just happened to be in Minnesota for a great weekend of knitting, eating (OMG!) and SO much laughter!
Somehow it transpired that 13 of the funniest, nicest women came to Minnesota for the ModeKnit Fall Retreat, and it was a terrific time! The knitting was nice, but the relaxing was the REAL goal of the weekend.
Everywhere I turned litte groups were chatting like old friends and ravelry names were being shared! Folks were knitting, resting, swimming or relaxing in the whirlpool or having seconds of tamari Salmon.
One of the most interesting aspects of the weekend was how healthy and inclusive the food was –most of it was gluten free, much was dairy free and vegetarian was achieved in every meal deliciously. Kathleen is an amazing cook – she used to do catering – and I feel fortunate to have her as my friend and my chef for these retreats!
London – www.myfriendlondon.com – is known to many of you as a supreme dyer of yarn and crafty woman.] She’s also an amazing friend and helped me organize the event, created the goody bags and acted as assistant to Kathleen.
We learned about simple Double Knitting, worked up a little bag, did a lot of laughing and – most memorable for me – ate incredibly delicious food as if there were no tomorrow.
Kathleen & London, my two partners in crime, cooked and organized and worked their butts off. I was frankly astounded either of them had any butts left, after all the work we did.
I can’t say that I’ll do the retreat again – my own energy level was so poor and pain levels so high that I had to go lay down for a rest a few times, which made me feel very guilty – but if I do have a 2013 Retreat, there’s no way I could do it without Kathleen and London!
[we missed you very much, Heather & Bekka!]
The retreat was awesome! The format was just right. Don’t feel guilty about taking a rest – you were definitely available when needed! London & Kathleen – the food was great! And what a great mix of knitters! I certainly hope that you are up to it again next year.
Wow- look at us chop that chicken….! It was an excellent retreat and I had so much fun. I’m in for next year if you do it again. xoxoxox
Hey, Annie
As one who must make an effort each day to avoid asthma triggers and food intolerances of my own (it made me a decent cook, tho!), I was enjoying reading about the retreat – taking a break from my very first knitted lace project – and feeling a bunch of empathy about your lie-downs. And just now, the DH and I read this very interesting article about gut problems with foods… you probably know about a ‘fodmap avoidance’ diet? It’s real and recommended by newly-up-to-speed docs and dieticians, even tho it’s new to us. Anyway, we had to read the whole thing to really see what they were talking about- it is for folks who are not strictly intolerant of just gluten or just fructose or just have a bacterial overgrowth, etc, as per one of the docs the article quotes. And I figure other fibery types (not the food!) reading your blog could use the info in this article, bloomberg.com/news/2012-10-28/taming-stomachs-with-fodmap-diet-spurs-8-billion-market.html