November Needler's Retreat

I’ve been meaning to post about my wonderful weekend away in Ganonoque at Glen House for the Needler’s Retreat weekend organized by Debbie Wilson (taking over from Mabel for the first year).

This was my second year, and once again getting there was a bit of a trial. Last year Ron was ill for the week leading up to it. I was so grateful to be recovering from my self-induced concussion that I didn’t worry about getting ill myself. It turned out to be mono (which I caught), but we didn’t figure that out until January.

Anyway, this year it was the weekend before retreat, and Ron was not feeling well. On Monday, he went home from work early. He finally decided (when the shivers and aches hit) that he had the flu. I quarantined him in the master bedroom (because it has an en suite bathroom), took care of him and the kids all week, and washed my hands at every opportunity.

On Friday afternoon I finally set out for Ganonoque, ready to return at a moment’s notice if I developed symptoms or if I got a phone call. Thankfully that worked out.

I shudder to think what Ron has planned for next year, although when he jokingly mentioned testicular cancer I pointed out that it’s not something he can pass on to me.

I had 2 very busy but enjoyable days learning, knitting, eating, chatting, and playing with yarn. The moebius class with Mary Pat McDonald was a first for me, because I actually finished the project from the class & it’s usable!

The collar obedience training class from Maureen Mason-Jamieson (Ravelry) was useful. I learned some more about finishing and construction (green arrow = collar point shaping)

and I’ll definitely be using the edging technique (see how neat both sides are!) on a garment – if I ever manage to work up the nerve to do an adult-sized garment again.

And then there was the cabled mittens from the top class with Suzanne Atkinson. The cast-on alone was worth the price of admission. I had found a skein of Briggs & Little to use for this class, but after having gauge issues, I gave up. I do intend to use this yarn for these mittens eventually.

I also acquired some yarn, all from Turtlepurl (aka Genevieve Noel, a local dyer). I was selling her yarn to others (see how that worked out!) along with my friend Francine’s shawl pins, which are now also available on the Turtlepurl etsy shop.