And did I forget to mention....

the details of the knitting retreat? Guess so, and several of you have requested them, so....here goes:It was put on by the Des Moines Metro Knitters, with approximately 50 folks in attendance. Amanda and Cara were the two real work horses of the group, as far as organizing it all. They did a great job. It is the 3rd time they have held such a retreat. There were many sponsors from LYS to local (and not so local) fiber artists. Two of them were in attendance, Erica from Dreams in Fiber (she has an Etsey shop), and Katie from Yarn Love. I will beg forgiveness from the others for not mentioning them in particular.

It was held in the Country Inn and Suites, in Clive, Iowa. Certainly within a comfortable commuting distance, but Melissa and I chose to get a room for both Friday and Saturday nights. It was a good decision, I might add. Most everyone from our Thursday night group was there also, which added to the fun.

As the event commenced on Friday evening, we each found a place setting with a wineglass filled with mini skeins of yarn, and several gifts on our table. In the center of each table were large vessels of "tastes" of various hand spun and/or hand dyed yarns from local artists. We all rotated and had a "Yarn tasting" party. It was great fun, and a nice mixer exercise. Then open knitting and socializing progressed.

On Saturday, another large gift bag greeted us as we entered the main conference room. Tamara, a local knitting expert/instructor gave a talk on the Italian method of Tubular cast on. (Don't ask me...I have a handout for reference when needed). Several other gals shared their special tips and tricks with the group. Katie, from Yarn Love, gave a very informative talk on hand-dyed yarns. A little about color itself, and also how to predict the action of the yarn and pick suitable patterns for hand dyed yarns. (How to avoid (or embrace) pooling, flashing, etc).

Sunday was open knitting. What can be more fun than 50 some women sitting around knitting and chattering away. Oh - and did I mention the munchies??? - they were aplenty!

I tried to gather up most of the bounty for a photo shoot, and hope I have not forgotten anything. Along with the wine glass, there is a canvas tote bag, water bottle, memo pad with built in calculator, fiber themed mouse pad, sweet little project bag, stitch markers and pen. The pen is great, as it has the instructions for the Kitchener stitch engraved in it! What a hoot!

Throughout the day, door prizes were awarded to everyone, and that is where the full sized skeins of yarn came from. I also got several smaller prizes - crochet hooks, etc - which are not in the photo. Some folks were actually lucky enough to get even more full sized skeins of fiber. OH!! I forgot....I received 3 skeins of Nashua cotton dk in a lovely deep red. I knew I would forget something for the photo! Sorry. The brown is 50 yard of gorgeous handspun. It was in my wine glass. Not sure what I will do with it, but for now, I am just loving it!

So - that's about it I guess. As for the home front, I was missed. LOL! Sofee basically stayed in her kennel by the back door and waited for my return. DH finally persuaded her to come to bed with him, but she slept where I usually sleep, and every time he touched her, she growled at him!!!! (I think she was a little out of sorts!) And... DH fell asleep while warming up his dinner and nearly had a major catastrophe! So, I was missed....and warmly greeted upon my return. Sofee forgave me immediately, and I am happy to say, no more growling!

So.... it's good to be needed. - but oh so fun to get away at times.....! Hope the 4th retreat is held next year -- I'll be there! (Sorry Sofee).