Silvernfire (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
silvernfire) wrote2011-03-28 09:53 pm
silvernfire) wrote2011-03-28 09:53 pm
Entry tags:
Getting away from it all
Last week, I got to go on a knitting retreat. I suppose this post would have more immediacy if I'd posted during the retreat itself (I did tweet occasionally), but the WiFi was limited, and anyway, most of the time I was knitting, not hanging out on the computer. That I can do at home. Okay, I can knit at home as well, but you know what I mean.
This is the third year that the Minnesota Knitters' Guild has held their "Great Guild Getaway," a somewhat grandiose name for what is, deliberately, a quiet little event: go up north, knit for a weekend, go home. It is held in what would be lovely natural surroundings: a summer camp in northern Minnesota that in the off-season can be rented for retreats. I use the conditional because the natural surroundings are a little less lovely in March, mostly buried under half-melted snow, mud, and patches of deer droppings. It'd be nice to go up later in the spring, but there are already major knitting events in the Twin Cities in April and May, and scheduling conflicts kick in. Still, while it's nice to have a view of the lake from your cabin window, it's just not quite the same when the lake is frozen solid. Although Friday night, when the moon was approaching full (this was the full moon that was supposed to be closer to the earth than the moon has been for decades), it reflected gloriously off the ice.
The problem with making a fascinating blog post out of a quiet little event is all that quietness. Nothing earth-shattering happened in my knitting itself, although I'm pleased to report that I'm 25% further along on my lap blanket (Ravelry brings out the analyst in me). Plus, with repeated trips up north, I'm getting to know Guild members that I normally might never talk to, since it's a completely different group that does this event than the people I usually talk to at meetings. And i lucked out in my housing this year. My roommate was assigned to two different rooms and chose the other one, so I ended up with a nice large room to myself. The mattresses are decent enough and I've finally hit on the right combination of bedding to be cozy.
The high point of the retreat may have been the massage. This year, the retreat committee invited two local masseuses to come over, and we could get 15- or 30-minute massages. I indulged in the half-hour massage; it seemed like otherwise, I'd barely have laid down before it was time to get up again. There was also a hike which I probably should've participated in (I should mention that the camp specializes in comfort food for meals), but the mud was off-putting.
I look forward to going again next year. Both this year and last, I've had to fit homework into the weekend somehow. I should be well and truly graduated by this time next May, I'll probably need two massages to get through the weekend.
This is the third year that the Minnesota Knitters' Guild has held their "Great Guild Getaway," a somewhat grandiose name for what is, deliberately, a quiet little event: go up north, knit for a weekend, go home. It is held in what would be lovely natural surroundings: a summer camp in northern Minnesota that in the off-season can be rented for retreats. I use the conditional because the natural surroundings are a little less lovely in March, mostly buried under half-melted snow, mud, and patches of deer droppings. It'd be nice to go up later in the spring, but there are already major knitting events in the Twin Cities in April and May, and scheduling conflicts kick in. Still, while it's nice to have a view of the lake from your cabin window, it's just not quite the same when the lake is frozen solid. Although Friday night, when the moon was approaching full (this was the full moon that was supposed to be closer to the earth than the moon has been for decades), it reflected gloriously off the ice.
The problem with making a fascinating blog post out of a quiet little event is all that quietness. Nothing earth-shattering happened in my knitting itself, although I'm pleased to report that I'm 25% further along on my lap blanket (Ravelry brings out the analyst in me). Plus, with repeated trips up north, I'm getting to know Guild members that I normally might never talk to, since it's a completely different group that does this event than the people I usually talk to at meetings. And i lucked out in my housing this year. My roommate was assigned to two different rooms and chose the other one, so I ended up with a nice large room to myself. The mattresses are decent enough and I've finally hit on the right combination of bedding to be cozy.
The high point of the retreat may have been the massage. This year, the retreat committee invited two local masseuses to come over, and we could get 15- or 30-minute massages. I indulged in the half-hour massage; it seemed like otherwise, I'd barely have laid down before it was time to get up again. There was also a hike which I probably should've participated in (I should mention that the camp specializes in comfort food for meals), but the mud was off-putting.
I look forward to going again next year. Both this year and last, I've had to fit homework into the weekend somehow. I should be well and truly graduated by this time next May, I'll probably need two massages to get through the weekend.