Spring Squam 2015: Day 3 and Travel Home. Art Fair and Re-entry

I was dressed for the Art Fair (in my Stephen West "Mesa" which got a lot of comments...it was the right crowd for this sort of thing) and was ready to go with cash in my pocket!

Last time, I had scoped out all the vendors on the Squam website beforehand, but I couldn't find the information when I looked this time. It wasn't quite as important as there weren't the crushing crowds I remember from last time.

The camp always does a good job of dressing up the dining hall.

These ice block candle lights are a specialty and are fantastic every time. (For video and pictures of the ice harvest, click here.)

I circled the outside of the room visiting with every vendor--talking, asking questions, admiring the wares. The first time around I bought this wool from DeepWater Dyeworks.

The man was wearing a kilt; I am helpless to resist. (In addition to selling yarn, he represents utilikilt.) The orange is sock yarn--80% superwash wool, 10% nylon and 10% cashmere. It's lofty and squishy. The purple is a scrumptious lace weight--70% alpaca, 20% silk and10% cashmere. I don't have any plans for it, but it is unbelievably soft and whatever it becomes will be wonderful. :)

I then made a circle of the inside block of vendors. I think I circled the whole place two more times and picked up these lovelies:

A sweet little charm from Jessica Mixer.

She had so many sweet charms. If you browse her etsy shop, I bet you'll be tempted!

These don't match the charm, but I have a hard time resisting leaves.

The earrings are from Melissa Partridge at Color Me Happy.

And I picked up this printed cloth from Elisabeth Kelly Design.

I think it was sold as a napkin but it's larger than a usual napkin. I bought just one and my first thought (as always) is to use it in a quilt. But on second thought maybe I'll stitch on it.

My most self-indulgent purchase was this leather purse from LeatherWoolLinen.

She described the bag as "comfortable" and she was so right. It sits so softly on my shoulder and yet won't slide off because of the texture of the raw leather. Once I tried it on, I was sold. It was frightfully expensive, but remember...I had cash in my pocket and I knew how to use it.

Some of her leather items were marked by the cow's brand but this one was not. You can just make out her name stamp on the upper right corner. After using this bag for the past week I think I will be giving away all of my other purses. Or maybe I'll try to sell some on Yerdle. If anyone knows how that works, please let me know!

I visited Colleen's booth (from the altered book class) and got to chat with her and her daughter for a bit. She gave me this sign which came from a conversation she had with a cab driver.

I plan to hang it on my door at work. ;)

There were many, many lovely objects. While it's still up, you can see a list of the vendors here.

By the time I left, it was 9:30, hardly anyone was there and they were starting to pack it up. I enjoyed a walk back to the cabin and was tired enough, replete enough, that I didn't look for any living rooms to invite myself into. I cozied into bed, did a little reading and enjoyed a good night's sleep.

The next day was time to go home. :( But at least this time I wasn't leaving at 6 am and had time to enjoy breakfast and left at a more reasonable 8:30. By this time my necklace was "this big":

So close to done!

So close, I finished it while waiting for my flight. (With a two hour delay, I had plenty of time!)

I tacked down the circles with little stitches using the yarn. I arranged them to make two infinity symbols on the sides. The pattern recommended using thread, but I didn't have any and the stitches are hardly noticeable in the garter stitch.

I also didn't have a clasp but it was long enough that I just sewed the ends together and put it on over my head. I think it hangs a little low but we'll see how it is with a proper shirt to wear it with. I did see a version on Ravelry that was only three circles instead of five and I think that would be better. Maybe I'll undo this one to the third circle and then reknit it instead of knitting a whole new one.

After that I had no more knitting so I took out my Zentangle card and finished it up.

I added dots to the top right quadrant, filled in some missing lines and solid parts, and did some shading with the pencil.

After that I was out of activities and "had to" read. No sad story here.

On the way home I stopped at my sister's again. It was my niece's birthday and I had some notepads to give her from the Art Fair. I picked them up from a classmate who had a booth, Genevieve's Granddaughter. [It looks like her website is still under construction.] My niece is a crafty one and recently has self-published a book, The Life of a Bunny. I thought she may need more writing supplies. :)

I made re-entry into regular life a little easier this year by taking Monday off of work. I spent the day stitching and reviewing pictures. You've seen that I have made good progress on the embroidery project. I even tried to recapture the feeling of stitching on the dock by sitting on my porch, but it is very humid here and I am sorely lacking a lake.

I have done nothing to the altered book except gather up bits of paper and things that might go into it. In part, I'm waiting for an email that's supposed to come from Colleen of the supplies that we used. There's no way I would remember them all and some were very handy.

I'm still working on unpacking and putting things away. I brought a lot of supplies with me and you've seen how much I bought at the fair. But perhaps I'm stalling to try and keep with me the feeling of being there. The communal feeling of support. The shared value placed on making. The belief that nothing needs to be cheap, easy or fast for efficiency's sake. And that you can only start from where you are, being who you are.

Spring Squam 2015: Day 3. Extras and a Walk

Day 3 (Saturday) dawned bright and sunny and warm. It was such a gift after the cooler days that had proceeded it. Everyone was excited to be finishing up their last class and attending the Art Fair on Saturday night. The atmosphere was excited, although tinged with the knowledge that it was our last day.

I dressed in my now-temperature-appropriate capris and my two-tosh Scarpetta. And not to trust first impressions of the weather, I wore my orange tulip socks again!

The morning was spent in class which I wrote about here. The afternoon schedule was free with a couple more "Extras" offered. The first one was billed as making your own perfume (no thanks) and turned out to be more about making home skin products. I skipped it and went for the walk I had been intending to take at last Squam!

Or, not really the intended walk because I headed out to find the path that goes up West Rattlesnake Mountain (1,243 ft), but I couldn't find the entrance to the path from the road. So I took a much more clearly marked path that mostly followed the road and didn't involve any steep climbs.

I enjoyed getting out, getting moving and, I'll say it again, the glorious weather. (Too cool for me to sit in the shade, but perfect for walking or sitting in the sun.)

I bent down and saw little things like this slip of a plant pushing its way up through the matted leaves:

And this tiny frog:

And I looked up and saw the sun play on needles

and leaves.

These leaves had apparently fallen on the road and then been either pushed into the dirt, or covered by a thin layer of dirt.

I was fascinated with how it looked like a stain or an impression of leaves. But there were still real leaves under there.

After the walk, I returned to my dock, switched my wool shirt for a tshirt and soaked my feet in the cold lake water.

I also enjoyed a lie-down on the dock in the sun. The cool breeze couldn't find me there and I was so happy to be laying there.

The second "Extra" of the afternoon was on Boro stitching taught by Samantha Hoyt Lindgren.

Boro stitching is similar to Sashiko, but Samantha explained that whereas Sashiko was used by the rich to decorate and embellish fabric, Boro was used by the working class to mend everyday clothing. It is normally done on denim or other heavy duty fabrics, but like any technique you can use it for what you want.

I had a pair of pants with me that were ripping along the top inside pocket seams. I also had some extra denim. First thing was to decide if you want the patch fabric to be on the inside or outside. Since I was dealing with pockets and flaps, I pinned the patch on the inside.

The jeans were made from a stretch denim but the patch fabric was not, so I placed the patch on the bias so it would have a little stretch to match the main fabric.

I then stitched through the layers with a sturdy quilting thread. There is special Japanese thread or floss made just for this stitching. Or you can use pearl cotton if you can't find the Japanese stuff. In this case, I liked that the quilting thread matched the jeans. I didn't want to draw a lot of attention to my butt.

You can do any pattern: horizontal lines, vertical lines, concentric circles or squares, diagonals or you can echo the shape of the rip you're mending. Or another variation was random small stitches that look like little grains of rice!

You can see that I chose to work horizontally. I had to open the pockets and stitch from inside them so I wouldn't sew the pockets shut.

Samantha thought my stitches were a little larger than they should be (I confess I was rushing to get them done!) so she suggested adding the vertical stitching as reinforcement.

You can also see that the knots are on the outside! You don't have to, but that is what is traditional. It is a real "honesty" in mending...you're not trying to blend or make it disappear but at the same time you're still making it beautiful. I'm sure you can imagine some garments look better after the mending than they did originally!

Once I had finished the stitching, I cut away the patch from the inside close to the stitching. I didn't do anything to finish the edges. Denim is too thick to be folding the edges over and I really don't think it will ravel. I suppose if I were really concerned about it, I could have just done a whip stitch around the edges, but I didn't.

I was so excited to be able to wear these pants again, I wasted no time in putting them on as I changed for the Art Fair. Here I am showing off the mend (not my butt, in case that is not clear!)

I also added my "Mesa" sweater as I expected the evening to be cooler.

And to keep you up-to-date with the knitting progress, I was still working away at the necklace.

I had some time during the beginning of the embroidery class when Joetta was talking to us and on Friday evening when I invited myself and my roommate over to the neighbouring cabin. (I was not about to spend a lonely night in my cabin while the rest slept the evening away!) We had a nice time knitting, chatting and sometimes being quiet. (You're not surprised most knitters are introverts, right?)

By this point I had the pattern "down" so I could make progress fairly quickly. It would be nice to finish it within the time frame of this trip and it was looking like it might be possible...

Spring Squam 2015: Travel & Day 1. Let the Fun Begin

Travel and Arrival

My Squam trip started Tuesday after work when I left for my sister's. She is closer to the airport and staying there overnight (besides giving me an excuse for a visit) saved me from a very, very early morning on Wednesday. Although my pennant skirt was much too bulky to take with me on the trip, I had it with me to work on while visiting Tuesday night.

When I got on the bus for the airport on Wednesday, however, I had left the skirt in the car and started working on the Wool-Aid socks I had going. I'm doing a cabled (or twisted) rib on these ones.

This is where I ran out of yarn on the plane. I am almost to the heel. I knew it was very likely that I was going to run out of yarn, but I didn't take time to wind a new ball of yarn to take with me. So I got as far as I could and that was that.

But never fear, I had grabbed another project! I had a hard time coming up with something to take until I remembered this little project:

It is a pattern and yarn that I won on a blog giveaway last April! The design is by Olga Buraya-Kefelian. She is worth following--she has amazing designs. I got a good start on the project and discovered that its little size was perfect for travel knitting.

And what's this?

Someone else knitting on a plane! Guess what...she was going to Squam too, of course. She also happened to be one of the people riding in my rental car. That's what happens when there are limited direct flights!

So we flew. We landed. We drove. And then we arrived at Squam. Aaahhh. After registration and getting goodies (!) I checked into my cabin and settled in.

Second stop (after my room) has to be the dock. Especially when the sun is shining. Once more: aaahhhh! I sat and knit before dinner and my necklace grew:

I met my roommate, Donna:

We would end up having a great time together.

After dinner on Wednesday is the opening ceremonies. Elizabeth, who founded the Squam Art Workshops, spoke and had the teachers introduce themselves by talking about their favourite pair of shoes.

Then it's back to your cabin to strike a match to the expertly laid fire and enjoy the warmth. (Yes, the workers really ready your fire for you each day so you literally need only to light the paper with one match. What a treat!) In uninsulated cabins right on the lake, the temperature was definitely in the range where you needed a fire.

Thursday-Day 1

I left the curtains open so I could look out on the lake in the morning.

Isn't that a glorious view! That's one of my cabin-mates swimming. She went in every morning--one of the very few. The lake is very cold yet. But it was good to hear her loud splashing as she kicked her legs while I snuggled in bed. The open curtains, however, meant that I woke up at 5:30 from the light. And my poor roommate did too. The next morning I enjoyed the view after I got out of bed and opened the curtains again!

I had requests for a fashion diary so here is what I wore on the first day:

I wore this skirt at Squam last time but I figured it was worth a repeat. It also suited the weather. And since I was at Squam and could get away with it, I wore my tall Spring Sprout socks. It was chilly enough that I ended up wearing my green and black zip hoodie most of the day as well. Hand knitting was well represented!

After breakfast it was time for my first class: Turning the Page with Colleen Attara. Here is the class description:

We are all storytellers.  This is our chance to tell the story we want to step into. 

Together we will be making an altered book.  Our stories will take shape on these richly layered pages. First, we will identify a moment of energy and power then, using our painted pages to create a visual journey, we bring that feeling of what we want into all our days. We will start with how we want to feel and choose a time when we felt completely at peace, open and free. For example, it could be a moment of pure I so have this. 

Using our words, paint, thread, paste, pencils,
paper and whatever art media inspires us*,
we will put that moment into our altered book,
so we can always access that sensation at the
turn of a page - it's there at our fingertips.
*I prepare art tables like feasts :) 

Then, with that memory in our hearts, we will move forward and create our visual map of what we want to manifest it in our lives. Each page becomes part of our vision board.
We will use cut out letters as prompts, play with photo transfers, gels and molding pastes. We will sew, paint, mark and collage. There are just so many ways to create our maps. Our plans will reveal and unfold themselves on each page. 

You need no prior mixed media experience to turn an existing book into pages of your vision board. Everything you have is already inside you. It has been there all along.

"I prepare art tables like feasts" Did you read that? How could I resist? And here is the proof:

Fabrics, yarns, glue, stamps, paints, pastels, books, magazines, tape, buttons, metal bits, pictures, paper, letter and word cutouts, etc, etc, etc. Then you had the sewing machines (and you can just make out the power tools in the background)

 and her reproduction "vintage" typewritter "Flo".

And I don't even think I got a picture of all of the painting supplies. Anyway, it was a lot and it was fantastic. After a little instruction and demonstration, we set to work on our own books with guidance and support from Colleeen.

To keep this post from being excessively long, I'm going to show the work on the actual project on another post (click here), but this is what our table looked like at lunch time when we were essentially done with the covers:

My cover is the reddish one at the bottom of the picture.

After lunch we returned for the second half of the class where we worked on the inside pages. Most people did not finish the book and I certainly did not. The end of class came and went, and we kept working. I stayed right til dinner time. By then I was exhausted, brain dead and hungry. I think creativity takes a lot of calories! But if I could have, I would have loved to have stayed until midnight.

After dinner most people retired to their cabins. There was a "cabin crawl" on the schedule so you could go look at the other cabins (they really vary in size, layout and design) and meet people, but from what I heard, there was not a high turn out. A lot of people were tired (the good tired) and cosy in front of their fireplaces on a chilly night. Most people retired quite early in my cabin and I was left by myself knitting in front of the fire. When I went to bed, it was still earlier than I would have at home.

Meanwhile, I had made progress on my necklace: