Chronicles of a yarn farmer, shepherdess, and fiber geek!

Chronicles of a yarn farmer, shepherdess, and fiber geek!

June 26, 2010

Fibre Week 2010 - Day 1

Well, actually it's day two because I arrived yesterday (Friday), but today was the first day of class. The trek up here was pretty long from Lansing (MI) to Olds (Alberta) with a four hour wait in Chicago. And always having something to do at the last minute, I spent the time on the flight from Chicago to Calgary winding and tying my 25 sample skeins of yarn for Monday morning's class. Tying each skein in four places is pretty time consuming so I figured I'd get it done on the plane. Here's a pic:

Yea, I got a few odd looks from people (but I'm used to that LOL). And no one was in the seat next to me so I had a lot of elbow room. Then while I'm deep in thought and tying away on my skeins I hear someone say "Are you heading up to Fibre Week? I figured as much by the skein work you're doing." It was Sharon Costello, a very well know felt maker from New York who is teaching felt making classes here all week. Great fiber people can always spot other fiber people in a crowd.

But I finally arrived, it was a very pleasant 65 degrees, got settled in, bought groceries for the week, unpacked, and finally got a good nights sleep. Woke up to a very chilly morning but it warmed up and ended up to be absolutely beautiful.

Today's class was a sock knitting class taught by Cat Bordhi. Cat is a world renown knitter, author, designer, and an excellent teacher. Our flights arrived in Calgary at the same time so we rode in the shuttle van to Olds along with Sharon Costello. Just chatting with and listening to Cat and Sharon was wonderful. Listening to their views on different aspects of the fiber world and getting to know them was very inspiring. I have to honestly say that when I've seen Cat's books in the local yarn shops around home I wasn't that keen on delving into her way of knitting socks. But when I saw her on the schedule as the keynote speaker and guest teacher, I thought this would be the best time to take one of her classes. All I can say is "Sock it to me"! Wow, she is awesome and has made me think differently about socks, knitting, spinning, and designing patterns. I bought all of her books from the vendors and I may never have to knit a gusset again! Whoooo-hoooo!
(Cat demonstrating how a stitch behaves)

(Cat teaching a group a cast on method)

Tomorrow's class is Wool Judging 2 (I took WJ1 last year) so I'll be up to my elbows in raw wool...ooo, I love the smell of raw wool...I know it's weird but I can't help it. I can't wait!

Oh, and yoga and massage starts tomorrow and runs through Wednesday. I signed up for it everyday, so yoga every morning, then class, then massage. I'm livin' the life!


1 comment:

Becky Utecht said...

Oh I'm so jealuous! What a great opportunity for you Carol. Enjoy the week! And keep us posted.