This past weekend, I went up to Seattle, Washington to attend the Flock Fiber Festival. I have a vague memory of hearing about Flock back when I was on Instagram but it had been off my radar until Andrea Mowry mentioned it in her July 17 newsletter. I checked our calendar (Paul had Friday off but was working Saturday and Sunday) and then checked flights (not cheap, but not bonkers) and after confirming my parents could hang with the girls on Saturday, I booked everything and bought a ticket to attend!

I am so glad I did.

Flock is held at the Seattle Convention Center downtown. I arrived Friday morning and stayed just one night at the Hyatt Regency (located right across the street). I took the metro from the airport for just $3 each way. (A rideshare would have cost $70 and a yellow cab taxi was $50 so in Crafter Math this meant I had at least $96 extra to spend on yarn.)

On Friday I did my best to be a good tourist and wandered both the Public Market and the Seattle Art Museum (10/10 museum experience; beautiful, wide-ranging exhibits and no crowds at all). I walked a lot and had lunch on the sidewalk at Bacco Cafe and dinner at Tidal+ (I missed the $2 happy hour oysters but still enjoyed them immensely at full price). I was then — wait for it — asleep before 8:45 PM.

Saturday was for Flock! By the time I signed up all of the workshops that I would have wanted to attend were sold out so my only goal was to go to the marketplace and take it all in. I arrived at about 10:45, thinking I would miss most of the early bird rush (doors opened at ten) and was shocked to find the entry hall packed with people. It was Disneyland entry gate energy if you swap the Disney merch for hand-knits.

Seeing people in their hand-knit garments was one of the things I was most excited for and the crowds did not disappoint. It was fun to recognize so many patterns I had seen and favorited online and to note the different color combos people used. I overhead and participated in a lot of “what pattern is that?” exchanges. (Though there was one hilarious moment where I asked a gal for the name of her classic knit sweater and was informed it was from J.Crew. A huge bummer!)

In addition to seeing knits on folks, it was so amazing to see knits on hangers. There is nothing like feeling and examining a knit garment before you attempt to make it yourself. (I am convinced that every knit piece looks better in person than in photos online.) I especially liked when the garment tag noted how many skeins the garment took to knit.