Today is the day!

Yep - the long awaited day has arrived -- in less than 4 hours, I will be on my way to pick up a friend and head on out to the Maritime Fibre Arts Retreat, a 2.5 day and evening retreat into all things fibre! I am so excited - I feel like I am going to Disneyland!

When I break it down and tell my non-fibre friends (and even my fibre-supportive husband), it comes off as a bit ... umm... dull(?), and I don't know why.

"What am I up to this weekend? Well - it is sooo cool! I am going to go to really swanky resort" (I still have their attention at this part of my story), "And there are going to be a whole bunch of knitters, spinners, weavers, crocheters, quilters, felters, and hookers there" (I still have their attention here - especially when I mention 'Hookers' - they wonder if maybe we'll get arrested, go skydiving or something equally high adrenaline, because I am breathlessly telling my story of the fun time I am going to have ... well, and there are 'Hookers') and then "And we'll knit, and spin, and weave, and quilt, and crochet, and felt, and hook rugs all together in one room, and talk ... for two and a half days! It's so cool!" (this is where the eyes glaze over like day old donuts, and they start talking amongst themselves ... as soon as they find out the 'hookers' make rugs, the story loses some of its appeal, and I can see their interest is gone).

But ... that doesn't matter a fig to me! I am going knit, and spin, and weave, and quilt, and crochet, and felt, and hook rugs all together in one room, and talk ... for two and a half days! And the best part is - I'll be there with 169 other men and women who find it as breathtakingly wonderful as I do!
(photo of last year's retreat - from the Retreat's Flikr albumn)
Most of us will be on the lookout for hand knit or hand sewn or handwoven or hand crocheted items ... and will ooohhh and aaahhh in appreciation (and if we are wearing said items, we will bask in the praise of fellow fibre artists - it isn't something that the non-fibristas notice, and we'll lap up the fibre love!).
(photo of last year's retreat - from the Retreat's Flikr albumn)

We'll have a chance to try crafts that we've never tried before (I am hoping to hook up with a weaver and try my hand at that) - and although it is thought as cross craftual, and extreme crafting (so therefore very dangerous), we'll try, and maybe even become converted to the new craft. And that is where the danger lies ... I have seen with my own two eyes a rug hooker innocently sit down in front of a spinning wheel, just to see what is it like, and by the end of the weekend, without even knowing what happened, the now reformed hooker has left the retreat with her "new-to-her" spinning wheel securely seat belted in her car, which is of course crammed with as many bumps of wool, silk and alpaca fibre as she could squeeze in without forcing her travel partner to thumb a ride home!) I've also watched helplessly as an unknowing quilter stood watching a weaver, then sat in front of the loom just to see what all the fuss was about, then the next day saw the same quilter/weaver sneaking in a few minutes of internet time on Kijiji, looking for a decent floor loom that she could pick up on her way home. It is dangerous stuff - and that is part of the thrill of going - all of us love an adrenaline rush!
(photo of last year's retreat - from the Retreat's Flikr albumn)

The time to hop in the car and go is drawing near - I still have a few patterns to pack, a double check of my supplies, to ensure I am adequately yarned up, have the right sized needles, my tools (scissors, stitch markers, and large needle), and anything else I might want or need (I mean really - how much of an annoyance would it be to not have the "right" supplies in a room filled with that much inspiration? I gotta be properly yarned up!. I suppose I should get packed ... find clean jeans and some shirts that go well with hand knits ;)

Wish me luck! I will post a full report on Sunday - or maybe I will try to blog from my ipod touch (we'll see how that goes!)