Madrona Fiber Arts Winter Retreat has become a highlight of my year. It is a wonderful event run by fabulous people (thank you Suzanne and Corny!) and incredible teachers. Even though I don't get to take classes, I am inspired by the awesome knitters and spinners that come through the marketplace and thoroughly take over the Hotel Murano.
This year I went with our friend Kris (TangleGirl on Ravelry). Brooke stayed at home with her cute-cute-cute baby boy. It was a complete joy to spend a week with Kris. We may be twins separated at birth. She is funny, sweet, and a very hard worker (not that that is why we may be twins). She was so good in the booth that many customers thought she was the owner and I was her employee! Love that!
The Tactile Booth.
The only downside of Madrona is having to drive up and back. I am not a huge fan of spending a day in a over packed truck each way. Then there is the small matter of snow in the passes. It may not seem like a big deal to those of you who actually experience weather, but I am a coastal California girl used to weather that varies little.
My Madrona purchases are all special to me.
First there are two skeins of natural gray yarn from Island Fibers. The two women who own and run it are so sweet and interesting. They source all the fiber from small farms on Lopez Island. I love their commitment to thinking locally. I may over dye one and make striped socks. I am so loving the colors that I can get by over-dyeing dark wools. Can't decide what color though. Yellow might be a contender.
The next yarn is a big skein (1200 yards - 13oz!) of fingering weight Jacob/Alpaca/Mohair from Toots Le Blanc. I love their yarns so much! Plus, Michele and Carl couldn't be sweeter people. I am going to dye this skein along with the light gray one I bought last year and make something large. I am thinking a red serape; not the kind that is like a poncho, the kind that is a rectangle with a slit halfway through the middle. The light gray skein tried to be a stole (ravelry link). It just wasn't clicking (absolutely no fault of the yarn!). Now it has a new life. Provided I can find it; there may be a bit of stash around here, not to mention all the Tactile inventory (padding for the Big One?).
Finally, there are 4 skeins of silk from Kakishibu. Kakishibu is a traditional form of Japanese natural dyeing using persimmons. It is very interesting and I highly recommend reading more about it on her website. Taking a class is in this technique is definitely high on my list of things to do. I got 8/2 silk, 400 yards total for some sort of a scarf.
Last, but not least, I want to give thanks to Erin and Jessica of the DoubleKnit podcast for the sweet things they said about Tactile in their Madrona podcast.
I love the name Tactile! Your booth looks great.
Posted by: Robin | March 07, 2009 at 05:08 PM
It was nice meeting you and Kris (I mostly talked to Kris, you were out and about when she was showing me how to spin from the fold -- I left with two new spindles and assorted other playthings.....)
Thanks for hosting the nametags in your booth!
Posted by: Cathy-Cate | March 08, 2009 at 07:13 PM