V-Con! (and a new spindle!)

Yesterday, we went to V-Con. After an hour or so on the bus and the SkyTrain, we arrived, paid our entrance fee, and wandered around. I wore my Jayne hat. I didn't feel like doing a costume, but wearing a Jayne hat, while wandering around with a partially knitted blue and white sock in hand does indicate that one is a geek of some sort.

I'm a webcomics geek, a sort of gaming geek (mostly by association, since my husband's a gaming geek), and a sci-fi geek of sorts (limited to Star Trek, Stargate, Joss Whedon series, and Zenna Henderson novels). I don't really read manga or watch anime, I'm not into Star Wars (although the 501st were there and that was pretty cool), and I don't dress up like a pirate wench (there were a few of those lugging a cardboard cutout of Jack Sparrow everywhere, including into the women's bathroom). So, oddly enough, I felt just a little out of place there. Maybe it was because I neglected to bring my cloak (although, since my cloak is green and blue plaid wool, and actually practical to wear, it might not have fit in all that well, since everyone else's was black and light-weight). Or it could have been due to my typical reaction to large crowds of strangers. I get quieter than usual, and shy.

I did have a lot of fun, though. We went this year mostly because Ryan Sohmer and Lar deSouza of LFG and Least I Could Do were there. I read Least I Could Do more than LFG these days (I like LFG, but since I'm only a gamer by association, it's perhaps not quite as funny to me as it is to J.). The author/artist of Goblins was also there, which I don't read, but J. does. So now we have an LFG book and a Goblins book. And I have a picture of Sohmer holding my sock. Thanks again for letting us take a picture!

We went to the game room and I got to play a round of Race for the Galaxy with the new expansion pack (J. just got the expansion pack last week and I hadn't gotten a chance to play it with him yet). I came in third in a five-player game. Then J. played Pandemic and I went to hang out and knit before the webcomics panel. That was fun (the panel, I mean). It was fascinating to hear what they had to say. My former roommate and I had briefly debated doing a webcomic a couple years ago. She'd do mostly drawing and I'd write (she can write but I can't draw well, so the storyline would have been a joint effort). Never got farther than the conceptual stage, though. It would be fun, but I doubt either of us has the time to commit to it.

So, my husband's souvenirs from V-Con were the books. Mine were the above picture of Sohmer with the sock, and this:


I bought this from Gaukler Medieval Wares, which had a booth at the Con. The whorl is a cast reproduction of a medieval spindle whorl. They also had actual medieval, Byzantine, and Roman spindle whorls (which, of course, exceeded my price range, but it was lovely to drool over them). I'd been looking for a shawl pin, and was at their booth when I spotted this. Then I forgot about the shawl pin (I have the ability to find fiber arts stuff just about anywhere--if it's there, I will find it--whether it's fiber, yarn, spindles, or fabric). I gave it a try when I got home, and while I'm not quite used to working with a bead-whorl spindle yet (as it handles a bit differently), I am happy about the yarn I'm getting from it. I love my Turkish spindle, but the finest I can spin on it, without the thread breaking, is probably at least twice as thick as what I can get on this. The plan is to practice with some of the Clun Forest for now, and then spin the merino I bought a while ago into either lace or fingering weight.

Here's a close-up of the whorl.
J. asked me if I'd bought a wand when he saw it.

Progress is being made on the Wonderland socks. I've had to edit a few rows of the tail out to make the socks the length that I want. I'm almost to the end of the tail. Then comes the ribbing, the bind-off, and the cast-on for the next sock. I also have the yarn for the cardigan the Tuesday knit night is doing as a knit-along. I've swatched, but I should cast on for that soon. The only planned change is to add pockets.

I also am checking out a webcomic I hadn't read before. Wasted Talent. So far, I like it.