Sock Camp. Many thanks to Tina, Kaci, the Sockateers, and all the campers for a wonderful experience. Most especial thanks to my travel companion and partner in crime, Cookie. Couldn't have done it without you, babe!

Comments

[teffie-phd]

Sounds like you had so much fun.

[Margit]

Wow. It sounds like an amazing trip! Jealousy abounds, but in a good way. That shawl is amazing. Lucky you!

[Christine]

I think the pairs knitting was one of my favorite parts of camp. Everyone should try it!

[C.]

I love the pic of your rooster that tapmouse (Leslie) posted on her blog.

Glad you're all back safely from all that fun.

[Jeni]

i'm so, so, so jealous.

[Cece]

It was great to meet you in person! What a fun time.

[kathryn]

I enjoyed the vicarious experience and all the photos. The lace shawl from Eugen is amazing. I hope you bring it into the shop sometime for show and tell. :)

[Kristin]

I am green with envy- I can't wait for next yaer so that I can go to sock camp too! And I lllluuurve your cool chicken purse!

[Romi]

Wow! It looks like an amzing time. :) Thanks for the great rundown!

[Jasmine]

Great detail on the sock camp. Thanks! I am so envious of your visit to one of the best lace expert, Gene...

[Christine/cpurl17]

I like your post about sock camp the best. I so wish I could have been there but the second best was a trip to Purlesence on Saturday to pick up my Little Bunny Foo Foo with my buddy Kristin.

I love the bald eagle too. I saw one in flight when I visited my sister (who lives in Washington) and totally get what you mean about their majesty.

And that lace shawl, truly a treasure. Next to the chicken of course!

[Vicki]

You're the best camp historian ever, Nathania!! What a wonderful weekend for all of you.

I love how most of the "three-legged" knitters look as though they could be dancing.

[Lisa]

Sounds like a fantastic time! I think the lace shawl and the felted chicken bag will be the hottest new look for spring, you can rock that look! Thanks for sharing your trip.

[spinnity]

Your post is helping me to make all the other Sock Camp posts make sense - you have order and explanations. W00t! I wish we could see video of the chickens passing left, right, left left left, right. :-)

[Marit Kostøl]

Hi- this sounds like a really great trip- it was so great to read about it!Thanks for sharing:-)
Marit in Norway

[Nita]

Whee! What fun! Better not show Peggy that chicken purse...

[Janice]

What a whirlwind trip! In spite of all the fun and frolick at camp, I was thrilled to read about your visit with the master of lace himself. And to bring a piece home? What a wonderful and generous man. Again, welcome home and thanks for sharing.

[monica]

Looks like a great time. I have to say that my favorite picture is the one of the bald eagle. So cool!