Retreat

Well, it's been a while since I posted anything. I've been working furiously on turning my basement into a media room. It still needs a few touches here and there, so I'm not willing to take a picture of it yet, but it's also at that stage where it's good enough to just ignore the little touches needing done, so it could be a while.

In the meantime, enjoy my ramblings on the retreat. I was signed up for the weekend retreat, but was completely oblivious to the fact that there was such a thing as a Thursday extension. I went up Thursday evening with the plan of going to Webs Friday morning. Which I did. And spent way too much money. On this:

It's Fiesta's Ballet line. the picture doesn't do it justice, but it's 50% alpaca and 40% tencel and the colorway is just what I've been looking for. I've been wanting a black sweater with variations on the black, but still, overall, black. This worked out perfect. And had I limited myself to that, we'd be fine. But nooooooooo.....

While browsing for patterns, I found this one, and I've always liked this style neckline on me, so I picked up the pattern. But of course, now I need the yarn...and the pattern called for this: Fiesta Rayon Boucle in Safari colorway

I also bought some seasilk sock yarn for the SigO. So, I left Webs with my wallet more than $200 lighter.

But back to the retreat. As I said, I was oblivious to the fact that there was a Thursday extension, so I just went to the hotel a night early with the idea of spending the night. I expected to see some other knitters, but didn't know there was an organized event. So, when the ladies at the front told me dinner was being served in the dining room, I traipsed on in, expecting a regular restaurant, and totally ended up crashing the Thursday extension party. Sorry guys. They made me very welcome though. Thanks Clara. After I got back from Webs on Friday afternoon, the rest of the crowd was trickling in. We did show and tell and had some great laughs, but for me the fun didn't really start until I hooked up with Anya at lunch on Saturday. I really enjoyed her company. We went on a quick tour of downtown Lenox and had fun wine tasting, then we went for a walk in Kennedy park with Leslie and Debbie. The glare in the knitting room was pretty intense, so it was hard to get good pictures, but here's my best shot:

this is Anya and Leslie. Another great tidbit:Anya successfully managed to teach me how to knit continental! Woo Hoo!
this is Debbie and her Mom, Nancy. Debbie is one lucky pup...she has all sorts of knitting from her Mom.

One thing I'm leaving out. Anya and I, on our trip downtown, also visited Colorful Stitches. At first, I didn't really see anything that knocked me over. Then I found this:

which is SO completely my colors...so, I emptied my wallet again to get enough to make a pullover. I planned on starting this Sunday morning at the retreat's "New Beginnings", which is where you start a project just for yourself, but after Anya taught me how to knit continental, I wanted to practice that for a while so my tension is good. So, I'm knitting a scarf for now, but I can't wait to get started on this project.

Finally, on my way out, I did manage to get some good pictures of something other than yarn or knitters. This is Seven Hills Inn, where we had the retreat: This is the view from right outside my door.

And this is Tanglewood.