Preparing for the fall retreat

Good morning and happy Saturday! In less than seven weeks, a total of thirty six guys will converge at Easton Mountain for the second North East Men’s Fall Knitting Retreat. We filled all the remaining spots, the agendas and personal information for all of the attendees is being finalized, roster, name tags, and bag buttons printed, and the Saturday field trip to the Adirondack Wool and Arts Festival is set.

It may seem like too far off to even think about packing. For most of the guys attending the retreat, that would be true. For myself and Joe Wilcox, who put together this and the spring retreat, the packing started long ago, or maybe it never ends. I’m not sure which. Continue reading “Preparing for the fall retreat”

Paying it forward/enabling

Good morning and happy Saturday! It has been the perfect summer for having a pool. It has also been the perfect summer for doing very little knitting, and I know it has been at least a couple of months since I have done any serious spinning. Yes, Jade is the reason for that and not entirely because her crate is in my craft room. I have been through shenanigans with mischievous pharaoh hounds and Italian greyhounds before so I do my best to protect my stuff. Even when I think I’m keeping the dogs well supervised too, a split second is all it takes to undo a lot of hard work.

Continue reading “Paying it forward/enabling”

Slow progress is still progress, right?

Good morning and happy Saturday! Is it hot enough for you? If it isn’t right now, it will be. I have nothing important on my plate today Because of the temperatures and humidity we are expecting. If we go anywhere, it will be to the farmer’s market with the girls. Not that we necessarily need anything as I’m not entirely sure I’m even cooking outside today, but Jade definitely needs some more leash experience and socialization.

Since it is going to be a mostly inside day, I want to focus on getting this dog sweater finished. Up until now, all the changes I have made to the pattern based on updated measurements for its recipient have been working out. Continue reading “Slow progress is still progress, right?”

I was singing with my brothers, I was singing with my friends

Good morning and happy Saturday! Last week I wrote a bit about the Men’s Spring Knitting Retreat and I referred to the guys with whom I had the great pleasure of attending this retreat with as my brothers. That term applies to every guy at every retreat, not just the most recent one, and not just the guys who come back year after year. This week, I promised to write more about my experience with the Albany Gay Men’s Chorus and many of the same words I used to describe my knitting retreat experiences apply to the chorus as well.

A year and a half ago I took a big step outside of my comfort zone when I joined the Albany Gay Men’s Chorus, and wrote about my experience right before the first spring concert I performed in with the chorus. Here we are now a year later and I not only survived that spring concert, I survived the winter concert as well. Now my second spring concert with the chorus is next weekend. Continue reading “I was singing with my brothers, I was singing with my friends”

I was knitting with my brothers, I was knitting with my friends

Good morning and happy Saturday! It has been two weeks since the Men’s Spring Knitting Retreat and it is now two weeks until the Albany Gay Men’s Chorus spring concert. The title of this post is a play on a line from the song “Will The Circle Be Unbroken” which is one of the songs we will be performing. I thought the altered words appropriate. I am amazed by the knowledge and talent so willingly shared by the men in both groups and I am grateful for the opportunity to be a part of both. Next week’s post will be more about the chorus, and this week there will be mostly pictures from the knitting retreat. Continue reading “I was knitting with my brothers, I was knitting with my friends”

Retreat Excitement!

Good morning and happy Saturday! In just a few hours, at 10:00 AM, registration for the second Northeast Men’s Fall Knitting Retreat will open. Last year’s fall retreat was an incredible success. Registration opened at about the same time in May and was kind of slow. We were weren’t sure what to expect as the spring retreat sells out in minutes after registration opens. We were still selling rooms for the first fall retreat right up to about three weeks before the event, so I am very interested to see if that is different this year. Continue reading “Retreat Excitement!”

Re-Plying Pride

Good morning and happy Saturday! Some time ago I spun and plied this lovely blend of merino and nylon from Mad Color Fiber Arts that I bought a couple-ish years ago at the Massachusetts Sheep and Woolcraft Fair. I had two 4oz braids that each became a 2ply skein measuring between 560 and 590 yards. When I had finished plying both skeins and both had been soaked and dried, what I thought was a sufficient amount of ply twist was clearly not. Continue reading “Re-Plying Pride”

Fiber fun for everyone next weekend on the Washington County Fiber Tour!

Good morning and happy Saturday! It is gray and wet and dreary this morning and it looks like it will be that way for the rest of the day. Perfect knitting weather. I have irises and day lilies that I want to dig up and move, roses I want to dig up and move, and a small vegetable garden that will be moving too. The ground where that is going needs to be prepared first, and I need to either borrow a roto-tiller or rent one for a day from wherever I can. None of that is likely to get done today though. Other than a couple of vehicular wellness appointments and a dog groomer appointment, my day will be spent mostly at home and I have plenty of fun fiber projects to occupy my time here. Continue reading “Fiber fun for everyone next weekend on the Washington County Fiber Tour!”