Pinch Me - I Need to Wake Up!

Last weekend sure felt like a knitter's dream come true. Help me wake up, will ya?

How to describe the weekend in Pigeon Forge? This is what popped into my head:

SUPERCALIFRAGILISTICEXPIALIDOCIOUS
absolutely stunningly fantastic!!!
OK, OK, OK... Here is the less abridged version...

I met Jacquie on Friday morning at 7:30 am - the sun was just coming up:


And we got rolling. After about 4½ hours and only one wrong turn (which we figured out pretty quickly - because women ask for directions ;-)), we arrived at the cabin. Several warnings about traffic (because Pigeon Forge was hosting their major annual event that weekend - The Grand Fall Rod Run) did not come true. I guess we were lucky because we got there before noon. Other knitters were not so lucky and got badly stuck in traffic later on.

We knew that would be staying at a fabulous location - a $1½M cabin no less - but we did not know it would be like a 5-star hotel. OMG...

Here is some simply splendid sample scenic splendor for you...


The house (It’s not a cabin - if this is a cabin our house is a shed!) has a fabulous interior. The owners put a lot of work into it and everything looks like out of a western. Very cool.


I don’t care much for stuffed dead animals – I am too much a lover of living creatures – but they fit in with the rest of the house:


This is the living room on the first floor:


The cabin had six bedrooms, each of which had a bathroom. This is the master bedroom on the first floor which, if you can believe it, was unoccupied:


This is one of the two bedrooms on the second floor – with a queen size bed and bunk beds – how fun:


The second bedroom is a mirror of this one and it was already occupied, so I was nice and didn’t snoop around and take pictures. The two bedrooms were connected through a little sitting area on the balcony and also had a table for playing cards:


Jacquie and I stayed in one of the bedrooms in the basement. They are also a mirror of each other and connected through a living room with a pool table:


So, this is what we had to live in this weekend. One of the knitters said, very jokingly, that she truly had to lower her standards for this weekend – ha-ha-ha...

After we unpacked and got a tour through the town with our gracious and wonderful hosts, Leon and Sarah (the parents of the cabin owner), we settled down for some knitting. Actually, in my case not knitting but ripping. The evening before I screwed up a fairisle pattern at a SNB meeting – of course, I think I can knit that and chat and make no mistakes. Give me a new brain... So, Jacquie had to take a picture of me ripping. It sounded like it had to be documented for the afterworld because she could not imagine me ripping anything – think again Jacquie – I have done it too many times... And I am sure there is more ripping in my future... Comes with the territory – so here is pitiful me:


After that, I had to take a break, so I showed Leon – yes, he is a wonderful knitter, too – and Jacquie how to do Entrelac. Then, more knitters showed up around dinner time and Sarah prepared wonderful spaghetti and salad. We had way too much food this weekend. And wine. And Sangria (made from scratch). Boy-oh-boy...


Jacquie and Susan


Daye, Leon and Sarah
Saturday morning started with a sunrise, coffee from our French press and a first get-together for breakfast. Just fabulous, what more could you want?... I’d say all but two of the group – we were 11 – were morning people.


After breakfast, everybody whipped out some knitting and we settled ourselves throughout the living room and dining room:


Jacquie, Leon, Nicole & Stephanie


Jacquie – working on a felted purse


Susan, Daye & Marilyn
We even watched knitting videos – here is a snapshot from one that showed us how to knit a toe-up-sock:


It was a lot of fun and very relaxing. I am always amazed how a hobby can toss together people from so many different backgrounds and everybody gets along beautifully.

Saturday afternoon, Jacquie and I – guilt-ridden as we were from all the food – went for a good walk up and down the mountain and met an adorable puppy and her mommy:


Later on, the puppy somehow got separated from her mom and showed up on our porch. We gave her some water, then she took a nap, mostly on my lap. I could not take my hands off of that puppy - she was soooo cute-cute-cute:


Jacquie took some cool pictures which I have to get from her. Before dinner, we took the puppy for a ride to find the mom and their home. This was a bit tricky since, although the mom had a collar when we met her (but, of course, no tags), the puppy didn’t even have a collar. Duh – some people. So, we drove around and found somebody who knew where the puppy lived. We found the house and the mom, and talked a bit to the owner. I was pretty angry that she let the puppy get away but didn’t say anything. Especially after I heard the whole story – the woman took the mama dog in as a pregnant stray and she had a litter of ten. The woman found homes for the nine other puppies and is determined to find a good home for the last one. I would have taken the puppy home with me, but I was afraid Noah would have killed the puppy and hubby would have killed me. Since I'm not home much, he would have been stuck with all the puppy training and undoing her swath of destruction, and I know that's not fair.

So, you may ask, what have I knitted? I did knit, you know, despite all the eating and drinking. ;-) But I have no pictures of the knitting - yet... Be patient...

I finished all the pieces for the gnome. And I finished the front of the Menorah pillow. I also started on the scarf - again - but that's another story. I have two knitting projects from hell - more about that in the next post. I promise there will be more knitting pictures! SOON!

The drive home Sunday afternoon was very pleasant, and short - only 3½ hours. It was a gorgous afternoon as we drove through the Great Smoky Mountains...



... and into another sunset: