Embraced

In the afterglow of the Knitter’s Review Retreat, I sometimes find it difficult to write; never more so than this year.  I’ve said that this four-day respite is my Christmas.  To stretch the metaphor farther, this time I felt mostly like George Bailey, simply overwhelmed by the tidal wave of kindness that swept me through the weekend.  It seemed every time I was alone for a moment, another friend sat down beside me with a thoughtful memento or hug to say that Nutmeg Owl would never really be flying alone.

The shawl-clad snowy owl – he hoots, for real!

From stitch markers to fancy soaps; handmade bags to mittens for Darling Bebe, you showered me until I was nearly speechless and certainly misty-eyed.  It’s no wonder that wherever this group convenes, when it is together, I am home.

Whoooo needs hexi-puffs?

And, for the record, the trendy “hexi-puffs” have NOTHING on these little guys ~ who are part of a complete ju-ju kit for Owl Manor.  (It would have taken me longer to sew on the eyes than to knit them ALL.)

But on to the weekend …

Ann Budd and a magic formula

The teaching draw featured the best battery of instructors we have every had in tandem at KRR:  Ann Budd, who always has a trick to share; Sivia Harding, patroness of lace and beading; Amy Herzog, who helped every person there see the value of the right cut for the right body, and Mary Scott Huff, who left us

Sivia Harding demystifies lace design

laughing so hard we gasped for air and wiped away tears (and I was incapable of taking a single picture without shaking violently).  Whichever teachers you had, you wished you’d had them all.  And every one was generous with her time in and out of the classroom.  This is not a gathering where teachers hide out at special tables away from the plebes.  We are all knitters; we mix and mingle throughout the weekend.

It seemed that the 361 days since we were last together have brought sad times for so many ~ the loss of mothers, spouses and

How many knitters does it take … ?

other close family members.  Perhaps that is what made for the most cohesive gathering anyone can remember.  Time crept rather than sped as we reconnected, updated and helped each other through entanglement.

And helped each other treat ourselves to a bit (or more) of fiber luxury at our

All the pretties …

on-site marketplace with Spirit Trail Fiberworks, Briar Rose, String Theory and newcomers Three Bags Full and longtime Retreat-goer turned vendor PeaceLoveYarn.  The line in the hallway outside looked a lot like Black Friday at midnight ~ or whatever they are now going to call it since the holiday season must now start the day after Halloween, but I digress.

2012 swag bag

I have not even mentioned the swag bag for 2012, including one of the sweetest of children’s books, Extra Yarn, the very useful color grid (that I will use at Owl Manor more than for knitting) and yarn, stitch markers and more.  I do use my KRR coffee mugs judiciously, when I want a special reminder of being with people I love who share something special.

Somehow, in the midst of her constant personal reinvention and multiple projects, Clara Parkes manages to put the right people together, sprinkle yarn-fairy dust and make magic.  Never more so than in 2012.  I am endlessly grateful that she and the others who help behind the scenes do so, and allow me to be a guest at the party.

I am strengthened and humbled and ready to face the next chapter, whatever it might bring.

Unstoppable

Neither rain nor sleet … nor a forecast my usually reliable meteorologist completely blew will keep me from the road today.

Unexpected adornment

“Frost on the pumpkin” indeed.  More like 12 hours of snow from a nor’easter that was not supposed to require a visit from the plow driver.  Schools closed early; offices, too.

It is the owl hours and I am still working as seems to happen every time I have a trip scheduled.  As for packing, well, I have a pretty good list.  The clothes and toiletries are always the easy part.  For the Knitter’s Review Retreat it’s the knitting stuff that sometimes makes my hair hurt, only because I’m hundreds of miles from home and might not have the tools or stuff I need.

Then again, it is also the one weekend a year I accomplish less knitting than any other weekend.

Because it is my time to reconnect in person with the friends who are connected to me through wires the rest of the year.  The ones who have kept me afloat these past few months when I really came unglued.

I need this trip, and I’m even happy about 7 hours of driving since it’s the most time I’ll have been able to spend with KnittingKittens in ~ well, too darn long (and we live just minutes apart, how sad is THAT?!?)!

Off now to pack some more, lest I not have that one set of needles I wished I had when I wanted it.  The work can wait a few more minutes.

Rhinebeck YarnoraMama!

It has been far too long since Luann and I have celebrated a YarnoraMama.  Life, work, kids, you name it:  It all gets in the way.  So when the opportunity arose to take her to her first Rhinebeck, it seemed like the right time to see if the cosmic forces would align to allow YarnoraMama IV to happen.

They did.

Dutchess County Fairgrounds – aka “Rhinebeck”

So I could allow her to experience this.  This captures what’s in my mind when I think of Rhinebeck.  I’ve been there in pouring rain, wicked wind and bright sun ~ sometimes several of those in one day.  But this is the quintessential fall-in-New-England event and it should look just like this.

A Teeswater poses prettily

One cannot justify driving 100 miles to a sheep and wool festival without properly admiring the sheep, of course.  The young people, most involved in 4-H, work very hard to raise and show these animals when their friends are off doing teen

Everything you need to know … well, not quite

and ‘tween things.  They know more about these sheep than I ever will.  We owe it to them to start with a visit to the Breed barn to see their ribbons and displays.  After all, without them, there is no knitting.  And fact of the matter, if you were to break down my yarn purchases of the past three years, an astounding percentage come from small farms raising special breeds as I have joined others exploring what makes each special on the needles in the Knitters Book of Wool woolalong inspired by our fearless leader, Clara Parkes.

A Soay sheep from Ashford, CT

I suppose in some respects it’s not fair to take a first-timer on a guided tour of this mother-of-all-sheep-festivals (a superlative shared with Maryland Sheep and Wool, of course.  I’ll let the experts fight over the true winner there.).  There is something to be said for arriving and being immediately lost in a sea of jostling knitters with pointy elbows, all searching for that perfect skein.  Maybe it’s not fair to have removed the “overwhelm” from the equation.

Eight warm legs and eight socks displayed. Where’s Miss Muffet?

However, there is certainly much to be said for attending Rhinebeck on Sunday.  The crowds are significantly smaller, and it is a far more pleasant experience.  Fewer people dragging rolling suitcases indiscriminately over toes and strollers jamming up the aisles.  (I, for one, would never have brought Darling Bebe.  Nope.)  To be sure, there was still

Of course there were owls!

enough to look at to go into sensory overload.  From potters and button-makers to the incomparable Shepherd’s Flock slippers to LYS bringing their wares on the road and independent dyers like Spirit Trail Fiberworks, where we found our peeps with Jennifer’s

Gratuitous (lousy) shot of Mountain Ash shawl knitted for the booth last spring

gorgeous wares.

This was akin to having dessert before dinner, for we will all be together at the Knitter’s Review Retreat in a mere three weeks.  The friends who have showered me with virtual hugs over the past few months were generous with the real thing in person.  I have missed them so.

I would be remiss if I did not tell you about one “find” from one of

Cashmere Crepe by Still River Mill

my favorite luxury yarn sources.  I have written before about Still River Mill, which spins for many area farms and also produces small batches of its own fibers.  Meet Cashmere Crepe:  Fair-trade cashmere.  Cashmere Crepe is the result of a program by USAID to help develop the economy of Afghanistan.  As such, this NGO trained more than 200,000 goat herders on the value of cashmere from their flocks,

Cashmere Crepe – 120 yards, fingering wt, 100% cashmere

and how to properly harvest the fiber.  The result is this fingering-weight 100% cashmere in 25g skeins, with 120 yards.  It sells retail for $18.  That’s a little more expensive than the other cashmere SRM offers, but considering the goal of the project and the distance it traveled to get to here, it’s not an inordinately large price tag to make a pair of fingerless mitts or a sweet cowl from a single skein.   Cashmere Crepe is not on the SRM website yet ~ look for it at their booth at the Fiber Festival of New England (a terrific indoor event!) or drop them a line at sales@stillrivermill.com and tell them I sent you.

At Rhinebeck, I reach a point of fiber saturation.  There is a moment where I can’t look at or appreciate another thing.  It’s the place Luann and I reach at the same time.

In all, Luann and I spent four glorious hours in the car together (how often do you say that about four hours in the car going anywhere?).  I took her to Owl Manor so she could see the world’s largest blue tarp ~ and bear witness that I am not having a bad dream that won’t let me wake up.  We saw gorgeous rolling countryside, glorious autumn foliage and bucolic Connecticut villages.  We caught up with the things that a couple of busy moms with “balance issues” need to do.

The only downside: facing work on Monday.

Countdown to the Knitter’s Review Retreat has begun!

* Apologies for lousy photography.  Leaving the plastic over the new iPhone camera lens and flash didn’t really help.

Booth’s-eye view

Suffice it to say that an unanticipated (but unavoidable) work all-nighter is not the best preparation for an early flight or a weekend stint as Booth Babe at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival.  I don’t recommend it to anyone.   But getting out of Dodge on an early-morning flight before your employer can request demand that you change your plans is highly recommended, no matter the toll on shut-eye.  So it was that I landed at BWI Friday, a bit bleary-eyed, but delighted to be reunited with some of my favorite  fiber friends far away from my real-life responsibilities.

This time, I had an entirely different view of a mega-festival.  The

Our domain for 2 days

work days begin early.  There is only so much set-up you can do ahead of time owing to the unfortunate reality of security and theft.  Which means that each day you must hang samples and displays all over again.  They matter tremendously in selling yarn and as one who knits them, I can attest that they cost more to replace than stolen skeins.  (See that red cardigan in the middle?  That’s the new Skipperdee Cardi designed for STF Verdande.  The pattern was released Friday and sold out fast.)  The show opens, and the traffic does not stop for nine

See the 3rd shopper being devoured by yarn?

hours in a building where temperatures reach well over 80 degrees and shoppers are crammed inside your tiny booth like so many anchovies in a can.

The upside of all this was the opportunity to meet many members of the Spirit Trail Fiberworks group on ravelry in person, as well as some of you.  I so enjoy talking about how each of the yarns performs and answering questions for other knitters.  Plus we had a brand-new yarn to debut: Brigantia, made of 85% Polwarth and 15% silk.  And I was able to visit, however

Daniella of Signature Needle Arts

briefly, with some fabulous folks, like Daniella from Signature Needle Arts, whose company provides some of the most responsive customer service on the planet.  (Not to mention the Lamborghini of needles that help me do what I do at the speed I like to do it!)

It IS all about the sheep

The downside: having to do it all two days in a row.  Even with rubber padding on the floor, feet and back were not especially amused.  And unlike my pleasure-only forays to Rhinebeck, I never really got a sense of the

WHAT do you make with these and how do you hold ‘em?

whole festival.  A break here and a break there allowed me to see some usual suspects and other unusual sights.  But I lacked perspective as to the size and scope of MDSW.

Yes, there were giggles galore and belly-laughs, too – that’s to be expected when you put seven or eight unique women who all genuinely like each other into a group with a mission to accomplish.  That’s what made it all worthwhile: the chance to spend time together in May ~ the halfway point before the next Knitter’s Review Retreat.

And did I mention that I brought home some yarn?

* Prize winners coming soon.  Stay tuned.

Timely

Just in time for a sudden drop in temperature to what winter is supposed to feel like in these parts, here’s some Friday eye candy.

My Targhee Groves

Pattern:  Grove by Jared Flood / BrooklynTweed

Yarn: Sweet Grass Wool 2-ply Targhee, colorway Brilliant Blue.  Or what’s left of it.  Which is still mighty blue.  Again, a heartfelt thank-you to the knitter who left this in the 2010 Stash Lounge at the Knitter’s Review Retreat!

I thoroughly enjoyed this pattern, other than needing to blow it up about 200% to make it readable.  The only reason these sat forlornly waiting for thumbs was my foreknowledge that I’d have to deal with massive color bleed in finishing.  It was reasoned procrastination.

Project marriage score:  10

Matching up pattern and yarn doesn’t get better than this.   Boy, are my hands glad today!

Stewed

Given some uninterrupted knitting time, I do manage to whip WIPs into shape.  Often, they are allowed to sit because I know that when the knitting is finished, I’ll have to confront some other task that is going to hold up the works.  Like clearing off the guest bed to be able to block a shawl.  You get the idea.

Grove mittens

This pair of Grove mittens has been waiting ever so patiently for thumbs since … well, probably since last February.  That’s about the time I finished the first pair and experienced the extreme dye run-off from the otherwise utterly wonderful Sweet Grass 2-ply Targhee. The dye did crock on my fingers while I was knitting with it, so I expected the same thing, to happen when this pair got wet.  I consulted with Dye/Fiber Oracle Shelia January and textile maven Crazy Lanea in advance and thought I knew how to beat this batch.

Simmering, not felting

“Thought” being the operative term.  I started with a simmer.  A nice long simmer in vinegary water to try to set the dye.  There was no apparent loss of color in the just-short-of-boiling water.

Digression:  Yes, this is 100% wool, and yes, it can and will felt (beautifully).  But not if temperature remains constant and agitation is kept at a minimum.  Don’t let anyone tell you that you can only wash wool in cold water.  It’s simply not true.

The run-off begins ...

I placed the mittens in same-temp water with Eucalan woolwash to rinse the vinegar – and saw instantaneous, massive color run-off.  Look at the color of the water.  Holy Synthrapol, Batman!  This time, I know what needs to come next.

As blue as the Aegean ...

It’s time for Synthrapol.  A nice still-pretty-darn-warm bubble bath.   If you work with yarns that are hand-dyed, or you like blue or red yarns that are hand-dyed, it’s a good thing to have on hand.  The water turned cobalt.

Let’s rinse them, and try it again.

How much dye ... ?

Somewhere the Yarn Goddess has her head thrown back and is having belly-laughs at my expense.   Come on, already!

This is insane!  How can there still be color left in the mittens???

I won’t torture you with more pictures of the same.  Suffice it to say that on the third wash, I left the mittens to sit a good while, removed them for a rinse, and then gave up.  I will not use 50 gallons of water to rinse a pair of mittens.  That’s just silly.

Look - it's only swimming-pool blue!

Time for one last dip in Eucalan to remove any remaining really-not-good-for-anyone chemicals.

Progress!  At last!

Suffice it to say that if my mittens should turn a snowman’s head blue, I shall live with it.  And if they turn my fingers blue, I’ll manage.  (The inside of my winter jacket is bright blue anyway.  I would even scoff at the Yarn Goddess if I did not know that retribution would be swift, painful and utterly out of proportion.)  The yarn, left by a generous knitter in the Stash Lounge at the KR Retreat in 2010 is wonderfully perfect for New England winter.

I do wonder what the green skein will do, though.

Diversion

Oscar Wilde had it right.  Sometimes the only way to get rid of temptation is to give in.

I did.  And in the space of 3 days, here is my first FO of 2012.  The pattern is Rosebud from the out-of-this-world BrooklynTweed Fall 2011 Collection.  I knitted a one-skein version of it on smaller

Rosebud, unblocked

needles as a charity hat.  The yarn is Berocco Blackstone Tweed from our Knitter’s Review Retreat swag bags in 2010.  I thoroughly enjoyed knitting with this blend of wool, mohair and always-loved angora, and knew it (desperately) wanted to be on a bigger needle.  The pattern was fun and thoroughly addictive.

So at this year’s retreat, I watched the Stash Lounge in the hope that other knitters might destash their skeins.  Lo and behold: Two in the same dyelot!  Bingo!

Since Christmas, I have been trying – really trying – to finish up some UFOs that have been waiting patiently on the back burner.  But I need someone clever to explain to me please how it can be that I can knit for three nights on the same sock cuffs and still NOT have achieved the last half-inch before the heel flaps?

Confronted with that physics problem, I did what any smart knitter would do:  I put down the socks for some instant gratification.  Rosebud.  With two skeins, for the full-sized slouchy version to cover my noggin and head o’hair.   Still needs blocking and modeling.

Back to the UFO parade for me.

And to see if those little sock legs (on US 0 needles) might have knitted themselves while they sat in Time Out.

One can hope.

Duty

Okay, I’ve let the Knitter’s Review Retreat post hang up there long enough that some of you have wondered what happened to me.  To prevent unwarranted use of Bullwinkle’s search and rescue canines, it’s time to send up a flare.

Darling Bebe's Sleepin' Sock

Re-entry after the retreat is never that easy.  Mine was fraught with this knitting irony.   I knitted a pair of socks for Darling Bebe at last year’s retreat, figuring it a great exercise to use the 2-at-a-time toe-up method I had just learned from Melissa Morgan-Oakes.  Little did I know they would become the Most. Cherished. Knitted. Objects. Ever.

The child has worn them to bed every night except for when they were in the wash.

So much for toe-up

And then, it happened.  While I was gone, blissfully charging along on some lace in pure ignorance, the child blew through the toe.  More like, she rammed every little piggy through.

This requires more than just darning ~ and I doubt I’m up for

Sleepin' Socks II - Yarn Love Juliet

the task.  So all other knitting had to go on hold so that Mommy could solve a Sleepin’ Sock Emergency, again 2AAT but top-down.  And with purple yarn this time, according to Her Nibs’ wishes.  Somehow I knew there was a reason I should not destash the Yarn Love Juliet in “Blackberry Jam.”  May the nylon in this yarn, absent in the originals, help with durability.  Then again, the child’s feet did grow enormously.

Cuff-down command performance

All other knitting is in time-out, that is, except for this little project.  Yep.  Duty knitting, pure and simple.  Duty knitting on deadline no less.   And it’s another sock.  Obviously I dreamed up this pattern (loosely adapted from the Chubby Sock on the cover of the Interweave book Christmas Stockings) when I was a new knitter ~ and before I had an inkling that my sister would have four children who would need them.  Of course, sibling greased the skids last year by giving me Signature circs in all of the available sizes for Christmas ~ so I never had any real choice about executing this last one.

Acquaintances have a common misperception that I am organized.  My real friends know: my yarn is organized.  In fact, I am so utterly pathetic that one friend five states away had a note in her calendar in July to remind me to start the dreaded thing.  Back then, I had deadlines for Rhinebeck knitting …  sigh.

It is fair-isle AND intarsia.  Worked upside-down.

Will someone please stick pins in my eyes instead?

Will someone please teach me to hold my yarn properly for stranding?

At least when I am past the big intarsia motif, I can join it into the round and triple my speed.   At least it’s on worsted-weight yarn.  And then I can go back to Sleepin’ Socks and knitting anything at all I want, with no deadlines and no duty.

Home and away

If home is where the heart is, then I suppose it does follow that driving six hours to a place you’ve never seen can be a homecoming.

They grow them blue here, apparently

The location:  Canandaigua, New York.  The Inn on the Lake to be precise, for my sixth Knitter’s Review Retreat.  Four days sans lunches to pack, calls to field or Sesame Street songs to hear.  (The part about disconnecting from work didn’t quite happen at the beginning, as early-morning server failure forced a few minutes of work on arrival, but then, complete and total severance from the World of Work.)

Ten years of KRR

It doesn’t matter whether we are at Jeronimo Resort, the Seven Hills Inn, the Williams Inn or the Inn on the Lake, what matters is that we are together.  Me, world’s-best-roommate KnittingKittens, Luann, Bullwinkle, Lanea, Jane, Marfa, Jennifer, Rosi, Nancy, Nanci, Tree and more, led, of course, by Clara, who makes all things possible.  This being the tenth anniversary year, the Oscar-worthy swag bags got awfully swanky ~ an official logo and even zippers on top!?!

Oscar-worthy swag

As for the contents, they could make a knitter’s knees go weak.  Knitter’s Pride needles, books, journals, patterns, buttons, coupons, a commemorative coffee mug, and yarn.  So much yarn: Classic Elite Kumara, Berocco Comfort Sock, Rowan Sweet Harmony, DirtyWater Dyeworks Julia.  At dinner, our plates were graced with even MORE yarn – laceweight Filatura DiCrosa Nirvana, too.

But all that stuff is just ~ stuff.  I go to see the people who sustain me the other 361 days of the year.  To scooch over on the couch and knit side-by-side instead of conversing in front of a monitor.  To touch fiber and compare pattern notes and wonder whether you have enough yardage to make one.  To eat a meal in each other’s company.  To laugh and laugh and laugh some more.

Knitters, knitters everywhere

In a room so full of knitters, some absences weighed heavily.  How I missed SandyT and her good sense and laughter.  And HappyStasher’s boundless enthusiasm.  It’s not the numbers in the room, but the people who make up those numbers that make this gathering what it is.  People who care about each other, brought together by a craft.  True, we can be rather goofy.  At least one new attendee was a little thrown to be asked, “What yarn would you marry if you could?” but it was all in the spirit of good fun.

Certainly a legend, never a diva

One of my delights in attending each year is the opportunity to spend time with the knitteratiwho have been so important to this craft.  This year, I was tickled to spend my weekend class time with the incomparable Ann Budd.  She has forgotten

Now you see argyle ...

more about knitting than I will ever know.  She also has a better sense of dry humor than most people inhabiting the Earth.

We started on Friday learning the fundamentals of shadow knitting.  It’s not the easiest thing to photograph, but in essence, it allows for all sorts of interesting colorwork to appear (and disappear) based on alternation of colors in two-row sequences of garter and stockinette stitch.  Those of faint heart with charts, you might want to skip this technique.  Or be sure to bring those

... now you don't!

cheaters and highlighter tape with you.  It was illuminating to see how different color combinations were easier and harder to see – stark contrast versus tonal versus complementary.

All I could think about was how hard it must have been to photograph all the samples for Vivian Hoxbro’s book, much less knit them all!

As always, it seemed like we were fed endlessly, moving from one buffet to the next.  I love how the tables all fill in at mealtime, allowing for new friendships to take root even as old ones are reaffirmed.  There is always room for one more.  And always time for one more row between courses.

Ann conquers kitchener

On Saturday, Ann took on the challenge of 30 students and the oft-dreaded Kitchener Stitch.  Having taught it before, it’s amazing how intimidating some knitters find it.  While I have my own way of teaching it, Ann had some utterly common-sense suggestions that had even the most experienced knitters in the room saying, “How did I not know that?”  That, my friends, is the mark of a great teacher.

Spirit Trail Holda in Spice and Chipotle

Later, I got to help plan out some upcoming sample knitting, setting up the Spirit Trail Fiberworks booth and setting aside what I will be working on in some of the months ahead.  Let me tell you know that Holda is not to be missed.  This is yummy and cozy:  80% Lambswool / 10% Cashmere / 10% dehaired Angora.  It knits up and fills in deliciously at 18-20 st/4 in.  There is a largish cowl in the works.

Spirit Trail Fiberworks Verdande - Tuareg Blue

In addition, Jennifer brought out some new colorways in one of her other new yarns, Verdande.  V is the most substantial of the now-four sisters with the same fiber makeup – 75% Merino / 15% Cashmere / 10% Silk.  (In order, they are Nona, Sunna, Birte and Verdande.  If left on a desert island with any of them, I could hardly be disappointed.)  Verdande is 4 plies versus the 3 in  Birte, and she feels more substantial and “rounder” on the skein. This new colorway is called Tuareg Blue and it is utterly dark and rich.   There are other new colorways this season that are equally lovely – Chipotle (seen in Holda photo above), Kismet (green), Winter Solstice (midnight blue), Fig (purples).  Catch them while you can.  Provided I left any.  Cough.

Fit for a Queen Bee

This being the Big 10 event, a mere sparkly tiara simply would not do.  So the powers that be made sure that Queen Bee Clara had appropriate headgear for a night walking down memory lane.   It was a quick and fun journey, particularly seeing the four earlier years I did not attend, before the retreat moved far enough north for me to not be afraid to go.

Work and play are one and the same

Through it all, everywhere you looked, there were busy hands, working quickly, some picking, some throwing, some Continental, some English, some something in-between.  There were even some secret projects, but more on those when it is allowed.

And then it was time to leave.  All events come to a natural stopping point, and KnittingKittens and I knew instinctively when ours was.  A picture texted to me of  Darling Bebe on a playground waiting for me was tugging.

Time to return to my other life, and make this one “virtual” again. Until next year’s homecoming, wherever it may be.

Unwound – Pt. II

For the previous days’ previous events at the 2010 KR Retreat, see this post.

Saturday morning dawned bright and clear.  It wouldn’t have mattered if a hurricane raged outside, for we were all absorbed in fibery pursuits.  It finally felt like we were really “there” at the Knitter’s Review Retreat, not on a day-trip that would end too soon.  Hearing Darling Bebe sobbing for me on the phone and being unable to complete a song for her (because I choked up) the night before sort of made that real.

Ann Budd crunches the designer numbers

We were so delighted to crunch the numbers that result in perfect sweater-fitting with the legendary Ann Budd.  Her Knitter’s Handy Book of Patterns lives on my coffee table and I refer to it often when working through a pattern issue or putting something basic on the needles.  Clara always manages to bring the knitterati who are both geniuses AND approachable people.  Ann is no exception.  However, she is exceptional.

Throughout the class, the BlackBerry blinked.

Quince and Co. Tern - Boothbay Blue

Of course, in addition to all of those finds in the Stash Lounge ~ the room devoted to yarns seeking loving new homes ~ the KR Retreat features its very own marketplace from some of our favorite fiber companies.  Pam Allen brought her Quince and Co. brand-new wool-silk blend Tern.  The camera does not do it justice.  I’m hoping I can execute the soon-to-be-released Ann Budd scarf pattern with it.

Where are all the pictures?  There were too many eager knitters and not enough air ~ or room ~ to mess with a camera.  After all, how

Briar Rose Fibers Glory Days - Colorway - Nutmeg?

would I then hold onto this: Briar Rose Glory Days dyed in a colorway just for me. Really.  Or at least that’s the illusion I’m working under.   Chris was soooooo kind.  And I have a swoony kind of weakness for this particular BFL.

Foxfire Cormo/Silk/Alpaca in Great Blue Heron

Foxfire Fiber also joined the other wonderful vendors in the marketplace.  I currently have this yarn, Cormo/Silk/Alpaca on the needles making a LaNovia scarf.  It is soft and drapey at the same time.  There are only two times I year I see Barb Parry, (and she  missed Mass. Sheep and Wool) so I picked these up for the day when inspiration strikes again.

There were a few other yarn purchases we’ll talk about another day from Spirit Trail Fiberworks and String Theory.  And another of Lanea’s sock bags (in a different colorway) not for knitting socks ~ or for knitting at all ~ but for mommy-running-into-store-with-free-hands-necessities-and-toddler.   I committed far less wallet damage than many of my dear friends in that guilt-free zone.  OTOH, there were some skeins of lovely things that Minh “helped” jump into my bag in the Stash Lounge, so I was in no way yarn-deprived.

Instead, we took over the tavern for an afternoon of knitting and conversation about yarn shops, direction of the industry, designers and life in general.  No photos required, though I regrettably failed to document the dozens scores scads of gorgeous creations adorning everyone in the room. I’ll let another friend show you.

Confession:  By this point, the ignored BlackBerry was apoplectic.  So much so, that I felt obligated to send an email up the food chain to inquire whether I was supposed to engage in the discourse that would. not. end.  Response: No.  But the red eye resumed blinking as soon as I locked the keyboard.

BFL headband frpm Wool-along

Evening brought the long-awaited Knitter’s Book of Yarn / Knitter’s Book of Wool / Wool-along Hoe-down to KRR.  Oh, the lovelies we saw.  From headbands to shawls … and oh, the shawls.  There was this show-stoppingly gorgeous Tibetan Clouds designed

Tibetan Clouds in Sundara FSM

by Sivia Harding for KBOY, knitted by Hipparchia in Sundara Fingering Silky Merino with beads.  (Sadly, the camera hated trying to capture the bright, shiny colorway.)

Here, Sweet Jane poses with her peeps who made her design, the Falling Waters Shawl.  (Which,

Falling Waters with its creator, Jane

as was demonstrated, is long enough to cover lap and legs in a cold office.)  Between her Hedgerow Socks, the inspiration for Hedgerow Mitts, and Falling Waters, Jane is the de facto preferred KR designer.

Oh, and we had doorprizes galore!  From “it” yarns of the moment to needles, bags and beads, it seemed like Clara’s doorprize list would not end.

Spirit Trail Saule BFL and a new owlie bag

This is the part where I admit to embarrassing myself.  (It’s a state of affairs that happens too often for comfort, being a complete geek.  Not a geek in a cool way, just a geek.)  Clara rigged the drawing.  She had to have.  Because it’s just a little too coincidental that the BFL from Spirit Trail Fiberworks (called Saule, sportweight) came to me.  Poor KnittingKittens was afraid she’d have to sleep in the lobby while I … nevermind.  Shown here with a lavender/green owl bag from NanciKnits, the fraternal twin of another one I have.

All through this, I did something I’ve not done before at a KRR.

I knitted.

And knitted.

Into the owl hours of the morning.

While my voice disappeared.

And the BlackBerry blinked.

Leading the Yarn Church service ...

Sunday brought “Yarn Church.”  This is a chance to select a project for oneself and start it by having your friends help cast on a few stitches each.  It is a lovely tradition.

Though we were still together, I could feel the weight of home and job pressing from the outside.

Perhaps that is why I discovered nearly an hour down the road, that I had forgotten key items in the room, forcing us to turn back to retrieve them.

I wasn’t ready to leave.

Sleep socks for Darling Bebe

But I did get some actual knitting done.