Eastburn Adventures

So last weekend after getting back from Orlando, I worked for two days and then after work on Thursday picked up Adrienne at the airport.  After a quick dinner at the Price Cutter Bistro (which is really yummy), we headed to Neosho, Missouri for our weekend at the inaugural Fiber Daze.

I took a Portuguese Knitting class from my friend Linda, and it was awesome.  I also took an acid dyeing class from Dianne at Morning Moon Alpacas, and definitely want to try my hand at dyeing more yarn.  I was fortunate to teach a beginning knitting class, and also my toe-up socks class.  Adrienne taught socks cuff-down – we have a friendly rivalry with our preferred techniques.

I was fighting a cold all weekend, so I didn’t take any pictures except with Adrienne’s camera.  There was a fun fashion show Friday night and we had so much fun hanging with our dear friends from the Southwest Missouri Fiber Folks Guild.  Saturday night we headed back to Springfield and Adrienne fell in love with our monster dog, Jed.  Jed fell in love with the bare yarn I bought from Dianne.

The weekend was over too soon and after brunch at Hemingway’s where Christa joined us, we did a quick driving tour of Springfield and then it was back to Chicagoland for A.  I can’t wait until March when we get to go to the Missouri Fiber Retreat again.

It seems I barely had the chance to recover from all the fun that was Sock Summit before Ginger, Christa, and I hit the road driving to Chicagoland for Stitches Midwest.  I’d been two years before, but this was their first time at the event, and Christa’s first ever big yarny event.

We left after work on Thursday and spent the night in Springfield, IL.  I was so excited that Smokey Bones, a BBQ restaurant we used to have, had onion rings back on the menu.  They had the best onion rings around, and for some crazy reason took them off the menu.  Big mistake.  Robert and I used to drive out of our way when traveling to eat at any of their restaurants nearby, and when the onion rings left, so did we.  So the girls and I had a late night dinner and the pulled pork was ok, but the onion ring recipe had changed.  I was so disappointed.  So now there’s no reason to go back to Smokey Bones. 

Anyway, the next morning we drove on into Chicago and picked up Karen from Midway, and then met Adrienne at her office to park the car.  A had to work the rest of the day, so the rest of us took a stroll up Michigan Avenue, and had lunch at the new Chick-fil-A (which is one of the few stores that has their new cookies available).  We went back to A’s office where Christa had to get her husband to answer the phone, scan and e-mail her ticket to her so she could reprint it. Oops.

We then headed to A’s home where we had a yummy dinner of shrimp and pasta and showered her with surprise hostess gifts we’d been planning forever.

Since Ginger had just had a birthday, and Karen’s and Christa’s were coming up, we had a few gifts for them as well.

We also had cupcakes, which is becoming a knitterly tradition.

The next morning we were up early to hit the road to Schaumburg. We saw a sample of Tabitha’s Arwen Keyhole Scarf hanging in the Fiber Optic Booth.

We made many, many visits to Miss Babs’ booth.

I met THE Lily Chin.

We met up with new friends from the YOSS group, Dana/klamik and Michelle/Meezercat (who let me go off unsupervised for one more trip back to Miss Babs, LOL).

And at the end of the night, they all joined me for my podcast and surprised me with a gift as well!

As my friend Lu says, this is just wrong – on so many levels.

I spent last weekend in the booming metropolis of Lebanon, Missouri for the second annual Fiber U event sponsored by MOPACA. Vendors and instructors had to be residents of Missouri or one of the adjacent states.

When I was at Fiber Retreat in Jefferson City in March of this year, I asked Liz of Whirlwind Ranch about teaching next year at Fiber U. She asked what I would teach, and when I said “knitting toe-up socks,” she asked if I could teach this year.

So I created handouts, samples, and ordered supplies, and last weekend I taught Toe-Up Socks on One Long Circular Needle to 13 students in two classes. And it was a blast! I definitely learned some things from the experience, for example, I really need to spell things out in my class descriptions to avoid misunderstandings, and I got a good feel for exactly how much can be accomplished in a 4-hour class.

I also learned that I really enjoy teaching in a classroom, so I’ll be developing some more outlines and handouts, and submitting proposals to events in the area.

Next up, I’ll be teaching my Toe-Up Socks class at Fiber Daze in Neosho, Missouri, September 23-24, as well as Beginning Knitting for Adults. Registration is open now, so sign up and join me!

I’ve blogged before about my two previous adventures to the Missouri Fiber Retreat that happens in March every year, and I’ve met some awesome people there.  Those connections have resulted in me teaching at my first fiber event, Fiber U, in Lebanon, Missouri next weekend, July 9-10.  If you’re in the area, be sure to stop by and check out the marketplace.  There were some awesome vendors there last year, which was the inaugural year.

And coming up is another first time event, Fiber Daze in Southwest Missouri.  Some of the fiber addicts involved with Jeff City were asked to start another event in the fall, and Fiber Daze was born.  I had only just recently joined the Fiber Folks of Southwest Missouri guild, and was able to hop in the thick of things and volunteer.  I’ll be teaching two classes at Fiber Daze.

Registration for Fiber Daze opens today!  If you’re in Missouri, Northwest Arkansas, Northeast Oklahoma, or Southeast Kansas, then Neosho, Missouri is only a short hop away.  Check out the website and come join us in September.  Hope to see you there!