Fair Warning
Often when we open registration for the Men’s Spring Fiber Retreat in Upstate New York, there is a lot of disappointment. It sells out very quickly…which is the fair warning.
So I Offer Final and Fair Warning
Registration for the Men’s Spring Fiber/Fibre Retreat opens tomorrow (Saturday, January 7, 2023 – promptly at 11:00 AM (Eastern U.S./Canada time).
Tomorrow morning is a busy time for me. We send out e-mails to about 400 guys letting them know that registration is open. If you’d like to be on the e-mail notification list, you can add yourself here. We also post to social media (Facebook and Ravelry) that the event is open. We also update the Scheduled Events page of the Men’s Knitting Retreat web site.
Most guys simply sit at their computer refreshing the registration page until the web form display.
Here are the particulars if you, or someone you know is interested:
Dates: Thursday, May 18, 2023 – Sunday, May 21, 2023
Venue: Easton Mountain Retreat Center, Greenwich, NY
Cost:
- $595 (semi-private room with bathroom and 1 other roommate)
- $535 (triple room with bathroom and 2 other roommates/bunk beds – only 3 available)
- $850 (private room with bathroom – only 1 available)
Longtime readers here at QueerJoe have endured me discussing these retreats for 15 years now. But for those of you less familiar with my rants, the Men’s Spring Fiber Retreat is quite an amazing event with quite an extraordinary group of guys.
It officially starts on Thursday evening with a reception, dinner and opening night group. The retreat includes workshops led by volunteer participants, a road trip to a local fiber venue and a “show & tell” night. There are nine meals of good and plentiful food starting with dinner on the first night and ending with lunch on Sunday. Many guys have also starting booking early/extra days at Easton Mountain to take advantage of food, the sauna, the hot tub, and of course the amazing community of guys.
Current Knitting/Spinning
I was hoping to have finished the OpArt blanket before blog publication time, but I wasn’t quite able to make it.
If I had opted to just bind off normally, it would have been finished, but I preferred an i-cord bind-off.
I personally think it’s worth the delay. This design isn’t perfect, but I really like it, and I’m more than happy to ignore some of the minor annoyances (stitch count gets higher and higher as you progress, each stripe is a separate piece of yarn requiring a lot of weaving in of ends, it doesn’t really create a flat/square blanket, etc.).
Despite all that, it still creates an impressive end product I think. Yes? No?
Thank you so much for including a picture of Ted. I’m still in shock.
Thanks Tom…it’s still rather unreal to me that I’ll never see Ted again. Like you, I’m grateful to see a photo of him, especially doing what he loved so much…spinning and teaching and wearing a kilt.
Hi Joe,
I am wondering if you have any suggestions for a brand new spinner in the choice of a wheel? I have read that a “castle” type is better for one’s back. Any advice is appreciated!
Thanks
Hi Sue…the best advice I ever go was to try out as many wheels as I could (even when I couldn’t really spin very well at all). If you have a store that will let you try wheels, try as many as you can. If a friend will lend you a wheel, borrow it. Schacht, Ashford, Louet are all good wheels, but it is important to know what you want in a wheel. Ashford has a different form of tensioning than Louet, for instance. Ashford is easier to learn on (in my opinion) but I find that my Louet is more sturdy to rigorous treadling.