The Gift That is SOAR

There are a lot of gifts about coming to SpinOff Autumn Retreat. The most obvious is the friendship of like-minded people, learning from and teaching each other. There are formal classes, of course, but much is learned informally, over lunch, in the hallways or lobby while sitting among other spinners, and we also learn about different areas of the country as the conference travels around.

There are tangible gifts from friends and associates too: a beautiful crocheted doily from Lotto, a wool silk blend and some soap from Shirley and Peggy at Lambspun, Chopsticks Of Vacuum from Michael, a Lantern Moon basket from Michelle Coburn, calendar and a fair trade woven bag from Interweave, the sponsors of the event, and soap from friends who borrowed wheels and tools.

We all love gifts, the tangible and the not so much. What we are not so thrilled about is the gift of the SOAR cold: fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, loss of voice (a hint?) and general malaise. Thanks. Thanks to whomever, I will try not to devolve into whining.

But I am sorely tempted. Waaaaaaaaaah!

Homeward bound today, after a few lovely Fall days in Oregon, visiting the town of Sisters and the High Desert Museum. We had the Sage Springs Spa to ourselves every afternoon for a very welcome jacuzzi and steam bath, which did ease the discomfort of the cold.

It should be a glorious drive, and I have my tissues. Wah.

Rounding the Bend

It's hard to believe that our week here is closing in on the end, it always goes so quickly.

The workshops are done, the market has opened, the retreat participants have arrived and some workshop participants are gone. The whirlwind that is the retreat begins today.

There has been all sorts of weather from bright sunny crisp days to fog, rain, and brief snowfalls. The weather makes it all truly seem like an Autumn retreat, and we've been able to pull out the mittens, hats, scarves, and sweaters knitted and woven in beautiful handspun yarns.

Each crisp morning starts with a fire and a cup of tea, and each evening ends with long conversations over a glass of wine or a brew. Thus braced against the cold, surrounded by friends, knitting away into the evening....who could ask for more?

Eastern Oregon

Golden trees on our drive up through Eastern Oregon.

We arrived yesterday, amid a flurry of SOAR attendees, and settled in to our accommodations. Many hugs, shouts of joy and recognition were heard throughout the day today. Introductions were tonight, slides and then a delicious dinner, portent of things to come.

The actual work (heh!) all begins tomorrow in earnest.

Last Gasp

There is still much to do,but now I am up to the *packing clothing* part of the process.

Odd, how I leave the clothing for last. I make clothing. You'd think it would be the first thing I fuss over and pack. But no, it is the class supplies, samples, handouts and tools that get the most attention. I know my life will go smoothly if I have everything I need. I can look like the wrath of dog, but people need to be happy with their class.

So, to a few last things:


This is a box of reeled silk and cotton yarns, a copy of my book, and a few tools. It is a donation to the auction at SOAR, all of the yarns and tools one would need to make the bag on the cover.

It took a bit of wrangling to get all that reeled silk yarn into a form that I could transport, and that someone else can unwind safely. Yikes! reeled silk is slippy. Spun silk, which I am more familiar with, is less of a struggle. But reeled silk has that glow, that shine.....

And this week, of all the weeks, came my shipment of books:


If you have ordered a signed book from me, it is in the mail today:


There is still time to order, until the end of November. Retail stores are starting to get their shipments, and we all know the need to support our local yarn and books shops! Terms are the same as in this post, $24.95 and free shipping in the US. Foreign shipping fees are listed in the above referenced post. Here is the Paypal link again:

Paypal:

I'll try to post photos of SOAR again this year: I won't guarantee every day, but some days there will be more than one. Until then, I am off on a road trip!

Bing! The washer's done. Into the dryer, into the suitcase, and out the door.

Breathless

A quick post, a place holder really, but one with a photo!

It's a mad rush to get everything finished, printed, packed and ready for this weekend: SOAR looms (heh).

This little shawl, scarf really, is cobbled together patterns from instructions in this book, yarn from Yarn Chef, see this post.

The cobbling together is interesting to think about, not so much to look at (save for the pretty colors in the yarn) and not very hard to do. I vote for more complex patterns than these in my future, though, like some of the others from author Evelyn Clark, or those from Dorothy Seimens of Fiddlesticks or Anne Hanson of Knitspot, both of whom I want to be when I grow up.

If I were a knitter, of course.

Later. Samples await. Handouts to print, laundry to do. You get the picture (literally :).

From Hand to Hand to Hand

I received a skein of handspun yarn a few months ago, and started this hat:



The yarn is luscious, thick and warm, and was a delight to knit with. The hat is done now, and ready for the cold weather soon to come. Spinner Nancy (Ravelry link) agreed with me that the hat will make a fine addition to the Scholarship Auction at SOAR, soon to be held in Sun River Oregon.

If you have a need for a warm, cushy textured winter hat, or know someone who does, this will be a chance to bid on one.

The auction funds go toward scholarships for people who would not otherwise be able to make it to SOAR. I have met some of the best people as scholarship students. In this time of shrinking budgets, I'm happy to help enable someone to come and join us(as was Nancy, and in fact Claudia, whose MS fundraiser started this whole thing).

So hats off!, and here's hoping this one finds a happy new owner:

A Good Week

It was a good week, one of those memorable ones: good weather, good company and good times. Take four women, four days, many more than four projects and lots of consumable fuel:

These appear to be the World's Biggest Steaks, but really, it is a small grill! Honest!

I think we were somewhat modest in our wine consumption the first night:

but since I forgot to take any other photos of dead soldiers, there is no photographic proof.

We did get a lot done:


In this pile are some of the projects we worked on or finished: Lindsey spun 4 skeins of Black Coffee yarn, 2 skeins of white "coconut silk", has cashmere/tussah, Crosspatch Creations yarn, and black alpaca on the bobbins, is knitting a lace shawl off the bobbins, Lindsey's ribbon-knitted shawl called Shawl That Jazz is underneath Sue's loom (with cardweaving), with Sue's socks of Noro sock yarn atop, next to my knitted shawl and my bobbins of wool, then there are Sue's skeins of 3 ply wool, and a bag of wolf lichen we collected for dyeing. Dizzy yet?

Here are some details:

This is some of Lindsey's yarn: black coffee colorway dyed by Kimber Baldwin.


This is Eileen weaving, and Sue, um, resting! Eileen is making this scarf:

which she finished, and then warped up again for another scarf:

which she started weaving at the cabin:

and finished weaving at home:

This is Cascade 220 sett at 8 epi, and the beads are size 6 pony beads on the fringe.

Sue had a mission:

She was out to spin up a whole bag of wool, and turn into enough 3-ply for a sweater (she spun it all).

We needed a plan to accomplish all this spinning:

This is the line up of spinner's chairs in front of the laptop, with an audio book: The Help, by Kathryn Stockett, recommended!, and a full 18 hours long, which kept us in our chairs for several days.

Mornings were chilly, so we worked inside:

That is my Cricket, with some soumak samples on it; you might notice there were three of us weaving away each on our own little traveling looms this week.

It is wonderful to have the time away, to sit and spin until the wool is gone, to laugh and listen and talk (and take a brief walk or two). The weather was perfect, the company congenial, and the task at hand not onerous at all. There were even s'mores; we toasted the marshmallows at night in the outside fireplace.

Who could ask for more?

And yet, there was more to come:

The First Book arrived when I got home.

This is my one-and-only advance copy, the rest are on that proverbial slow boat from China, to arrive next month. But oh! to see it at last is a joy.