Knitting Retreat at the Grand View Lodge - Part Three

Before I go ANY further - I must give credit where it is due. Still haven't found my digital camera. The pics on these most recent blogs were taken by Gina, another member of the ManchVegasKnitting group. She was kind enough to put all her pics on a CD for us to upload or use however we needed. More of the weekend pics are on the Manch website.

Thanks, Gina! (She's right in front in this picture, in brown. Me, I'm the one 4th down on the flight of stairs, wondering how I got roped into a group picture!!!)

Also pictured: Joanne is in the bright green up front, And on her left is Heather. Joanne has opened a new yarn store in Chester, NH, and Heather sells amazing hand made knitting needles and needle holders / craft bags there. I ordered a pair of needles with little pink monster slippers on them - can't wait to see how close they come to the original!

To Heather's left is Ericka, one of the founding members of ManchVegasKnitting, and recently engaged to another group member, Chris.

Vicki and Donna are standing on the stairs, beside and behind me. Vicki, in the red turtleneck, made a great co-pilot on the trip up. Donna, in blue behind me, has a stash you would not believe. She has more Koigu than most yarn stores.

The other ladies are Joanne's friends and/or relatives - as usual, I forget names at the drop of a hat. I do know that Joanne's friend Margie is taking the picture. When / if I figure out who is who, I will update this blog!

So, on with the weekend recap. We knit wayyyyy into the night on Saturday. As a matter of fact, my hands were really starting to protest. We stopped to have dinner at the Birches Grill in Gorham. We were a little nervous about going out, since it was snowing, but we forgot that the snow up here is entirely different. It never really piles up on the roads - the stuff just blows around and settles in drifts. The roads were actually quite clear. Unlike further south, where several multi car pile-ups messed up other people's Saturday.

After a few hours of sleep Sunday, I got up around 7:00, hoping to have less competition for hot water in the shower - and needn't have worried. I was the first one awake and downstairs from the group. Me - and I am NOT a morning person! So I got first crack at the coffee, and some more time to shop. My goodies were adding up quick.

We had another great breakfast, French Toast this time, and settled in to get a few hours of work done. We also started to cash out. Donna had snagged a gorgeous basket hand-made in Ghana that I had my eye on, but I asked Vivian if she had any others that had purple in them and she came through with a basket that has handles, so it can be used as a tote. The rest of the group thought it looks like navy blue, but I see a deep indigo / purple. Anyway, it's gorgeous. Added a few skeins of Cascade 220 and Quatro in purple, some new needles, the chunky Plymouth in a jellybean sort of colorway that I used to make a hat. Some notions - a tackle box for stitch markers, some patterns, mostly for Fibre Arts felted stuff. Altogether, I didn't go too crazy - not that there wasn't potential!

We headed out around 1:30, and the day was gorgeous. COLD, but sunny and dry. Gina, Vicki and I stopped at the Tilton Diner for lunch (get the SunStix - awesome sweet potato fries!) and got back to Barnes and Noble around 4. Dropped off Gina, was home by 5:30. Was asleep by 6:30. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ! Long memorable weekend with very cool people. Can't wait to do it again!

Knitting Retreat at the Grand View Lodge - Part Two

After knitting into the night, we all settled in to very cozy rooms - I had my own so that I would actually be alive in the morning. I snore so loud that you have to be deaf to share a room with me.

We had some trouble with water pressure in the morning, but eventually, we were all downstairs and STARVING. Joanne brought fresh eggs from her own chickens. YUM. But I was all about the coffee!

We settled in to knit and shop, shop and knit, stretch, shop and knit - you get the idea. It was crazy - you can wander the entire place, and think you saw everything, and then see something entirely new and different the next time you get up to pee or whatever. The chairs could have been a bit softer, but I stayed in my jammies and big pink monster slippers - it's hard to complain about anything when you can jammy it up all day! Sure, there were a few shoppers that day, and we didn't know them, but when you get to be my age, appearances just don;t matter so much!

I whipped up a very simple hat using some chunky yarn, and worked on a cowl made from Karabella Boise. If you have never touched Boise, get in your car, and get to a yarn store that carries it. Touch it. Stroke it. You'll leave with it! I had to keep taking breaks from knitting the cowl just to touch it! The cowl pattern I am using, by the way, is from Last Minute Knitted Gifts (p.95). I am kicking it up a notch, with a 2x2 ribbing for the last few inches. Can't wait to wear it!!

Oh yeah - I also finished a Booga Bowl. What's that, you say? Well, it's a Booga Bag you don't feel like finishing. The yarn was getting hard to work with, and I wanted to work on the cowl. So I bound off after about 8 inches, and will felt it up to serve as a bowl from some balls on yummy yarn in my workroom.

Knitting Retreat at the Grand View Lodge - Part One

A gaggle of gals from our knitting group, ManchVegasKnitting, had a blast last weekend (February 24-27) at the Grand View Lodge in Randolph, NH. We left after work from the Barnes and Noble in Manchester, and headed north. It was FREEZING the whole way up, but luckily not much snowing. That is, until we were just about there. I have never been that far north in the winter - the snow is an entirely different creature. It's finer, sandy almost, and much drier that the snow I am used to. We noticed that most street signs were at least partially damaged or covered by the fine stuff, and it was drifting so much across the roads that it was hard at times to see which lane I was in.

Luckily, we found the place, with only one U-turn! See, that's the difference when travelling with women - we know when to stop and ask directions - and we actually do it. We don't keep driving until we see signs for Montreal!!!

Anyway, we settled in Friday night - unpacked a bit, and came downstairs to the common room, and I immediately knew I was in for trouble. Yarn - GORGEOUS YARN - everywhere, all sorts of notions and toys and baskets and needles and books and and and and and, well, the pictures will help you get the idea!