dillydallyknitter

Monday, October 06, 2008

Retreat!!

Well hello there!

This past weekend, a group of us attended the annual Skein Lane Studio's Retreat at the Marconi center near Pt Reyes. There are about 40-50 knitters who attend every year and it's a weekend of knitting, class, knitting, eating, knitting, show 'n tell, knitting, drinking wine, knitting.

At Marconi Center: Sunbny, me, Josie, LCK, and Nannysknits

On the way up, some of us stopped at a pre-retreat event at Windrush Farm to take a felted button class and we got to wander around the farm and visit sheep, cows, goats, alpacas, dogs and cat who live there!

The contented expression of this fellow says that LCK has a very calming touch!

He may be a bit grungy now, but look what's inside!

My felted buttons were fun to make but I liked them better before I cut them.

At Marconi--
Melissa Leapman was a very funny and entertaining teacher (and she looks great in cabled things). She drew my number in the prize draw (2 skeins of soft alpaca yarn) so I love her even more!
Our class project was making a small cabled throw pillow from a soon to be released book called Continuous Cables and for the first time ever, I actually finished a Class project when I got home! I forgot to take a photo of it, but I finished it!

The lovely and sweet Marisol from Purls Just Wanna Have Fun was there. I think she knits in her sleep because at Show & Tell, she had a pile of beautiful knits and all were completed this past year!! She brought this Wild Wild West shawl, and the entire room went OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHH!

Do not adjust your screen--I forgot to turn on the flash setting and so my Show N Tell photos didn't come out very well but here's a blurry photo of 3 of Team Unraveled in our matching Koolhaas hats. Showing up to the Retreat in matching hats is getting to be a tradition for us!

Josie also showed her pretty Sugar Bunny Blvd Pink ribbon socks and LCK and Nannysknits showed off beautiful cabled cardigans while Sunbny and I knit furiously on our pillows trying to keep up with the class.

Knitting cables requires concentration. I got so crabby trying to knit the first row of the chart that I think my travel companions wanted to spike my coffee with sedatives. Luckily we had plenty of wine, chocolate and chips on hand.

This was my second retreat and I had a great time!! Next year's teachers are Sally Melville and Nancy Bush and we already put down our deposit. Come and join us, you'll have a great time!

Labels: Knitting Retreat, Team Unraveled

Sunday, September 16, 2007

Knitting Retreat 2007

I spent a wonderful weekend with LCK and Blogless Friend B away at a Skein Lane Studio Knitting Retreat featuring a workshop taught by the lovely Chris Bylsma.

The retreat was held at the Marconi Conference Center located off Tomales Bay near Pt. Reyes. The weather was perfect--not too hot, not too cold.

Of course, on the way we made a detour to a yarn store:

Knitterly, in Petaluma. If I had a yarn store, I'd want it to look a lot like this store. I forgot to take photos inside but the shop is a fabulous mix of great yarn & vintage furnishings.

Above is a scary looking building you pass on the way to (very nicely remodeled)Buck Hall where the classes were held. Remember that old MTV show, "Fear"? I think this would be a perfect place for for an episode of that show. While waiting for my turn in the bathroom one night, I read the history of this place printed inside that room info binder thing you always find on the nightstand. After a history of wireless radio communication, in the late 70's this place was occupied by a rehab center turned religious cult called the Synanon. While they were known for amassing a large cache of weapons & requiring women to shave their heads, they also built these units:

Thankfully, have been remodeled into very nice & peaceful accommodations. The residence rooms are surrounded by a lovely natural garden which made a great backdrop for my yarn acquisition:

Two skeins of Bo-Rage Yarn from Black Valley Artisans. Local sheep -yearling curls died in locks, hand spun and & a matching one that was plyed with hand spun silk. Two skeins of 50/50 mohair/merino hand dyed in a light periwinkle color:

At the Saturday night "Show & Tell, the "Seasocks cruise Dork Earflap hats" made an appearance (And yes, wine was involved). At the show there were gorgeous examples of lace shawls, sweaters, cardigans, and socks but so many people came up and asked us where the pattern came from! (Knit Simple magazine, this month)

Look! It's Blogless Friend B. on the right! Can you believe each hat was made from 3 skeins of the same hand dyed yarn yet with such different results in coloring?

Here, LCK demonstrates her model walk while displaying her WIP, the Kerry Cardigan. Work it girlfriend!

In the class we learned how to make a 'plaid' fabric by constructing a teddy bear sized vest. Below is my first ever steek!

Here's LCK cutting hers. We didn't use a sewing machine to secure the steeks but learned a clever crochet technique (see the green yarn?).

My still unfinished vest modeled by Teddy:

After a delicious lunch in Pt. Reyes (where Prince Charles & Camilla visited in 2005), we returned home. In true Cpurl fashion, I returned home to a pool of cat vomit in the front entryway. I guess they wanted to welcome me home Gangsta Kitty style.

Labels: Knitting Retreat