Back in the Saddle Again

As the sneak peek events in Calgary got to rocking, I boarded a plane on Friday morning and came back to Ontario. It felt good to be headed home, even though Fibre Week was every bit the fun it was last year!

Most of the Fibre Week classes are held in the Life Science building at Olds College. Olds is an agricultural college, and the grounds are evidence of this! The flowers in south-central Alberta are two to three weeks behind Ontario, so I was treated to a double batch of lilacs, peonies and iris again this year.

My workshops, although slimly attended, were a lot of fun. It was great to have participants tell me that this was 'just the information' they needed. The project board class does better with larger groups, but still, the results were fantastic, as can be seen in the photo on the left.

To complete the slides for the three shawl workshops, I had Darling take some photos of some of the pieces that were to be included. The Orkney Pi, finished about a month ago, played into the wind to get this shot that shows Liz Lovick's design to near-perfection. I showed it in the fashion show on Tuesday night at Olds. I wore it folded in half, and part way down the runway I paused and lifted the top layer to a chorus of 'Oooohs' that sounded very much like the little scrubbing bubbles on the TV commercial. This pattern is available from http://www.northernlace.co.uk/ . I made some slight modifications to the original design -- the motifs between the trees, the increases for the diamond section, and the edging. I also had to take 9 rounds out of the large trees section. As it was, it is about 78 inches in diameter.

As far as stash acquisition goes, I tried to behave... I did purchase a couple of lace bobbins, which I've been collecting for years now... another retirement project, you understand. I also bought this yummy, popsicle coloured tencel with a spring/summer shawl in mind...I also hauled home two skeins of ragg yarn from Twisted Sisters in Alberta, and a skein of very fine 60/2 silk.

There's a rumour that there could be a new spinning wheel in my future... we'll see.

Now, I'm back home, and looking at the realities of Canadian Guild of Knitters. I came to a tough decision before I left for Alberta, and I'm still thinking that it is the right thing for me. The stress of being behind with Knit Together is weighing heavily on me and I've put off going 'drastic' as long as I can. As is my way, what I have to achieve to get 'caught up' will be done in a manner that is fair to every member of Canadian Guild of Knitters. Canadian knitters have been very supportive, and I will honour that with the utmost respect.