Knitting Camp 2007 report LONG

This was my 3rd year attending, and this year it was held in Fort Collins.
Some of you will know that Fort Collins and Lambspun yarn shop are the
background to Maggie Sefton's knitting mystery novels. She has renamed Fort
Collins to Fort Connor and Lambspun is The House of Lambspun.



The day (Tuesday July 10) I flew into Denver didn't start out well. Our
plane was 2 ½ hours late leaving the airport.. However, that said, the
course instructor made my day look like a picnic in the park. She was
flying in from Chicago (I think).. her flight was cancelled, and somehow she
ended up in Dallas. She had to overnight on a cot (!) in the airport and
was "hit on" by a bus driver while there. Sheesh. When she finally arrived
at our hotel on Wednesday night, her luggage was off somewhere else. The
next day, during the classes she often referred to her luggage as being "on
the beach in Hawaii". At least she still had her sense of humour.



Our classes this year were on Fair Isle, and I learned so much! I also
learned that it's unlikely I'll ever knit a Fair Isle sweater. I managed to
learn to knit with my left hand (yay!) so that I could do two colour
stranding with a colour in each hand. I felt like a kid just learning to
knit. I also learned to steek! I definitely got my money's worth on this
course. I found out I have no talent for picking colours and was truly
amazed at the people that were so good at it.



We enjoyed our instructor (Candace Eisner Strick) so much she has been
invited back next year to conduct classes in lace shawls with or without
beading. This course will be right up my alley, since I love knitting lace.



One of the participants on the course was Peggy Jo Wells, the Vice-President
of Brown Sheep yarn. As Mary Pat said earlier, Peggy was a treasure trove
of information on yarn. And, a lovely person too!



The morning after my arrival my two "partners in crime", Mary Pat, Barbara
and I were off on a yarn crawl. Pure heaven! We went to Lambspun, where I
ended up buying an Alice Starmore book "Fishermen's Sweaters". After
Lambspun, we were off to another fab yarn store called "My Sister Knits".
This store is located in the carriage house behind the owner's residence.
It's very cozy and friendly. While there I picked up a skein of hand
painted mohair/silk blend in a soft pink/apple green combo. This was very
pricey and I only bought it because I was on vacation (grin). It will
likely become a lacey scarf.



Mary Pat & I have a little thing where we exchange a little gift every year,
since this is the only time we are able to meet up in person. She gave me a
lovely book called "Wrapped in Comfort" - a book on lace shawls. It also
has a couple of patterns for some lovely scarves. Also included was a
coffee mug with a picture of yarn on it, as well as this saying "Great Yarns
Knit Friends Together". Stuffed in the mug was a set of needle holders for
my sock dpns.



Almost every night we all went out for dinner, usually to Fort Collins
re-energized downtown area. Some of you might be familiar with Austin's and
the Rio Grande.



I hated to leave, but all good things must come to an end. Luckily I had
made a new friend who is also from Manitoba, and on the same flight going
home. It helped the hours spent waiting at the airport fly by.



However, we were in our little puddlejumper plane, ready to push back from
the gate, when the pilot informed us we had a bald spot on our nosewheel
tire. It took them 15 to 20 minutes to change it, but I was glad they had
found it - who wants your nosewheel tire to blow out on landing?? Not me.
Our landing in Winnipeg was smooth, and I was back in the real world, left
to dream about camp next year. (smile).



Shelagh

Shillelagh wrote:
I hated to leave, but all good things must come to an end. Luckily I
had made a new friend who is also from Manitoba, and on the same
flight going home. It helped the hours spent waiting at the airport
fly by.

Sounds like a wonderful and I love the books...reading about your gift
exchange brought a tear to my eye....it's a blessing to have and meet
friends.

Donna

On Jul 19, 4:36 pm, "Shillelagh" wrote:
This was my 3rd year attending, and this year it was held in Fort Collins.

snip

Sounds like you had a great time, Shelagh! One of these days, I will
go
to one of these, I promise!

Higs,
Katherine

Thank you Shelagh , i was never to a Knitting Camp thus i read it with
interest ,,,,
I never read nore saw any of this writer books ??? how are they called
????
The instructor`s story reminds me of the joke about the man coming
into the airfield with 3 bags!!!! he says that one should be sent to
Rome , one to TelAviv and one to Africa , the woman at the desk says
it is impossible to do that ,,,,, the man says 'WHY , last year I
didn`t ask for it and YOU DID IT ,,,, why can`t you do it when i ask
for it ???? "


We enjoyed our instructor (Candace Eisner Strick)
Is that HER REAL NAME ????? STRICK [=knit in GERMAN ] ????


Mary Pat & I have a little thing where we exchange a little gift every year,
since this is the only time we are able to meet up in person.
GREAT idea,,,,,


Shelagh
Thank you thank you for this lovely details
mirjam

"Mirjam Bruck-Cohen" wrote in message
...
Thank you Shelagh , i was never to a Knitting Camp thus i read it with
interest ,,,,
You're welcome Mirjam. It's wonderful to get together with other women who
share my passion for knitting!

I never read nore saw any of this writer books ??? how are they called
????

Here's a link to some information about her in her website. You can see her
designs there too:

http://www.strickwear.com/teaching.shtml

If you Google her name, you'll come up with 19,800 hits.

We enjoyed our instructor (Candace Eisner Strick)
Is that HER REAL NAME ????? STRICK [=knit in GERMAN ] ????

Yes, that's her real name. I'm assuming her maiden name is Eisner (she did
say she is Jewish, and had lots of cute jokes about it) and her last
name(Strick) is her husband's name.

Thank you thank you for this lovely details

I'm glad you enjoyed reading it. ;)
Shelagh

"Mirjam Bruck-Cohen" wrote in message
...

I never read nore saw any of this writer books ??? how are they called

I finally found a good listing of her books at Amazon. Go he
http://tinyurl.com/29d8fb

Shelagh

And, now that you can strand with both hands, that opens up a whole range
of stranding techniques that you can now do expeditiously. "Fair Isle" (and
other stranding techniques) knitting is much faster, and easier, if you use
a knitting pouch or knitting sheath. There really are reasons why
professional knitters in the Shetlands still use these tools.

Color is color. You can get help from local artists, yarn shops,
photographers, books on color theory in the library, local art teachers in
your local community . . . And the ugly truth is that many old Fair Isle
garments had really ugly color combinations that we now accept as charming
because of their . . . . . . Well, we now accept them as charming.

*You can also do a very nice Fair Isle by using strands of striped or
painted yarn, and just starting the left hand and the right hand at
different colors - that puts the color choice on the person that designed
the striped yarns.*

Some of those patterns are just gorgeous when done in a few simple colors
that always go together. I am doing a sampler of Fair Isle patterns in a
simple palette of navy, scarlet, and white. I think it is gorgeous. Is it
authentic? Not really! After all, who ever heard of Fair Isle knitted up out
of Texas Frog Hair? G


Aaron



"Shillelagh" wrote in message
...
This was my 3rd year attending, and this year it was held in Fort Collins.
Some of you will know that Fort Collins and Lambspun yarn shop are the
background to Maggie Sefton's knitting mystery novels. She has renamed
Fort
Collins to Fort Connor and Lambspun is The House of Lambspun.



The day (Tuesday July 10) I flew into Denver didn't start out well. Our
plane was 2 ½ hours late leaving the airport.. However, that said, the
course instructor made my day look like a picnic in the park. She was
flying in from Chicago (I think).. her flight was cancelled, and somehow
she
ended up in Dallas. She had to overnight on a cot (!) in the airport and
was "hit on" by a bus driver while there. Sheesh. When she finally
arrived
at our hotel on Wednesday night, her luggage was off somewhere else. The
next day, during the classes she often referred to her luggage as being
"on
the beach in Hawaii". At least she still had her sense of humour.



Our classes this year were on Fair Isle, and I learned so much! I also
learned that it's unlikely I'll ever knit a Fair Isle sweater. I managed
to
learn to knit with my left hand (yay!) so that I could do two colour
stranding with a colour in each hand. I felt like a kid just learning to
knit. I also learned to steek! I definitely got my money's worth on this
course. I found out I have no talent for picking colours and was truly
amazed at the people that were so good at it.



We enjoyed our instructor (Candace Eisner Strick) so much she has been
invited back next year to conduct classes in lace shawls with or without
beading. This course will be right up my alley, since I love knitting
lace.



One of the participants on the course was Peggy Jo Wells, the
Vice-President
of Brown Sheep yarn. As Mary Pat said earlier, Peggy was a treasure trove
of information on yarn. And, a lovely person too!



The morning after my arrival my two "partners in crime", Mary Pat, Barbara
and I were off on a yarn crawl. Pure heaven! We went to Lambspun, where
I
ended up buying an Alice Starmore book "Fishermen's Sweaters". After
Lambspun, we were off to another fab yarn store called "My Sister Knits".
This store is located in the carriage house behind the owner's residence.
It's very cozy and friendly. While there I picked up a skein of hand
painted mohair/silk blend in a soft pink/apple green combo. This was very
pricey and I only bought it because I was on vacation (grin). It will
likely become a lacey scarf.



Mary Pat & I have a little thing where we exchange a little gift every
year,
since this is the only time we are able to meet up in person. She gave me
a
lovely book called "Wrapped in Comfort" - a book on lace shawls. It also
has a couple of patterns for some lovely scarves. Also included was a
coffee mug with a picture of yarn on it, as well as this saying "Great
Yarns
Knit Friends Together". Stuffed in the mug was a set of needle holders
for
my sock dpns.



Almost every night we all went out for dinner, usually to Fort Collins
re-energized downtown area. Some of you might be familiar with Austin's
and
the Rio Grande.



I hated to leave, but all good things must come to an end. Luckily I had
made a new friend who is also from Manitoba, and on the same flight going
home. It helped the hours spent waiting at the airport fly by.



However, we were in our little puddlejumper plane, ready to push back from
the gate, when the pilot informed us we had a bald spot on our nosewheel
tire. It took them 15 to 20 minutes to change it, but I was glad they had
found it - who wants your nosewheel tire to blow out on landing?? Not me.
Our landing in Winnipeg was smooth, and I was back in the real world, left
to dream about camp next year. (smile).



Shelagh

Enjoyed your camp story. There's no question that you had a good time -
just like the little kids going to summer camp, :-)

--
Jan in MN

"Shillelagh" wrote...
This was my 3rd year attending, and this year it was held in Fort Collins.
Some of you will know that Fort Collins and Lambspun yarn shop are the
background to Maggie Sefton's knitting mystery novels. She has renamed
Fort
Collins to Fort Connor and Lambspun is The House of Lambspun.



The day (Tuesday July 10) I flew into Denver didn't start out well. Our
plane was 2 ½ hours late leaving the airport.. However, that said, the
course instructor made my day look like a picnic in the park. She was
flying in from Chicago (I think).. her flight was cancelled, and somehow
she
ended up in Dallas. She had to overnight on a cot (!) in the airport and
was "hit on" by a bus driver while there. Sheesh. When she finally
arrived
at our hotel on Wednesday night, her luggage was off somewhere else. The
next day, during the classes she often referred to her luggage as being
"on
the beach in Hawaii". At least she still had her sense of humour.



Our classes this year were on Fair Isle, and I learned so much! I also
learned that it's unlikely I'll ever knit a Fair Isle sweater. I managed
to
learn to knit with my left hand (yay!) so that I could do two colour
stranding with a colour in each hand. I felt like a kid just learning to
knit. I also learned to steek! I definitely got my money's worth on this
course. I found out I have no talent for picking colours and was truly
amazed at the people that were so good at it.



We enjoyed our instructor (Candace Eisner Strick) so much she has been
invited back next year to conduct classes in lace shawls with or without
beading. This course will be right up my alley, since I love knitting
lace.



One of the participants on the course was Peggy Jo Wells, the
Vice-President
of Brown Sheep yarn. As Mary Pat said earlier, Peggy was a treasure trove
of information on yarn. And, a lovely person too!



The morning after my arrival my two "partners in crime", Mary Pat, Barbara
and I were off on a yarn crawl. Pure heaven! We went to Lambspun, where
I
ended up buying an Alice Starmore book "Fishermen's Sweaters". After
Lambspun, we were off to another fab yarn store called "My Sister Knits".
This store is located in the carriage house behind the owner's residence.
It's very cozy and friendly. While there I picked up a skein of hand
painted mohair/silk blend in a soft pink/apple green combo. This was very
pricey and I only bought it because I was on vacation (grin). It will
likely become a lacey scarf.



Mary Pat & I have a little thing where we exchange a little gift every
year,
since this is the only time we are able to meet up in person. She gave me
a
lovely book called "Wrapped in Comfort" - a book on lace shawls. It also
has a couple of patterns for some lovely scarves. Also included was a
coffee mug with a picture of yarn on it, as well as this saying "Great
Yarns
Knit Friends Together". Stuffed in the mug was a set of needle holders
for
my sock dpns.



Almost every night we all went out for dinner, usually to Fort Collins
re-energized downtown area. Some of you might be familiar with Austin's
and
the Rio Grande.



I hated to leave, but all good things must come to an end. Luckily I had
made a new friend who is also from Manitoba, and on the same flight going
home. It helped the hours spent waiting at the airport fly by.



However, we were in our little puddlejumper plane, ready to push back from
the gate, when the pilot informed us we had a bald spot on our nosewheel
tire. It took them 15 to 20 minutes to change it, but I was glad they had
found it - who wants your nosewheel tire to blow out on landing?? Not me.
Our landing in Winnipeg was smooth, and I was back in the real world, left
to dream about camp next year. (smile).



Shelagh

Mirjam Bruck-Cohen wrote:
Thank you Shelagh , i was never to a Knitting Camp thus i read it with
interest ,,,,
I never read nore saw any of this writer books ??? how are they called
????
The instructor`s story reminds me of the joke about the man coming
into the airfield with 3 bags!!!! he says that one should be sent to
Rome , one to TelAviv and one to Africa , the woman at the desk says
it is impossible to do that ,,,,, the man says 'WHY , last year I
didn`t ask for it and YOU DID IT ,,,, why can`t you do it when i ask
for it ???? "

We enjoyed our instructor (Candace Eisner Strick)
Is that HER REAL NAME ????? STRICK [=knit in GERMAN ] ????

Mary Pat & I have a little thing where we exchange a little gift every year,
since this is the only time we are able to meet up in person.
GREAT idea,,,,,

Shelagh
Thank you thank you for this lovely details
mirjam


Mirjam, I just sent this joke to my sis- who just "blackberry'd" me that
she was sitting in traffic and just found out her hour-long flight has
been delayd two hours!

Spampot may your sister have a safe flight !!!!!
mirjam

What does Blackberrying mean ????



Mirjam, I just sent this joke to my sis- who just "blackberry'd" me that
she was sitting in traffic and just found out her hour-long flight has
been delayd two hours!