The Retreat in Hickory---late report

Shelley and I wind Kate's sticky yarn.

This is what I wrote after I arrived at the Catholic Conference Center near Hickory--
I'm always glad to travel Hiway 321 because the roadside is so clean--no billboards. The grass isn't very green and the trees are stark naked. Even so, the absence of civilization (except for the big asphalt ribbons of road and the occasional truck) is a nice mental break.

At that point, Lynda M showed up and put me to work. And it started . . .

Sallie, Linda, Heather

The "campers" were all interesting folk with great stories to share. Meal times were lively. As camp food goes, it was better than some I've been to. My fish on Friday night had been baked with lemon and capers and was good. Breakfast provided lots of choices and I didn't have to eat that biscuit---which was so go-o-o-d.

Rachel, Pat, Kate

Charlene Schurch is an excellent instructor. Her visual aids were really excellent. She pitched the class so taht all levels learned. We got to see the socks from her two great books. I loved that she confessed most of them have no mate.

Meg, Lynda, Dinah

When I first started designing, I wore my pieces. Then I realized I needed to be able to show them, so now they go into a drawer. It hadn't occurred to me to knit just one. Hm-m-m-m.

Charlene's Frost Flower lace shawl was my favorite. This picture doesn't capture the vivid color, but you can clearly see the pattern.

Jet, Karen, Elizabeth

I thought the weekend was a blast. The location was truly a retreat from a busy life; class and yarn shopping was fun, but best of all, was the two night slumber party.

Shelley who loves to have her picture taken

Brain Waves

Image from gizmondo.com.

This is me. I've either been at the computer or at the needles for the last week. My brain is fried.

I finally put myself out there by publishing a pattern which I charge for. Now I have the typical writer's fear of what to do next. Lots of ideas just swirling, but I haven't focused yet. I'm running between joy that so many people like Curvaceous to fear the next one will be a disappointment--no, humiliation.

Time to just suck it up and write.

Life at the Charlotte Knitting Guild is getting exciting. The retreat for late February is going to be awesome. And we are very proud to be bringing it in at such an affordable price. (Non-profit is our goal.) The three classes Charlene Schurch will teach are nicely varied and geared to every level.

The lace class will be interesting because she is publishing a book on lace soon. The heel class is suitable for expert sock knitters as well as beginners. If you've never knit a sock, you'll just start your learning process at the heel.

My favorite is the class where we explore using handpaints. I have often bought a gorgeous skein of handpaint, caressed it lovingly, planned the project and, after knitting, found the color less exciting than in the skein. I can't wait to hear her tips on making the most of my special yarns.

Find out all the details about the weekend at http://charlotteknittingguild.org.

The guild board is also throwing around some ideas for workshops to be taught on the weekends later in the year--2009. We are collecting ideas. I'm pushing Sue Dial to teach how to make her gorgeous shawl pins from clay. Speaking of clay, Cat Babbie might teach some button making. Dyeing is always a fun afternoon. Guess I'm just in the mood to make something. How about some spinning workshops? Maybe the Fiber Guild would like to co-sponsor?

Like I said we have ideas swirling and are looking for more. What would you like to see as a workshop? Do you have a favorite teacher we could bring in?

Can you make a basket? Let me know or just comment on the guild website.

Charlotte Knitting Guild Awards Night

My pictures are pretty lame, but the pieces were wonderful.
My vest on the front is nice, but Cristi's entrelac vest at the back was stupendous. Stunning colors and technically fine.
Harriet's vest on the back of the chair is such an interesting pattern; she has knitted three of them. The two toned sweater was knit by Rachel from the top down. She took that class from me and I am very proud of her work. This picture doesn't do justice to Jane G.'s bed jacket done in a vintage 40's style and very fine yarn. Everyone loved it.
These are our new nametags. Rachel discovered them and they work great. They are small pieces of white board with little stands that hold them up. Dry erase marker is easy and reusable.
Of course, some people began to add comments beside their name. This group is hard to control.
This category was too broad and will be changed some for next year. It contained everything from an embellished sweater to tiny, delicate booties. All of the pieces were cute.
The Home Dec category only had a few entries, but they were neat. The dish cloths had great patterns.
Winter Accessories abounded. I thought the shadow knit keyboard scarf was cool.
Scarves were in the Winter Accessory category and they were lovely.
These are some of the shawls. The one on the front was very much evening wear IMHO. Lace and lace edged shawls were popular.
The bag category was wonderful. Lots of color and interesting techniques.
This category was for people who had been knitting less than a year. Can you believe Dave is in this group and has already made a luscious pair of socks?
We had socks out the wazoo. Not unexpected; every meeting has two-thirds of the attendees knitting a pair. They are our favorite portable project.
Stunning amount of color and technique. Some were designed by their knitter; some had unexpected combinations of yarn. All were great.

We learned much from our first effort at a show. Next year we will advertise the categories much earlier so folks can hold on to some pieces long enough to enter them. Even with a fairly short notice, we had over 60 entries. I was blown away by the enthusiasm and support.

After the judging was complete, the good people of Universal Yarn in Concord gave us a yarn tasting. Jean Lux even gave us a Sponge Bob paper plate to hold our yarn samples. She had prepared 20 gram balls of several yarns and even gave full skeins of the newer yarns. Hal who owns the company came and talked a bit about the manufactoring end of the business and the many decisions that go into creating a new yarn.

This was one of our best guild meetings. If you live in the Charlotte area, you really should come to a meeting and see what we are about.