After a Fabulous Knitting Girls Weekend...

I am still a bit tired...

Pixie and I had a fab-fun weekend at the Plying the Arts Festival in Athens, GA.

I booked two classes for Saturday - but the morning class "Indigo Dyeing" (which was actually the one I really was looking forward to) got cancelled. So, I hung out with Pixie in her spinning class and started my Debbie Bliss 100% silk tank top.


OHHH, how yummy that yarn is. So, here is Pixie balling some yarn she just spun on her drop spindle:


She actually bought that spindle the morning of the class. I am so glad other people are as crazy as I am. ;-) We had only 5 minutes to cruise the halls before class to buy something. :-)

Her spinning teacher, Heather, was very knowledgeable and so nice to let me sit in on her class and keep Pixie company. It was very interesting to listen to Heather talk about all the different sheep breeds. I, of course, had no idea about any of the historical background. Very intersting - I learned a bunch!

Naturally, we met a bunch of the usual suspects after class:


From left to right: Pixie, me, Sandy & Jane (Photo courtesy of Mouse)

During our lunch break, I got to shop a little. When I got home yesterday, I realized I did not buy that much. But what I bought is going to be my downfall. Take a look:


This spindle is from Wooden Ewe - 3/4 oz - and I just love the colors. So, this is how good a spinner I am. I bought my first drop spindle because I like the colors. ROFL!!! But Pixie was with me as consultant and said it's a good one. I also made her promise not to teach me how to spin until I got my Xmas gifts all knitted. Otherwise I will really be doomed and not knit anything anymore. I know me... So, if you see me somewhere playing with my spindle, take it away and don't give it back until December. ;-) BTW - interestingly the German word for spindle is "Spindel".

And I bought dyes - Indigo and Acid Colors - Aztek Gold, Crimson, Violet and Pink:


After lunch, Pixie and I separated for the afternoon classes. I went to my "Naturally Color" dyeing workshop. Boy-oh-boy... That sure is complicated. Don't think that you simply need one ingredient and hot water. OH NO! At some point my brain just stopped and I was not able to follow the changes of pH and what our teacher, Paula Vester, poured into the pots to make the color changes. Oh well - there must be some blonde in me after all. It probably doesn't help that I was terrible at chemistry at school. Thankfully, Paula gave us a very nice handout for the workshop with recipes and a ton of helpful information. I'll have to read it again more carefully, but I truly enjoyed her workshop. Here is some of what the class did:






We had three pots going at the same time and every student got to play around with 10-12 samples of roving or yarn.

Paula changed the dyes several times. Here you can see her adding Indigo:


And here is some of the roving one of the women brought for this workshop after dyeing. Isn't it gorgeous?


And here is what I did. I used the new line of Knitpicks yarn called Bare, 100% Peruvian Wool (3-3.75 sts/1" on #10-11 needles). I cut up a whole hank of 137 yards into 10 samples. I'll probably use it to make a little felted clutch.


Pretty, huh? Like a little rainbow. Not to gross you out too much, but one of the dyes was made from crushed bugs - YIKES...

After the afternoon session was over, Pixie and I headed to our posh little inn to check in. We stayed at the Foundry Inn, a very cute historic hotel pretty much in the center of Athens. Before unloading - we girls were starving - we went back out and found a great sushi place. Pixie is studying the menu:


Since I am 12 years Pixie's senior, I got to drink a Cosmopolitan and she got a Shirley Temple. That's just fair. ;-)

We made it back to the hotel just before an incredible thunderstorm hit. Very, very lucky. This is the view from our hotel room. Looks like a little downpour, doesn't it?


We both napped for a little and then got ready to go to a Wild West Party at The 40 Watt Club. And since it was a Wild West Party, we got dressed up like some Yee-Haws. And we met some other knitting bloggers - very cool, they are everywhere. ;-) Anne Marie invited us over to her house before the party. And she actually picked us up at the hotel - super nice!!!!!

Here are the knitters at the Wild West Party:


Left to right: Moi, Anne Marie, Pixie, Carrie & Courtney
(Photo is courtesy of Courtney's blog)

And this is Courtney and me in the bathroom - freshening up:


Sorry for the poopy quality... You know how it is with bad lighting and a couple of beers. ;-)

It was a fun party but, man, am I getting old. I was pretty, pretty, pretty tired when my head hit the pillow back at the hotel. And I was pretty, pretty, pretty happy to see hubby and the pooches on Sunday afternoon. A girls' weekend out is awesome, but I sure like to come home to my darlings. :-) They seemed to miss me, too. Hubby said the dogs wouldn't come to the bedroom when he went to bed Saturday night, but hung out in the hall - waiting for Mommy to come home... But eventually they figured it out and joined him in the bedroom. AW-W-W-W - such sweeties.


I need to go and get some sleep now. See y'all in a little while.
Z-z-z-z-z-z....