more. melted.

My brain is fried. Or over-fibered.
Full o' fuzzy bits.
Or something.

Today TheMostImportantGuy was exploring out and about, and he saw this:

My view today was this:

Very different views, but both really neato :-)

I purchased that wooden bowl today at the retreat. I kept seeing it out of the corner of my eye the whole day the day before.  This morning when I snapped it up, I justified the purchase to my spinning neighbor sitting next to me, and I told her that I had just remodeled my kitchen and that it would look great on the bamboo kitchen counter holding a sock in progress or something (I did just say I was justifying my purchase, right?? LOL), and she said that she has been reading my blog. Quietly. For a few years.

I kinda couldn't believe she sat there for an evening meet and greet (where we chatted) and a whole day side by side, and an evening schpeel before saying something, but I guess if you can lurk for years, you'd be able to pull it off in person too, yah?!  hahahahahaha

Well, watch this:
HI ERIN!!! (*waves*)
hahahahaha
 
It turns out that Erin is the brains behind the podcast The Anatomy of Knitting.  I'm so glad she outed herself, because I was feeling a bit nervous sitting next to her as she is a much better spinner than I am and I felt like I was all thumbs. I turned bright red once she told me she read the blog, but for some odd reason it helped me not feel so nervous about they quality of my spinning.  And I should probably take a moment to ponder why that is, because it is interesting. But I'm too exhausted to play armchair psychologist on myself tonight LOL.

After the class ended a few of us went and checked out Hansencraft's new production facility they are building, then went to Taylored Fibers for a few to buy some of the really awesome roving that we got to test drive during the class.  TheMIG and I had an awesome meal at a place called The Ajax Cafe that Beth recommended where the menus are taped inside of album covers...

...and the walls are covered with wacky hats and many of the patrons wore them as they dined (although we didn't seem to capture that happening in this photo). 

I am totally exhausted once again, and my brain is full from so much information...but what a great time this was up here for the retreat.  The class was great, the other workshop members were a treat to meet, it was organized well and the accommodations for staying and for the workshop itself were great.  What a fun time.

Now two days of driving to get back home!

brain. melted.

OhMyGosh. Sooo tired.  Every day since we have left we have woken up and been on the road since the buttcrack of dawn, and today: class from 9am to 5pm with a break for lunch, a break for dinner, and then a lecture at 7pm.  I am so trashed!   But it is so amazing!

More photos as it's all my brain has left to put out for today.


A gift of fiber today from Kevin, Beth, and Judith (just one gift of many...there was an entire goody bag waiting in the hotel room when we arrived!)

Judith's wheel with a mishmash of experiments on it, as she was demonstrating her "yes, you can spin any diameter yarn!" exercise.

A color wheel full of fabulous fiber for us to practice with.

The always fascinating and wonderful teacher, Judith MacKenzie :-)

 Crashing in bed now.  Too tired to even enjoy a soak in the jacuzzi tub in the room!  Class is out tomorrow night at 5pm and the retreat is then officially over.  I'm not sure what folks are doing with the evening, but if there isn't anything happening, that tub is where you will find me!

so so pretty here

Less words, more photos...because it is just so beautiful here, and I am having a fabulous time :-)

Driving west towards the ferry.....

Preparing to dock in Port Townsend....

A flight of 1 oz samplers at the Port Townsend Brewing Company....

A deer on the lawn of Bed & Breakfast in a quiet neighborhood....

Okay.  A few words.
The deer was so still, we thought he or she might have been a victim of taxidermy!  For almost a full minute we sat there watching, and there was not a twitch!  Then verrrry slowly, one ear slowwwwly rotated.  I even wondered for a moment if someone inside the B&B was sitting in there with a remote control operating it! hahahaha 
(but he/she was real)

A shot of a tall ship taken from Uptown....

And one of the many many MANY little churches around here.....

So, I am not sure if I have mentioned this or not!
The real reason for this road trip is that I am here in Port Townsend for a spinning retreat with Judith MacKenzie, specifically for people who have Hansencraft miniSpinners (and I am a happy keeper of one).  

Tonight was the meet-n-greet at the hotel, followed by Kevin (Mr Hansencraft himself) demonstrating care and maintenance.

After the evening gathering, TheMIG and I took a walk together along the waterfront and caught the sunset.

Tomorrow TheMIG goes exploring, and I begin 2 full days of spinning and learning! :-)

re-entry is such a bitch.

I've been unpacking, crankin' out laundry, cooking, and doing housework since I got out of bed. I have to leave super early for dance class tonight because I have to teach a private lesson before the regular class (so departing I am departing from home at 4pm and not coming back until just before midnight). I have a doctor's appointment super early tomorrow morning.
Whee.
Couldn't I have just eased in slowly??
Apparently not. *sigh*

Well, I guess technically I did have a day of transition between the retreat and home. That was night spent in Eugene.

L to R: ViolinJodie, me, TheBon

I'm telling ya'. I dig these people so much and find their little spot on the planet so lovely, I may just have to retire there.

Jodie and her hubby had us all over for grilled pizzas.


That's me taking a picture of Anthony grilling the pizzas. I think TheBon took a photo of me taking a picture of Anthony taking a picture. If it turns up I will point you to it.

TheBon had done up some of the pizza toppings, and she also did some homemade icecream.


This was exciting not only because it was delicious, but because it was peach ice cream made from peaches from the tree in my yard! Before we left on this trip, MyFavoriteKid had picked a big bag for her and he gave them to on our stop in Eugene at the beginning of the trip. He knows she likes to cook and can. It was very cool to taste the end result on the way back home.



Welp, I'm off to class.
And I'm already exhausted.
And it's like I have the emotional version of road rash.

on the road again

I am home. It was 8-1/2 hours of driving but 11 hours of travel (I made lots of pit stops to stretch my leg).

But hey! LOOK!! Up there!!
That's my ring!!!!!!!!!!!! :-)

Very last thing I did before leaving the retreat was to load the wheelchair, and when I lifted off the seat cushion...tadaaaaa!!! There it was.
In my bum the whole time. Sheesh.
I am sooooo relieved.

I have some really great pics from the visit with the EugeneContingent last night, but that's a longer post, and I must get some rest now. I'll do it tomorrow. In between upackin'. And warshin' two weeks of laundry. And playing with the new spinning toy :-)

a good day to dye

Posting a bit earlier than I have been, because honest to god I do believe I'm going to be able to keep myself awake past tonight's closing festivities. Fun can be so taxing ;-)

Today I had the silk dying class with Tina...



...who besides being an amazing artist and business woman is about one of the coolest ladies I have ever met.

As requested, I handed my camera off. Once. So here it is. The one, the only.

I know it looks like I am dyeing something horrid in that photo, but what it turned out to be is this luscious pale grey silk roving that has some very subtle shades of pink and purple behind the grey. It's exactly what I was going for and I love it.

I also did this blues-purples sort of thing...


It's a 3-ply, two of the plies wool, one silk. Fun times.
I dyed some other stuff, but it's too wet for me to fiddle with photos just yet.

One of my favorite moments from today is when I took a little stroll outside after breakfast and spotted an eagle on top of a totem pole.



Not gonna see that at home, that's for sure!

Off to dinner and then a final gathering together, then we all scatter into the wind.

retreat, part...whatever

For Kathy of the comments: No! I have no photos of me yet! I will try to remember to pass my camera to someone tomorrow! Stephanie has a few on her blog, but I'm not in those either. I will do my best to insert myself somewhere somehow LOL.

Today was knitting with silk. Lots of yarns, lots of information about silk and how to work with it, lots of knitting, all resulting in lots of wee cute little swatches.


After the class I set myself down outside on the porch and bought myself a nice cold beer.

And a HansenCraft electric spinner ;-)



NONE of those spinners that you see there are mine (mine is in the bag--DUH!), which is just about as lame (if not more lame) than my not having a photo of myself.

After dinner we took a Trip Down the Silk Road with Judith as our tour guide.

L to R: Judith, Tina, Stephanie

Note Tine & Stephanie cooking up some madness in the background there. They are boiling silk cocoons which we stretched into silk hankies:

that's Beth (aka MrsHansenCraftElectricSpinner) doing the honors

And we also got to do some reeling, too.


This is home style reeling, and hooray for that. I spoke to someone once who was ready to invest in an arse-load of fancy reeling equipment, and MyLadiesOfTheRetreat here made a makeshift silk reeling set up out of stacks of books, coat hangers, and duct tape. Seemed to work just fine, if you ask me. .


Stephanie gifted Judith with some of the end result.


Going to bed now. It's gets so late so fast when you are having fun, doesn't that just suck??

Silk dyeing tomorrow.
All I am hoping for is that I get outta that class without a tie-dyed wheelchair.

more pics. some of people even ;-)

Photo heavy (again). Vacation will do that to ya'.

Here's a shot of Port Ludlow in the morning:


The Inn where we are staying:



All the food has been amazing. Tacky to show you my half eaten oatmeal, but hey.



Today my class was with the amazing Judith MacKenzie McCuin, whom I was totally intimidated to take a class from because she is a fiber genius, and I'm just little ol' newbie spinner me over here. Everyone told me not to worry because she's awesome, and they were so right about that. She was unforgettable. Totally worth the price of admission, and I learned so much.

Here's a pic of the room before we trashed it.



Here's a sampling of the many types of silk we spun.


The highlight of my day was getting to spin on this little ditty:



It's a HansenCraft e-spinner. It's electric, but also can run on battery. It's smaller than a breadbox, and doesn't require treadling. What a godsend for me. Seriously. I love my wheel, but I can only get a small chunk of spinning time in before my knee hurts, and that just sucks ass. It turns out that MrsHansenCrafts is attending this retreat, and she had a few on hand. She also lives nearby, and she also has a couple for sale.

I might be coming home with one. Especially because 5 or 6 people have thrown themselves in line to buy my Matchless from me, and which I would sell to pay for the e-spinner. Kinda convenient to have so many interested parties here, isn't it? Well, I'd still have a "wheel" wheel, because at home I still have (and adore) my vintage Clemes and Clemes. But if this little swap works out, bye bye Matchless, hellooooo HansenCraft! I'll know more tomorrow.


After dinner there was a little dye party outside. Stephanie and Tina (of Blue Moon Fiber Arts)....


....set us up to dye silk scarves.


Here's what I ended up with.


Meanwhile, Judith got a little crazy with the indigo...

...but I do mean the best sort of crazy.

Two people even dyed their hair ;-)


The rest of us just dipped skeins of silk that we will get to take home....woot!


I'm a little worried we are all going to make a wreck out of this hotel.


So I am totally over-saturated. Literally and figuratively (my brain has taken in way too much information today, plus my hands are now blue).



Tomorrow is knitting with Stephanie for me :-)

thursday

Still in Seattle. This is the last day of this trip for MyFavoriteKid, and it is the last night for me in Seattle before heading off to the retreat.

Today we only went to (in a significant downscale compared to the last few days):

...the Seattle Aquarium.




...and SeaTac airport.


...where I put MyFavoriteKid on a plane home to his dad's, where he will stay for the next week while I go to the retreat.

MyFK is 13 years old, and this is his first time flying alone. I was allowed to accompany him to the gate, but once he boarded and I was out of my sight, I had rocks in my stomach (what a dork I am). I even watched the plane until I couldn't see it anymore.

No matter how much logic I used, I couldn't shake the rocks feeling until MyFK texted me that his plane had landed, and his dad phoned to say that the kid transfer was complete and they were arm in arm.

Then I felt much better.

Enough better to shift in to a whooole different kind of vacation mood.

Amanda met me at my hotel (thank gawd 'cuz I was sick to death of driving and parking and finding my way around an unfamiliar town), and we had the girl version of a cocktails and a "romantic dinner"...




...lots of girly chit chat. Good food. Super fun. It was fabulous.
(still no photos of us, though--how lame!!)


I am now back in my room. I just had a really nice online video visit with TheMostImportantGuy, and I am now tucking myself into bed. Tomorrow, I have to look up how the heck to get to this retreat I am going to! I have all the details saved, but I haven't really taken a close look at it yet or mapped it out. I do know it involves a ferry ride, though :-)