I’m at the Sock Summit in Portland, OR. You might not think a thousand knitters could converge in one place and knit and talk and shop nothing but socks for four days, and you would be wrong.

The marketplace here is enormous (and open to the public, in case you are nearby and happen to be a knitter). Here are some booths that caught my eye:

Splityarn Handmade zipper boxes, flat pouches and camera straps, she has such beautiful fabrics (and is a super sweet person!).

Queen Bee Creations felt bags with these darling flowers, they don’t have zippers and would really nicely for your knitting. They also have all the fabulous vinyl bags and pouches they are famous for.

Hazel Knits yummy yarns. She also has a very popular sock club.

5elementknitr makes these super handy stitch markers, they have a detachable short crochet hook for the moment when you drop a stitch but don’t have a crochet hook handy. She also makes some in lovely sterling silver.

Other booths I took note of with the help of the wool-loving Maggi:

• sets of six 5-inch, very bendy and smooth palmwood DPNs at the Laurel Hill Needles booth ($16!). I have some Laurel Hill #5 needles and love them dearly.
• Miss Babs, lovely yarns (the sport weight is on sale)
• Signature Needles, you can compare the mid and stiletto tips
• try out some square needles at Kollage
• Wool Candy, bright and happy colors
• Simply Socks Yarn Company, very nice price for soft sock yarns
• Namaste small bags (very Hobo-y) perfect for a small projects on DPNs at the Tanglewood Fiber Creations booth
• Van Der Rock, yarn from Canada
• you can put your name in a drawing to win a set of DPNs at the Sock Stix booth

A Whole Lotta Nothing: Weight loss tips for geeks.

Everyday sunscreen for sensitive skin? | Ask Metafilter.

10 Ways to Look Good in Photos | Reader’s Digest. Via Action Hero.

Help me get more hair! | Ask Metafilter.

angry chicken: summer sweater (that’s really a t-shirt). Brilliant!

Vegan Knitting…and then some: Vegan Sock Yarn List.

i_heart_fabric: Factory Auction…. Cool peak inside a sewing factory, fascinating machines, thanks Suzy!

How About Orange: Fill-in-the-blank printable invitation.

Making Things: Learn Machine Knitting on YouTube!.

Crepe-Paper Flowers. Poppies, at Martha Stewart.

Flowery Swizzle Sticks. Made from tissue paper, at Martha Stewart.

Shaped Crepe Flowers. These are also in the tissue paper kit from Martha Stewart Crafts.

Crafted Bouquet. More tissue paper flowers, at Martha Stewart.

AAA alternatives? | Ask Metafilter.

Hastily made Cleveland tourism plans | Ask Metafilter.

Toothpick Pocket. This one is for Scott, who is always looking for a toothpick. Thanks to Carolyn for sending the link.

4th of July « Eliza Truitt Photography. This all looks so joyful, I love the way Eliza captures moments. (Also, why didn’t I know this was going on?)

Shelter: Wisdom From Dr. Wende. A great perspective on clutter and why it’s worth getting rid of.

Why more young women should start using IUDs. – By Kate Klonick – Slate Magazine.

The new video Kodu game will teach you (or your kid) about programming. – By Chris Wilson – Slate Magazine.

Mighty Goods: Polaroid PoGo Instant Mobile Printer.

Design*Sponge » Blog Archive » biz ladies 09: advertising 101 for bloggers.

heather powazek champ – Fabulous Elsewhere. Flickr backup!

Hand-drawn Social Media Icons | WooCamp. Neato, via Felicia Day on Twitter.

15 Killer Hacks for WordPress that Are Extremely Useful. Via Action Hero.

Orangette: The whole point. Recipe for Salsa Verde for Potatoes, this sounds amazing.

Beer + limeade = a Slandy | The Stranger. It’s hot today.

Alpine Martini Recipe : Food Network. I never did get to Cascadia before it closed, here is the recipe for their famous drink. Wonder if I can convince a friend to loan me her ice cream maker so I can make this drink?

Terribly Inconvenient Granola : Martha’s Vineyard Fiber Farm. aka The World’s Greatest Granola. I must try this as I have lots of access to bulk foods and a considerable lack of granola in my life.

How to Make a Buttercream Rose : Such fanciness takes a little practice – CHOW. So that’s how it’s done.

Frost my mug | Ask Metafilter. How to get a beer mug frosty like they do at pubs.

But if we took the bones out… – Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories. Making Monty Python themed frog candies, with fizzy pop action.

We had a great time at Urban Craft Uprising yesterday! Congrats to Moxie, Kristen and the rest of the UCU staff for putting together such a great show. Here are some of the booths we visited:

Kristen’s pins, so cute!

Kristen’s book Creature Crochet due out in September.

And another book by Kristen, Button and Stitch, due out in December.

Moxie’s big Fisher-Price figurine.

And fingerpuppets!

Dave and Mary Sheely.

One of the Esther necklaces from Dave Sheely Designs.

A happy cupcake tree from Cakespy. I wish this were real.

Lots of little original watercolors from Cakespy, including another in the zombie series. I think I need more cupcake zombie art.

Idolatre had some amazing clothes, corsets and leggings and this steampunk dress from her Norwescon 32 Fannish Fetish Fashion Show.

Cute panties with ruffles from Idolatre.

The much recommended Chorizo salt from Secret Stash Sea Salts.

I have some of this Vanilla Salt from Secret Stash Sea Salts and put it on peanut butter toast and ice cream. Delicious.

A painting I covet from Matthew Porter. Trivia, he owns Blue Bottle Art Gallery with is wife Andrea, who is a main board member of the Grassroots Business Association.

Really sweet reusable wall stickers from Matthew Porter.

I stumbled across the booth of Crystalyn Kae handbags.

This Crescent bag from Crystalyn Kae is popular, I see one on somebody wherever I go.

Dinah Coops makes some lovely designs, and all of her things are made from sustainable materials

Really lovely napkins from Dinah Coops.

I love these dress form earrings from Polymath Design Lab.

The Polymath Design Lab necklaces were so delicate.

Scott really liked the Ag cufflinks from Polymath Design Lab.

I narrowly missed getting to visit with Susan Beal who was there with her book Button It Up, and Brookelynn Morris who was there with her book Feltique. Sorry guys!