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Hi, Jan,

A happy belated bloggiversary to you, but only by a few hours.  I feel like I know you better than since we were kids, and really, aren’t kids so egocentric that it’s really hard to know anyone else?  And I love the connections we’ve made to so many, even and actually especially the folks who usually read but don’t comment.  Thank you to everyone who offered well wishes and said so many nice things in the comment responses to Jan’s last post.  And also to those of you who stop by and read but choose not to comment.  While I’d still do this without you readers who don’t share a copy of my DNA, you are the buttercream frosting on the devil’s food cupcake of our blog.

On to the regularly scheduled content…

Summer Finnishes.

Well, we pretended we were Finnish, anyway, when we enjoyed the sauna at the Lost in the Woods Knitting Retreat put on by Sisu Designs Knitting and Weaving Workshop of Ely, MN. I’ll tell ya, the lakewater was cool enough to be brisk but oh, so much more enjoyable than when you have to jump in through a hole in the ice.

The knitting retreat was even more enjoyable, even the ride up.  We left on Thursday, cabin camping at Bear Head Lake State Park.  Of course we brought provisions!  We enjoyed some picnic table knitting before heading in to Ely for some shopping and some eating.

The retreat (my 2nd year) is wonderful.  Almost two full days of hanging out with other knitters, working on your own projects or the retreat project.  We learned a great technique - stripey knitting, we called it.  It’s basically two (or three or more) interlaced spirals.  No jogs, no twisting yarn at the end of a round, no carries.  Just a very nice single row striped object.  Here is one of Susan Saari’s examples. She owns Sisu Designs and is a lovely, subtle-humored woman who centers the whole retreat.

I sat with Anna and Mary, and of course have no pictures of them.  They were wonderful company.  A & M live next door to each other.  Can you imagine having your knitting buddy right next door?  You could hang over the fence and get tips on how to fix your latest snarl, walk the garbage down the driveway while calling out knitting ideas, break in at night and raid their stash…   Here is a picture, in lieu of A & M, of Lisa, Kathy, and Randee knitting on the veranda.

Summer Finishes.

Most of the pictures I took at the retreat were of finished objects - many started right at the retreat (or on the drive up).  Annie’s stack of baby hats just kept growing.

Lots of stripey objects magically appeared.

Here is my stripey object for the weekend - fingerless mitts.  I adapted Susan’s pattern with ribbing at the edges, a variation on the thumb, and asymmetric gusset increases to make the mitts handed and somewhat better fitting.

And some of us even finished projects we’d brought along.  Kathy nailed her Fiesta Feet socks and I finally finished my ‘brainless’ socks.

Summer finishes.

Picture taken in my backyard yesterday morning. ‘Nuff said.

Here’s hoping autumn, as well as our third year of blogging are wonderful.

Love,

Ellen