November 29, 2010

KR retreat 2010 - Thursday and Friday

It's hard to believe that after so many months of waiting (im)patiently for the Knitter's Review Retreat, it went by so quickly and I now find myself already waiting for next year's retreat! Here's a quick recap of the retreat that occurred November 12-14 at the Williams Inn in Williamstown, MA.

My carpool buddy and roommate Wendy and I arrived on Thursday afternoon just a few hours before dinner which was exactly the right amount of time to unpack and:
- get a great big hug from Martha at the registration desk
- hand our destash items into the capable hands of Lanea, Purlewe, and team
- marvel at the contents of our goodie bags (I was able to knit an extra charity hat during the retreat with the ball of Zara that was in my bag, how's that for instant gratification?)

Thursday evening was a good time to welcome newcomers and catch up with old friends. The lovely Kathleen gave me a beautiful red Stepping Stones scarf that she knitted with Rosi's cashmere from last year's stash lounge. Cat Bordhi demonstrated a fun way of spinning using a rubber ball and rubber bands (you can see her plying in the picture below).

I attended Cat's class on Personal Footprints on Friday morning and early afternoon. I am now the proud owner of my very own monofoot and ready to knit socks that fit me perfectly. (Unfortunately, I didn't get to snap a picture of Cat playing Prince Charming to each of us and looking into our eyes to see if we were lying about how well our sock toe fit.)

While retreat attendees were trickling in, I got a "behind the scenes" look at the KR marketplace as some of the vendors were setting up.

(both Karen and Tanis were able to attend this year)

(Chris got mobbed at Rhinebeck but she still brought some lovely things)

(Barb and Holly brought the new Cormo sock blend, Flock Sock)

(don't worry, the ladies were adequately dressed with knitted samples on Saturday afternoon)

Friday evening was "Show-and-tell". Amazingly enough, Clara was able to ensure that we would describe our favorite yarn or express our undying love for multiple yarns in 60 seconds (or less) so show-and-tell lasted exactly an hour and a half, leaving plenty of time to welcome first-timers, explore the stash lounge, or ask fellow knitters what they were knitting.

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