Friday, September 16, 2011

Knitting Under a Mango Moon II

I just returned from Petoskey, MI, and Knitting Under a Mango Moon II, a FreeRange workshop/retreat sponsored by Mango Moon Yarns, and led by Jane Thornley.  It was just as wonderful as last year; many familiar faces, and some new ones, as well. And while my final flight returning home yesterday was delayed a bit, it was nowhere near the terrible experience I went through on my return last year, see Petosky to Tucson, the Long Way/Wrong Way Home: The Saga of my return from Knitting Under a Mango Moon


The first sight that greeted us upon entering the Knitting Room on Sunday afternoon was this:



Besides all the yarn shown in the video, there were also 2 round tables of sale yarns. What a fantastic beginning to a great workshop.  Having all that yarn right there at our fingertips was great when we reached a point in our projects where we needed another yarn or two. But the problem, of course, was that having all that yarn right at our disposal was very tempting; most of us ended up buying far more than we needed for the projects we were doing at the workshop. But of course, there will always be more projects awaiting us when we return home.

Along with the wonderful workshop itself, we had great breakfasts and lunches in the charming, historic Perry Hotel (which is where we stayed). And terrific dinners at restaurants in 3 neighboring towns. All in all, we had everything we needed right there at our beck and call.

The projects ranged from Jane's Not-A-Poncho to the Forest Flow Vest, and other patterns from Jane's latest guide, Branches & Dunes Evocative Guide, which introduced us to a fascinating and addicting new stitch. I opted to do the Forest Flow Vest; this is the first side:


 Here we all are, showing off our works in progress: