Enjoying my vacation.

Well, I'm back from the AKG retreat at The Mountain. We had mostly wonderful weather this year. The drive up on Friday was clear. Saturday I arose to a beautiful sunrise. It was so sunny and nice we were able to knit outside on the large deck for a while in the afternoon. Sunday we awoke to fog, which gradually turned to drizzle, and then fairly heavy rain by evening. There was even a bit of thunder and lightning. It was a great day to be by the fire in the logde and knit. I got quite a bit done that day. Before midnight, the clouds cleared and the moon and stars were back out. Monday again we had a beautiful sunrise, and perfect weather for the drive home. The week-end passed by much too quickly, and I'm already counting the days 'til next years retreat.

Me and a few of the guys did make it into Franklin on Saturday to visit a LYS called Silver Threads & Golden Needles. It was a great little shop, and probably the first time there were ever FIVE male knitters in there at one time. The main room housed all the yarn, and there was quite a bit of luxury yarn to be had. (quiviut, bison, cashmere, angora, silk, etc...) There was a second, smaller room for weaving, and yet another room for needlepoint. The owner was very nice, and seemed genuinely happy to see all of us. It's definitely worth the stop if you find yourself in or near Franklin, NC. I did find one little treasure while I was there that I had never seen before. It is from Zitron, a German yarn company, and it's called Unikat. It is not twisted, or spun, but lightly felted instead. I recognized the colorway (#6, Earth), because we carry the pencil roving at Knitch from the same company. It's a bulky yarn and knits up at 12 stitches per 4 inches on size 10 1/2 - 11 needles. You get 175 yds. in 100 grams, and it runs right around $25 per skein. (Coming soon to Knitch!) I fell in love with the colors! I think it's probably going to become a hat.

I did get quite a bit of knitting done. I only brought two projects with me this year, and only worked on one of them. I cast on for Jared Flood's Cobblestone pullover. I'm using Debbie Bliss aran tweed in a beautiful blue with purple and rust flecks.

I knitted up five balls worth of yarn while I was there, and polished off a sixth one last night. It's a very easy knit, and hopefully it will look good on me. Apparently this style of sweater looks good on a wide range of body types. I'm sure I won't looks as good as Jared, or the model in Interweave Knits. I guess I need to send away for some of that magic yarn from Mrs. Weasley!

Not sure what I'm going to do with the rest of my week off. I need a haircut. It's starting to go a bit shaggy on me. I haven't had it cut since last fall. I like the new longer length, but it needs a trim. There are a couple of movies I want to check out this week, and I have a free two week pass to a gym that is right across the street from where I work. I REALLY need to get back into that habit! and.......... Oh yeah! I do need to take a yarn inventory this week don't I? Of course, being the procrastinator that I am, I'm sure I will wait 'til Thursday to do it. I once tried to start a Yahoo group for procrastinators like myself, but no one ever got around to joining it. Oh well.........