MFKR 2010 Day 4

SweetasKiwiClassMikeWade©
Originally uploaded by Crafty Andy

Here I am at the last day of the MFKR 2010. I am always amazed at how little I sleep and how much energy I get, but I enjoy it while it lasts. By the time this class is taking place, I have already brought my suitcase down and I am ready to leave at any time, my room is cleared and my key has been turned in.

This class gifted us with the ability to use the remnants of sock yarn to create a beautiful masterpiece. Too much work if you ask me, but worth the effort. You will have a lovely washable blanket if all your yarn is super wash, otherwise don't wash it; or it may shrink unexpectedly lol. The blanket is made in rectangles and the stitches are picked up, given you the advantage of joining as you go. Certainly James has a very creative mind and he uses his creativity to make things happen. We got a chance to see some of his wonderful sock yarn that he sells at his website http://joyofyarn.co.nz , reasonably priced and reasonable shipping for something coming from New Zealand..

Thank you for the great class my Dear friend. James has been my Internet friend for a longtime, but we have never met until last year. I wish I could spend more time with him as I really like him and know we will have many things to share. The other fact is that he has candy all the time, chocolates and anise candy. Everything in moderation.

This day is sad and happy. You leave your new friends and you end your weekend of fiber fun. I tend to look around for things left behind, I usually take them with me and contact the owners, you can be assure that if I saw something that belongs to you, that I thought was important, that was left behind, I will take it with me and contact you. This day , the last day people are like lost, not knowing when to leave or what to do. In the end we all went home, I had three more guys going with me to the airport in the Shuttle, but we did not want to leave. There was so much lonely fiber left behind, I could not allow that to happen, plus you get to hang out and relax before the flight home.

This retreat was full of surprises, full of great workshops and full of wonderful people. There was some tension in the air and there was a lot going on that a lot of people did not see, but this is not a kiss and tell. I enjoyed the time I got to spend talking with some new friends and getting to hang out with the people I met last year a bit more. I look forward to our next year retreat and I hope that we get the chance to make it happen at Dumas or a place that has similar accommodations. I did not get to teach a class, but I have no regrets. The food was great and we had private rooms.  I think that I like Seattle as our home away from home, not much care for lots of rain, but as with in Ferenginar, there are 150 names to describe rain in Seattle.  I say I would not mind living there, maybe not too close to any volcano, but far enough to be able to run with all my yarn and instruments of fiber construction.

We got breakfast and we kind of planned or mentioned next years retreat. This concluded another successful Men Fall Knitting Retreat thanks to the hard work of everyone involved, like Michael Wade and Daniel Herrera. I say that even though there was a bit of disarray in this year's retreat, everything came out fantastic.  Intrigue , Mystery ? Something was not right, this year, but I am not telling anymore, this dies right here, but I thought I would mention it. Let me tell you Wonder Mike and Daniel had a lot of support from all of us and our sponsors, and we were not going to allow this to be less than the success it was.  We are always grateful to our sponsors, I was one of them with a pattern and I brought something that Andrea Wong, from http://andreawongknits.com , kindly donated, my friend John Wise was the winner of this price. See you next year guys and thank you for a wonderful time. I have to thank Karin Skacel for her support and Earthues for their kindness and wonderful workshop. I also want to thank Benjamin Levisay from the XRX , Stitches Gatherings for his sponsorship of a scholarship. We all got a benefit from the people sponsored by you. I have some exciting projects that are coming alive, just stay tuned, this is Crafty Andy, Thanks for stopping by .

MFKR 2010 Day Three part One

Our teacher John Wise was very kind and brought samples from his stash to give to us for practice. I too the Turkish spindle class. You may ask yourself why? I already know how to spin on a drop spindle and a wheel, so why would I take a class like this one for beginners?

The fact is that I have found that I learn a lot from different perspectives, and I did learn something new from this gentleman. Is like from the classes I have taken from Michael Wade, there is something new I learn from all of them. John has a different technique or approach and it was fun. I can now buy a better Turkish Spindle or more expensive if I may and be confident I will know how to work it. You make a half hitch and then when you have yarn you go over two of the legs and under one as you wind on. The advantage of this is you have a ball of yarn already for plying. The bigger the spindle the bigger the ball lol!


Here I am doing the spindling, the short video is just a video presentation of the class, but not in it's totality. The sun came out and John wanted to go outside for the class and on Spinning in Public Day we got to spin with this gentle guy.

So here it is Day Three part one , before the Earthues experience. I want to tell you about it right away, but I have to calm myself down, it was an extraordinary experience and I will tell you in a few. Thanks for stopping by.

MFKR 2010 Aay Two Addendum

This addendum pictures are possible by Michael Wade allowing me to borrow some of his pictures ©. The Class with Franklin Habit in Photography was spectacular , not only because it was with him, but because of his ability to bring forth ideas in your head. 

The idea comes from the fact that you don't need to carry all this equipment with you, but look for opportunities that nature will give you  to see where the exact light that you need for the picture is or to play with the shutter speed or aperture of your camera to get as great a picture as you can muster.  It also makes you look at the surfaces closest to your subject , How is light being filtered?, What is it being reflected off?  Because in the end it is going to inform you camera and your eyes what did it look like even when it did not look like that.  Different lights have different properties, we know that from physics, the same that it travels different on different surfaces.  Optics in Physics was an interesting subject.

So in the end we came out a lot more knowledgeable than we came in.

Here you have a picture of yours truly taking the toe up class, in magic loop no less.  Nigel is a great teacher and it was the first time that I notice that West Coast Canadians do have a different accent.  Sometimes when you have an accent like me, it takes a bit more to understand people with accents, but is amazing how we all sound so different yet speak the same.  That is unless I am tired in which case my English goes back to archive and Spanish comes up front, so when I am talking I am in translation mode.  Later on I will have Day Three which was a fun and short day.  Thanks for stopping by!

MFKR 2010 Day Two

The day started as usual with Breakfast and the eagerness to learn and share. My first class was with Mr. Franklin Habit, which is a great guy to know. Franklin is a very respectful and honorable guy, nonetheless he has the advantage of keeping in his memory the experiences of life, so don't even think of messing with us short guys, we have an amazing spirit specially when you have the outlook in life that we do. I like my new found friend. Namaste.

His class was on photography, and worth every minute of it. What are the things that you have to take into consideration when taking pictures and what not to do. Reading the manual, but mostly he explained certain terms that I was not sure about, mostly because of new vocabulary, which now will be enhancing my life. Most of my pictures after the class have the touch of his teaching. He taught us how to make a light box to take pictures of our stuff aka wools and items for showing and showcasing. I was lucky this year and was gifted with the class. Last year it got filled very fast. I love photography as you can tell and love to experiment with the light and the depth of the field.

The picture above is definitely an example of a picture taken in a spontaneous way, but taking advantage of the light source and the subject. Thanks to Franklin Habit I will be able to take better pictures and be a bit more daring.

Nigel on the right side of this picture was the next teacher for the day.  Turkish cast on and designing your own sock, there was too little time , but we manage to cast one and do some roes of toe up socks.  He is a great teacher  and definitely his class was worth taking. 


It also involved magic loop and I was able to work on the sock without going insane, magic loop is not my favorite was of knitting, but I saw that you need the right length of cable and with the right technique, magic loop can be very good technique for socks.

After that there was Lunch and the tour of Skacel, which I decided to stay in. It must have been a success because the guys came with smiles on their faces, as I did last year, fantastic purchases. I got the Skein above from Tom who got a bag, so I was happy to purchase one from him. This yarn is fantastic I just did not want to purchase a whole bag. lol, really I did not. Nevertheless we had an invitation  from Karin Skacel to her house for Dessert and Wine or Coffee or cupcakes, it was a great venue as I got to see her and say hello, she had some toys for the boys to play.  We so some new products like the one below and got to play with them,  New Addi Clicks Bamboo and the Addi Tunisian Crochet Clicks which will be a fantastic addition to my sets once they are out.  I was gifted the addi hook which I am very thankful for.  Thank You for allowing us in your Home and share  with your family, I felt honored indeed, there was another contest, we love contests don't we.  John Wise won and there was another winner, which escapes me at the moment.

There was a show and tell and believe me there was a lot more to show, some items are ready to be published so we could not take the pictures or were requested to not post them in the net.  We can do that, it is nice to keep a secret , it is even better when you ask and people let you know what when and where.  As you can see Men Can Do Lace, lots of wonderful lace projects , I did not win with my show and tell, but I won because I was among all this wonderful craftsmen and artisans.  We can sculpture lace believe it or not.  I entered the Apollo Shawl which I donated to the Group and the Paean Scarf.  Thanks for allowing me to support the craft among men.

Men in Kilts are very sexy, specially when they know how to properly wear them.

Kevin was the Show and Tell Winner!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  This concludes our day two and of course we went to bed around 1 AM and then I got up at 5 AM, energized and ready to start the day.  I took advantage of the energy to do some meditation and get my luggage in shape, my room had a bathroom so it was nice not to have to go out in the middle of the night , we old chaps have to think of those things. We did not have a shower, but I would shower before going to bed.  Tomorrow or later on depending on how I feel I will describe to you Day 3 which was the day we got to Earthues .  Thanks for stopping by.

MFKR 2010 Day One

Five years ago I would have not thought it possible that I would be posting so much about my life online.  It has been almost five years since my first blog entry. Time truly runs like the wind. This post is about the MFKR , so let's get going on that subject.  Men across the miles from all walks of life, come and flock like birds to our retreats.  It is about men knitting and sharing in the craft, is not about TV, or social status or sexual orientation.  You can crochet, spin and even weave, but the main focus is knitting.  This is the third MFKR and my 4th MKR.   Dumas Bay Center is a great place, affordable, clean and very reachable by transportation from the airport.  We have friends in Seattle and the surrounding areas.  I think we all our going to move up there some day and have a village outside Seattle of the Men Who Knit, I hope you enjoy the journey I will take you , this retreat was a success in itself, no comparison , each retreat has it 's own value independently of the others.

This is the first night and after dinner we did not do the getting to know each other, rather we introduced ourselves quickly, then proceeded to see the fabulous prizes our sponsors donated. Needless to say Skacel is always here, we got our back packs from them, very handy I may say. Michael has put all the prices in display like a real store in this cabinet, and it is wondrous we all look forward to the swag.

Is this SABLE (stash addition beyond life expectancy) maybe lol. The Jane Ellison  Noro Men book was a gift, but this is not the only book we got.  The Entree to Entrelac: The Definitive Guide from a Biased Knitter Book was a gift as well. Biased knitting , now I know how to use my Knit Picks overspun  bargain yarn and make an entrelac vest, you bet. We got Curious Creek Fiber, we got Rainy Days & Wooly Dogs GothSocks  yarn, the Skacel ag, Simplicity yarn by Skacel, Candy by and some yarnies from New Zealands best Little Yarn Shop www.joyofyarn.co.nz   , James has beautiful colorways and does the yarn dyeing himself. It is Kettle Dye and Very affordable , the shipping is not bad.  "Girl on the Rocks " an Etsy shop as always very kind with great stitch markers and notions hand made. Valley Yarns gifted us a skein each and a full Afghan kit to one of the guys. We got wool SOAK for rinsing the wool.  We also got patterns, from Stephen West, Marlowe Crawford, Franklin Habit, Crafty Andy (Also a Moth Be gone Sachet designed by Kate Godfrey), knitspot.com pattern, Kieran Foley pattern, brigade Pullover by Todd Gocken. I hope I did not miss anyone. We got a tape measure from ChurchMouse Yarns and Teas. There was plenty of fiber for free, we got  a chance to take some Wollmeise  that our friend Kerry donated, some yarn from Anzula "Oasis" that was left over form the New Zealand retreat. Lots of unspun fiber for the taking. The first night was a success with two classes starting almost immediately, Drop spindle with Michael Wade and Cast Ons with Tom Belunis later on that nite.  I slept very little that nite and every nite, is the adrenaline I guess.


Tomorrow is another day and I will have to leave it for tomorrow so that you keep an interest on this retreat that has always been beyond my expectations.

Pink Truth MSKR 2010 (revisited)

PinkTruth
Originally uploaded by Crafty Andy

08/11/2013  I had to come back and revisit this post.  What happened to me at the MSKR 2010? What made this experience so bad?  I will tell you everything about what happened, well almost everything.  There was a participant at the retreat that did not want his picture taken.  I asked who this person was so that I could avoid taking his picture, the facilitator refused to tell me who the person was.  There were two occasions in which I tried to take pictures and the facilitator was telling me, as he follow me around, that I could not take the picture , because the individual was in the group I was aiming my camera at.  Mind you that I asked that  if anyone did  not want their picture taken to let me know or to get out of the picture. No one said anything.  I could care less the reason why this person did not want his picture taken, I was going to completely respect that.  What bothered me was that the facilitator was a real dick ,and in my opinion trying to play a stupid mind game with me.  I was ready to take a taxi and come back home that very night.  I was furious and decided to chant Nam Myoho Renge Kyo all night.  I avoided making a scene with lots of drama, and decided the hell with it and stayed in my room chanting. I boycotted the show and tell, there was no way I could  take any pictures this way.   Another point was the place was dirty, no one cleaned the chest of drawers that we were supposed to use.  There are no locks on the doors, and some of the staff were very unfriendly,  but these were less of a problem than having someone playing a stupid mind game with me. Later on, after I boycotted the Show and Tell , he revealed to me who was the person that did not want their photo taken.  I though it was too late, but appreciated his honesty, but I told him he was an idiot.  How can you tell someone and guarantee that there will be no pictures taken. In the end, I told the facilitator that I really did not care why the person did not want their picture taken. Believe  me, if you are in a public place and you don't want your picture taken, stay home, you are not Madonna or the Prince of Wales. In the end the responsibility of having a good time was mine, but the facilitator did not make it easy for me or the person with a privacy issue.  He should have refused accepting that kind of responsibility  which was hard to be enforced. I just wanted to revisit and share , clarify the story of this pink triangle and what I did not say before. One thing is for sure, I will never let something like this happen again.  I think the facilitator made a big mistake.  He put himself in a very tricky situation, I really did not feel comfortable taking pictures any more and to this day it bothers me how I overreacted for nothing.  There were lots of people taking pictures, I felt singled out even though I was not really singled out, I was embarrassed and felt like I was being treated like a child.  The facilitator has always been a friend,but he really disappointed me that weekend. The following paragraphs is what I wrote then and I have updated the posting  as of 08/11/2013.

I went to the East Coast Men's Knitting Retreat 2010. I may be posting some pictures later on , but it s not going to be today I don't know if it is going to be sometime this week or never. I have posted some pictures on Flickr, feel free to look. If I had taken your picture and you did not want it taken and you did not speak up when I asked, twice mind you, you can still get your picture taken off the public sites, just sent me a personal e-mail. I do not need to know why you want it taken off, it is your choice and I will respect it. They say a picture is worth a thousands words, you got my picture I can not say a word.

The MSKR 2010 was the worst experience I have ever had in a retreat, that is for sure. Unless there are improvements on the venue I will not be visiting my brothers on the East Coast Any time soon. Don't let my experience, which is personal create a bad impression of the venue.  I did not expect to have any of the issues I encountered , and I definitely did not know how to handle it. So if you have ever been in a situation like that there are two or three  ways you can handle it, hopefully things will improve and they are improving from the feedback of my experience.

 
Thanks for stopping by.