What’s not to love about Austin? For the past two years, I’ve headed to Texas for South by Southwest. People’s eyes light up when I say that until I qualify it with, “the nerd one, not the music part.” Last year, I met Jenny of Stash and Burn there, but, alas, she wasn’t there this year.

Julia, of yarnmaven.com to the rescue! I also met her last year, but this year she took me under her wing and we ran all over town and the conference. Thank you, Julia! (and happy birthday, one day late) It’s sad that I don’t have a picture of us together!

Conference-wise, the first few days weren’t impressive. Maybe I picked the wrong panels, but by the end, I was glad work sent me. The most interesting thing I saw was GetSatisfaction.com. Go forth, knitters, and let’s take it over!

Sadly, the High-Tech Craft: Why Sewing and Knitting Still Matter panel, moderated by Natalie Zee Drieu from CRAFT magazine was a disappointment. At least on the knitting front. It was more about sewing technology onto garments or toys, not how technology is changing knitting and sewing or how knitting and sewing hold their own in this modern age. Hear for yourself: .mp3 of the panel.

It just so happened a good friend from high school was presenting at the conference. Mike Essl was a year behind me, and I used to mock him for wanting to be a graphic designer, only we called it commercial artist back then. Who knew copying heavy metal album covers would result in becoming a ? When I wasn’t with Julia, I pal’ed around with him and his girlfriend, the lovely Mia.

This is getting long, but I couldn’t recap the trip without mentioning eating. If you’re ever headed there, be sure to snack on queso, try migas for breakfast, drink Lone Star, and get your vegan on at Veggie Heaven.

Finally, there was knitting. A lot more knitting than I get done at home. I was working on a secret sock the entire time, test knitting an INSANELY handsome design. I dropped in to the Sunday morning Hill Country Weavers where I met all the Texas knit bloggers last year. However, on Monday, Julia and I went to the Knitting Nest, my new favorite Austin LYS. Stacy has a fabulous shop. Her talented daughter Amanda took the photo of me above (Thanks for the shirt!). And I met some cool kids, MissKate (on Rav), pickardhuff (on Rav) and TwistedString. Next time, I’ll bring something easier to knit, so I’m more chatty.

Phew! That’s it. If you want more, check out a few more photos.

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 22nd, 2008 at 8:15 am and is filed under knitting, tripping. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.