After the Vogue Knitting Cruise and a few days in New York, DH headed for Portland, Oregon and I headed for Portland, Maine. Knit Maine (from Peacetree Fiber Adventures) was held at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Deer Isle, a 3 hour drive from Portland. It was like going to camp! North Coast Maine is a magical place.
It’s probably good that I didn’t know beforehand that I’d be taking my suitcases (2!) down these stairs to my room.
And back up again at the end of our stay. And that I’d be up and down them repeatedly every day. I got my 10,000 steps every day, and a stairmaster workout, to boot!
Happy to be settling in!
My classes? In the wood studio. I taught Petite Brioche and Whale Watch/Brioche Increases & Decreases, as well as 3 other classes.
My Planned and Assigned Pooling students loved the Cabana Boy colorway from Yarn Snob.
Jacquie didn’t love making the thrummed butterflies, and I mentioned that some people use the roving as a carry-along strip. Worth a try! As long as you get the result you want, you’re doing it right.
The days were packed with classes, but we also had time to shop in the market that was set up in the clay studio. Casey Ryder from Port Fiber had some beautiful yarns from Cashmere People, Spin Cycle and Harrisville Designs (and more?).
Madder Root had beautiful bags. I couldn’t resist this one. You know I love the night sky!
and Sven from North Light Fibers brought beautiful yarn, including Water Street, a DK weight 40/60 cashmere/merino blend that is making me dream of cushy brioche accessories. There was more, the offerings changed from day to day. I’m sure I didn’t see everything.
The weather was perfect, and there was time to explore the campus.
Louis Boria, me, Shaina Bilow, Kristin Drysdale, Casey Ryder, Christine Walker (Peacetree Fiber Adventures), and Cal Patch. Knit Maine featured classes in knitting, drop spindling, embroidery, sewing, needle felting…a nice mix of fiber arts.
Christine is such an excellent organizer. She had Knit Maine tote bags ready for each participant, with supplies for their classes. Also in the bags? These mugs, and a center pull ball winder from Katrinkles. ETA: T-shirts, and a copy of Taproot magazine. (I had partially unpacked, and things got separated!) A skein of yarn from Moss Fibers, specially dyed as The Maine Event colorway, was the parting gift. I’m looking forward to making something special with it.
The fun didn’t stop when we left Haystack; we still had to get back to Portland.
That’s a wrap on my epic east coast adventure! I’m so happy I had the opportunity to teach in such a variety of settings. What a great way to start autumn knitting. Now I’m gearing up for virtual and in-person teaching. Looking forward to a fiber-filled fall!
PDXKnitterati 
I’m with Jacquie. Doing up all the wee thrums is soooooooooo tedious. It is truly mind-boggling how many you actually need, too. I’m theoretically making my partner a pair of thrummed slippers, and I told him if he wanted them, he had to help with the thrums. Suppose we should get back on that, though, now that we’re settled into the new place and winter is on its way.
They are fussy! But you get so much more floof underfoot than with the stranding method. I think it’s worth it!
I’m SO impressed by the hand winding !!!!!
But it looks like a totally super time had by all. Your cleverness has paid off in spades, me little darlint !
I haven’t worked up the nerve to try that arm/hand trick yet, but I have the perfect short skein of super bulky yarn to try it on! I need to have it ready by Wednesday for a presentation I’m doing…
Oh no ! – you should do it DURING the presentation .. [grin]
Oh THAT will be a good look! “Yes, I’m competent. Really. Honest.”
Thank you for all your wonderful posts. I enjoyed each photo and everything you wrote about your adventures. Such a lovely break in my day.
I thoroughly enjoyed our class together and have been playing around with those fun YO-YO stitches. What a treat to be able to spend so much time enjoying everyone’s company and knitting. Thanks for contributing to this most remarkable and memorable event.
I loved having you in class! So nice to meet you. And I’m glad you’re enjoying those fancy stitches!
Oh my goodness, what an adventure! It looks like such a wonderful retreat 🙂
It was really special; I loved it!
But they’d eventually forget they thought you were drunk .. [grin]
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