The Good Stuff in Petoskey

It's been a couple of weeks since I wrote about my disastrous return from Petoskey, and I really should talk about the actual Jane Thornley workshop/retreat, which was wonderful. Upon arrival at the historic Perry Hotel, I checked in and went to our workshop room where I was greeted with the sight of 3 long tables loaded with Mango Moon yarns to choose for our projects. What an embarrassment of riches.

After looking at the samples of Jane's designs, I decided on the Raj Vest, and began choosing yarns accordingly. Other participants were making various versions of the Feather & Fan Organic Wrap, as well as other Jane Thornley designs.  After a lovely buffet dinner, most of us went back to the workroom to wind our yarns into balls, aided by Jane's husband John (dubbed by Jane "the Hairy Legged Swift" because he willingly and very ably can transform a hank of yarn into a usable ball).


The following 3 days were filled with knitting, learning, and socializing, not to mention eating well, which we did a lot of: Breakfasts and Lunches provided on site at the hotel, and Dinners out at a different restaurant every night. It was a fabulous experience, one which most of us are planning on repeating; it's just a question of when - September 2011 or 2012.

Many of the women there (BTW, did I mention that some spouses were also in attendance, they went their own way while we were knitting, but joined us for meals) actually finished or were close to finishing the projects they started there. Not I; I'm a slow worker, but here are pictures of one front and the back of my vest. You will note that they appear somewhat different, I've been testing 2 different sets of ribbons threading through the openwork. I've already decided which I'll use, but what do you think?

Petosky to Tucson, the Long Way/Wrong Way Home: The Saga of my return from Knitting Under a Mango Moon

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Well, I’m stuck at O’Hare Airport for 4 hours, continuing what has been a really lousy day. It started out OK, had breakfast with the other participants of the Jane Thornley Workshop/Retreat, said our goodbyes, and went back up to my room to finish packing. Unfortunately, by the time I finished and took my luggage down to load up the rental car, it was pouring. I had planned on a leisurely drive to the Traverse City airport (the first leg of my journey home), stopping along the way to take pictures of the magnificent Fall foliage. But that was not to be. It rained heavily and continuously all the way. So much so that I not only couldn’t stop, but ended up at the airport without having filled the gas tank, which was what I had contracted to do. So there was an extra charge for that.

I then had the worst experience ever at the security check-in, where they had me take almost everything out of my carryon luggage, including the C-PAP machine. None of this had been required at the Tucson airport when I started on my trip. (Thank goodness for that!) Then, in contrast to the 6 or 8 passengers on the way out, this puddle-jumper was quite full,

I arrived in Chicago to find that my flight to Dallas was delayed; enough that it was questionable whether I would make my connecting flight to Tucson. Which is how I find myself with 4 hours to kill; I’m now on a direct flight to Tucson, but it doesn’t leave till 6:35 (as opposed to my original 3:25 flight.) 

So I went and had a leisurely meal, and figured I’d spend the rest of the time going online. But to my surprise, I can’t connect to the internet; the free airport WiFi doesn’t seem to be working on my computer. So here I sit, composing this on Word, instead of directly on my blog, and instead of checking email and Ravelry, etcetera, etcetera.

*******************************************

Friday, September 24, 2010

I started this post yesterday in the airport, while waiting for my last flight of the day, but got interrupted by a new glitch. As I mentioned, I had changed to a direct flight from Chicago to Tucson instead of changing planes in Dallas. Little did I know that the 4 hour layover was going to stretch out to 8 ½ hours.

When boarding time approached, it was announced that our plane was inoperable, and we were switching to another at Gate 3 (the gate for my original flight) and a long walk from Gate 15 where we were. After waiting for the new plane to land and the passengers to get off, we then had to wait for the usual cleanup and maintenance before boarding. My mind is a bit foggy at this point, and I don’t remember how long all that took, but it was at least 8:00 before we boarded. Once we were on board, we sat and sat, until they finally announced that there had been an oil spill on the tarmac and we had to wait till it was cleaned up. Long story somewhat shorter, once they cleaned up as much as they could, all the international flights had priority. And by the time we were able to take off, it was around 11:00pm Chicago time.

By the time I got back to Tucson, retrieved my luggage and picked up my car, which I had parked at the airport, it was around 1am, and 1:30 when I pulled into my garage.  Allowing for crossing a couple of time zones, I was en route 17 or 18 hours or so. 

NOT an experience I would recommend.

Back to Fiber

I'm still putting in a lot of time on the torch, perfecting my technique, and trying out new styles. But I haven't been neglecting my fiber arts. Since my last post, I've finished 3 more projects:

 

 1000 Branches Vest

 Hyundai, Here I Come

and

A River Runs Through It

 Which was originally named Denim Does It All, until one of the members of the Jane Thornley group on Ravelry said that it looked like a river flowing; and a new title was born.

It's the beginning of the month, so I have my 2 Afghan Squares to do for the 2010 CAL/BAM, 

and a few other WIPs to finish. I'll report on my progress as it occurs.

Beads on Parade

Now that I'm back into working with glass again, it's gratifying that my work has been so well received. I'm still playing around, to see how my style will evolve. But in the meantime, I have a sizable backlog of beads from when I was doing shows. These comprise 5 categories of beads:

Butterflies

Hearts

Shells

Leaves

and Large Hollows

These are just samples of the types of beads I have available right now. For other images, prices, and information, email me at audrie@comcast.net

Welcome to my new Glass Studio

My new glass studio is up and running, and I've been working in it most days, trying to get my skills back to what they used to be. I'd say my efforts meet with success about half the time, and the other half is definitely a learning experience. I'm not sure if my problem is that my small motor skills are not what they use to be, or my eye-hand coordination; but I suspect that part of the problem is control of the flame. It used to be intuitive, but doesn't appear to be right now. I think tomorrow, I will try my other torch and see if there's any difference. In the meantime, you're welcome to join me in a tour of the studio.