SOAR Report

Before I head off to Rhinebeck I better tell you all about SOAR.

I thoroughly enjoyed my first SOAR and will try to get back as often as possible, although it will be retreats only for awhile. I bought lots of silk or silk blends. I skipped Shadyside as I bought quite a bit from them this summer at Creative Strands. I hit Nancy Finn (Chasing Rainbows), The Silkworker (who sold out by Friday), Lambspun, and bought two gorgeous batts (1 lb. total) from Indigo Moon. I picked up some dyed Polwarth from The Rovings, a 4" weavette, Domino Knitting, a new niddy noddy, and some other things I can't remember.

My classes were all wonderful. I started out with Sharon Costello and made a cool felt necklace, but more importantly, I learned cool things like making frogs, buttons, earrings, etc. My Friday afternoon class was Cardweaving with Sara Lamb. I had a headache during Sara's class but I still got the techniques under control by the end. I'm going to try setting up the cards with my inkle loom.




Saturday I took Vivian Hoxbro's Shadow Knitting class. It hadn't even considered it until I saw the workshop displays Wednesday night and saw Vivian walking around with the coolest shawls and sweaters. She was a wonderful teacher and a delightful person. I went right to the market and bought Domino Knitting and will get Shadow Knitting as soon as it's published. We made a little square with a shadow heart and she gave us patterns for another square (so we can make a little purse) and a hat and scarf set. The top picture shows you the square shot straight on. The bottom picture is the same square shot at a 45° angle.

I finished up my classes with Deb Menz's "Never Enough Color". After a crash course in color theory - Deb explained that we got a semester class in about 20 minutes - we went over basic dye formulas. Then we got to try our new knowledge on three strips of roving. Great class and great end to the retreat.

One of the coolest things was the spin in on Saturday night. More than 200 people in one room spinning and talking (with a few bottles of wine and blenders of margaritas!). The lighting was great for pictures and I forgot to change the setting to low light, but I tried to brighten them up enough that you could get the idea of how many people were there. Spin In 1 Spin In 2 Spin In 3 I didn't really get the whole depth of the room, so you'll just have to use your imagination!

Now to pack some winter woolies for Rhinebeck!