Knitting Retreat II

The Knitting Retreat was wonderful! We had such a good time. There were 11 of us that were in the final count. We had two cabins and a great craft room to work in.

I made a row counter and I just love it.



We had a knit and shop day.
We went to Rose Path Weaving (a little store in Lindale, TX) TWICE in one day!!

We also went to a little Lindale Candy Company that has been there forever! I bought some Jalapenut Brittle (Jalapeno peanut brittle)to bring home to the Big Texan and he just LOVES it!!

Some of us got a lot of knitting done, some of us got very little knitting done - but we all had lots of fun!

We made stitch markers, row counters, and even needle felted.


I don't care for needle felting, but I am glad I learned how to do it. It is a good way to embellish felted items. It just takes too long for my limited attention span.

We shared books, had show and tell with yarn (which is really why I think we had to go back to the yarn store - I was perfectly happy with what I got until I saw what everyone else got).

I know a couple of pairs of socks that got finished and some that got started!

Some of us finished off entire bottles of wine! We just had a great time.

We even had some mad scientists who dyed beautiful yarn.


Some of us stayed up late and others got up early, some of us did both! We walked around in Walmart with Sheep's ears on and little kids looked at us like we were nuts. We talked to the chickens (& roosters) and the laziest dogs in the world.



Just picture grown women with sheep ear headbands on their heads, clucking at chickens as they walk around in their slippers and jammies. That was us!

In general it was a lot of fun.

The woman who owned the Bed & Breakfast thought we were funny! I think we made her nervous at first, but then she calmed down and realized we were ok, just a little nutty.

I came home relaxed and happy and ready to enjoy my knitting again.

You know how sometimes you get lazy with your knitting? You just aren't enjoying it as much as you did before? Well - that was where I was. Now, I feel rejuvenated and happy to knit again.

I FINALLY decided what my car projects are going to be!!! CHARITY knitting!! YEAH! That way I am not wasting time and I am doing something for others! I have been terrible about my charity knitting - I haven't been participating nearly enough!! Now I am excited about it again!!

This is the beginnings of a baby hat for the local hospital.



Here are the yarns that were dyed for me by the 'Mad Scientists'.



For those of you who think dyeing is messy - I promise it is less messy than cooking. It is about as messy as coloring Easter Eggs (with adults).

And look at the beautiful yarns you can make.

I have a test for you.

Which yarn is store bought and which is dyed?

Pretty close, huh?

I will always buy yarns, but I think I am going to experiment more and more with the dyeing.

Mini-Sea Tot and Sea Tot are doing well and I am excited about knitting for both of them! I have also been working on Betty Boop's blanket, but as you know it is very slow going.


I have also started a scarf




It is called 'My So Called Scarf'. I have had the pattern for almost a year, I bought the yarn when I went to New York, but I hadn't had the heart to start it until the retreat. My friends were knitting it and we are having an 'unofficial' KAL with it.

I started my very first pair of socks with STR yarn. I have LOTS of this yarn and I always thought it was too special to knit. But I thought this weekend was the perfect time to begin a 'Special' project. So I did!!


I also cast on for my EASYSOCKS group!! But alas! I had to frog!! The sock was way too big. But I will go down a needle size and begin again!!

See what I mean? I am rejuvenated and excited about knitting again!


PS - the one on the right is the hand dyed Summer Sunshine!!