The hard part about traveling (aside from missing Gerry, the kids and Atticus & Shiloh) is the iffy wifi and internet connection.
I’ve been staying with friends, family, friends of family and family of friends, and I’ve been having a wonderful time! Visiting my alma mater, Denison University, was a lovely little side trip – I really enjoyed speaking with (and confusing) the students there.
A HUGE shout-out to Mary Ann (family, in absentia), Diana (& her wonderful veggie growin’ husband, friends of family!), Lisa & Ian (friends, in absentia, again…), and Sheryl (and her wonderful biking husband, family of friend!)
Staying with these folks, sometimes in an empty house, sometimes with good company, has made me feel a bit less lonely on the road, and I’m so grateful!
I stopped into the Big Apple Knitters Guild Presentation on Saturday on my way out to Long Island – I had, literally, 20 minutes to say “Hi!” to an old friend – and then drove out to Miller Place, Long Island.
There the lovely Darlinda of Knitters Knitche (you MUST stop by this shop, it has some wonderful yarns!) treated me, my hostess and a one of the wonderful students from my workshop to a delicious dinner and some very homey conversation. Thank you, DD!
My classes on Sunday were great – I had such a wonderful time, the students were so active and smart, and I really worked them hard! It’s always a delight to see the beauteous Arlene, and this time she had brand new colorized upper arms! Nice tats, A!
Entrelac can be mind-bending, but I’m feeling confident that most of the students had a very firm grasp of the technique by the time I’d run them through their paces. Thank you, ladies, for your VERY hard work! And thank you for putting up with my charted entrelac!
I drove to CT Sunday night and helped myself to a priceline room at the Hilton for $50. Cheap room, yes, but – in the way of the Hilton – wifi was $10 and my hamburger/beer cost more than I’d spend on dinner for my family at our local cheap dive.
I think I’m a cheap dive kind of gal. I thoroughly enjoyed my wonderful oatmeal / bacon / tea breakfast at Dimitri’s Diner in Ridgefield this morning – that’s just about my speed!
Today I was at the Ridgefield Library in Connecticut, teaching two classes to the Fairfield Machine Knitters Guild (a very fun and funny group of women!) and – once again – I worked folks hard.
I think I’m a bit like a trainer; if you pay to take a class with me, I don’t want you to go home feeling as if you haven’t sweated a teeny bit.
I don’t feel that I require mad knitting skills in my students as much as I like to encourage them – WHATEVER their level – to challenge themselves and find the knitter they’d like to be deep within their souls. Drop and cast on 20!
It’s my honest opinion that by taking your passion and pushing it a bit, you can discover new things about your self – and new ways to deal with stresses, disappointments, joys and challenges.
For folks like me, fiber is our passion (among other things) and I love to see the connections going off in my student’s minds as they realize how much power they have over their needle and yarn.
I’m price-lining it again tonight – this time I lucked out with a room at a beautiful Crowne Plaza in Middleburt, CT for $45/night, with wifi and a lovely bed. And cable with MSNBC.
I’m holing myself up here for a few days to recover after my extrovert few days of schmoozing and teaching. I tend to waffle between periods of introvert and spurts of extrovert, which suits what I do for a living – I’m lucky!
So for the next 2 days I’ll knit, I’ll answer emails and get some patterns written up and cataloged, and I’ll have my own little “weekend” of rest before my first Rhinebeck class on Thursday. Yay!
I can think of few places as beautiful to rest as here in CT – and I’ll ride my bike a bit, too! I rode around Ridgefield before class today, it felt WONDERFUL!
And now to bed, to sit and knit and listen to a book on CD. And I promise I’ll have some beautiful photos of Rhinebeck and this gorgous area! Here’s what I’m missing right now in the Twin Cities…
