It took a trip to Oregon to get me out of hibernation

If you haven't guessed, I recently went to spinners heaven, also know as SOAR. For those non fiber heads out there, the acronym stands for Spin Off Autumn Retreat and I was one of the lucky few who received a scholarship (YAY)! It was absolutely surreal but I will try to put into words all that I experienced.

First of all, I screamed and cried when I found out I got the scholarship. Then I freaked out into a bunch of "ohmygodohmygodohmygod"s once I found out who I was rooming with. I had the pleasure of spending the week with cotton spinning diva Stephenie Gaustad. Sadly I didn't get any pictures of her but I felt so honored to be in her presence and yes she did the eyebrow thing a lot. She is a wealth of knowledge and shared her spinning treasures freely. She is just a genuine person that I grew very attached to. I miss our morning chats over a nice cuppa tea already. Between her and Phreadde, I think I've got this cotton spinning thing licked for sure.

I began the week with a three day workshop with Judith MacKenzie Mccuin. Yeah, I know. I'll let that sink in for a minute. The topic was spinning for socks but we got that and so much more. I won't get into everything right now because I just don't have the time but I will share one tidbit. During the week I would run into random SOARers and they would ask "Whats one thing you learned?" My answer was usually this: I learned that functional yarn does not have to be pretty. That means that if I want to spin yarn for a light lofty sweater or a durable sock it does not have to look like mill spun it. For some reason this really changed my way of thinking. Like I feel a load has been lifted.

On Wednesday, I sat down to lunch and guess who was seated a couple of chairs down from me.....Evelyn (Swallowtail Shawl) Clarke! I didn't warn you guys that I would be dropping names like dimes but its so much fun. I couldn't think of anything cool or witty to say when I first recognized her so I just stayed quiet. She did seem quite lovely though.

There was an impromptu spinning contest and I was unwillingly entered into the contest by one of my pushy retreatmates that wouldn't take no for an answer. I came in last but thats OK because I keep telling myself that I had the prettiest yarn of them all.

I may seem all over the place in this post but its like information overload. You know what I mean? Anyway, I got to hang out with another scholarship recipient Erin. She's my new BFF. She's so giving and creative and I'm so glad that I met her. We had a swilling good time! I had to travel all the way to Oregon to meet Jimbobspins too who lives all the way in Brooklyn (go figure). Hopefully I'll be able to stalk meet up with him at a spinning meetup.

I took four retreat classes on Friday and Saturday. I got to drum card luxury fiber with Abby (I'd like to think that we're BFF"s in my head), mix colors with Deb (I also like to think that we're all on a first name basis like that), dye squishy fiber with Amy (I really wish that I could've had one of my braids dyed pink) and spin long draw with Maggie (What a delight, she even offered us a popcorn glove).

Like a dummy, I didn't whip out my camera as often as I should, but here's the loot that I scored at the market. I got two spindles. The square one is from Spindlewood and its a square red palm whorl with an ebony shaft. My other spindle is a Tom Forrester and it spins like a dream.

Eight ounces of polworth fiber from Rovings in the apple colorway (couldn't.resist.)

Two ounces of a polworth/silk blend from A Verb for Keeping Warm

Two ounces of a baby alpaca/cashmere blend from The Fold

Four ounces of Optim from Chameleon Colorworks

Four ounces of Targhee in the Golden olive colorway from Tactile (Hi Maia!)

Skein of lightweight STR in the Vine Maple colorway

I also purchased some of the SOAR fiber who's proceeds benefit the Susan G. Komen for the Cure and SOAR scholarship fund. It is eight ounces of a BBFL and Tussah Silk mix from Ashalnd Bay.

Once I get my projects from class organized I'll share them in pieces on this blog. My computer is on the fritz right now so I've been using my fiance's macbook which is not as easy for me to navigate. When I get my own laptop I'll be able to post a lot more. I'm sure I'm leaving tons of stuff out but I don't want this post to get too long. I'll catch you guys on the flip side.

Sneaking away for a little R&R

I recently went away for my first vacation ever. Unbelievable right? 30 years old and never been on vacation, what a shame. After a couple of hectic weeks, I was determined to go away and recharge my battery. I felt like I was running on empty! Since the child had the whole week off of school I gladly shipped him off to grandmas house (thanks Faith!) and set out to plan my getaway.

Since I've barely traveled outside of the northeast, I decided to be a little adventurous. Even though some may think that my decision to take a vacation all by my lonesome is pretty brave, its just that sometimes I prefer my own company the best. That way I can do what I want to do when I'm ready to do it and not have to wait for anybody. Don't get me wrong, I would've liked to have had someone to chill with during my trip but it didn't work out that way so I was determined to have a good time regardless.

I ended up in booking a trip to New Orleans, the crescent city. I spent 4 wonderful days in this beautiful city. My hotel was in the French Quarter so I was within walking distance of everything. What I enjoyed most was the food. I think I gained like 10 pounds on beignets alone. I went to Cafe Du Monde about twice every day I was there.
Of course I did all the other touristy things like the trolly ride Uptown and walking around the Garden District. Had some po'boys and jambalaya, hit up the French Market and got tipsy on Bourbon street. My other hangout spot was the yarn store on Chartres street called The Quarter Stitch (sorry no web site). I absolutley loved this store. It was so vivid and lively in there, it makes you want to smile as soon as you walk in.Thats the back of Carol's head in that picture. She was lovely to chat with, I could've spent hours in that shop talking to her. And the shop dog, Leif Ericsson was such a cutie pie. You would think he had never been pet before the way he begs for attention. He even posed for a picture. I didn't get a chance to take a picture of my purchases but they wrap your yarn up for you like a present with tissue paper, confetti and lost of brightly colored curling ribbon. I don't even want to open it, thats how cute it is. All in all, I would go back to Nawlins just to visit this shop again.I'll have more pictures on my flickr and facebook but I just had to blog about this cute little shop. I know some may have questions about NO after Katrina but to tell you the truth, I opted out of taking the tour of the devestated areas. It's not that I don't care but I'm a very sensative person and I would've been boohooing the whole time so I just chose not to go there. I do highly suggest that if you're looking for a nice little getaway, New Orleans is the place to go. The weather was nice, the food was great and the people are so hospitable. So far, this is my favorite (and only) vacation.