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2011 Griffin Dyeworks Fiber & Dye Retreat
Jun. 28th, 2011 07:32 amWell, the family is tired and excited about crafting after a wonderful trip to California for the annual Fiber and Dye Retreat hosted by Griffin Dyeworks at the Camp Verdugo Oaks Scout Camp.
Our MO is to drive after work on Thursday, hotel it at the local Holiday Inn Express and then set up our tent at the camp on Friday and enjoy the weekend. Well with Benton we modified things a bit. We left in the morning and were able to get to our hotel by 7pm and would be staying in a cabin at site the next day. The holiday Inn Express in Santa Clarita is awesome. They had upgraded us to a suite and it was nice to have space and two nice big beds.
After traveling all day Benton was pretty amped up to be squirmy. We fed him at our lunch stop and then in the car while we were driving down the road from a bottle. I managed to pump more milk while we were going down the road. The car adapter for my breast pump was an awesome purchase. He did well during the drive but slept alot thus he was happy to be flopping around on the bed. We did lots of tummy time but eventually mel and I just went to bed and he wiggled until he fell asleep. I had placed him in a pillow fort and he was happy to sleep that way. We got up about 7am and he had a good feeding and then we got packed up for the retreat and hit the awesome breakfast. I again reiterate that I'm sure holiday inn puts crack in their cinnamon rolls.
We arrived on site and things were pretty much setup. We got out of the car and Katrina, The head Kitchen Goddess, stole Benton (carseat and all). We got checked in and then shown our cabin which was nice and we got our cots setup and Benton's bed set up and we were ready to enjoy the day. I had a class at 2pm involving making a glass pebble bowl, mel hit the dye areas and we had a good time. Folks kept asking to watch the boy so he hung out in his rocking chair and enjoyed people time in between feedings. He did not want to nap much but he did okay. He was snuggly though so that was also nice for folks who watched him. I sat in the afternoon working on the copper edging of all of my glass pebbles and chatting with everyone sitting and spinning or working on other projects. After dinner we got to see archeological textiles from gotland (slideshow) and then it was more time out with folks spinning and working on the copper foil. Mel was spinning and dyeing stuff and had managed to tie-dye two of Benton's onesies with indigo. Benton was tired and he kept trying to stay awake. He was so cute and giggling and babbling at us while fighting sleep. He was so adorable but I finally got him rocked to sleep in the chair and we all went to bed. I slept okay that night but not great. I was worried that Ben wasn't sleeping well and kept checking on him. He did fine but had managed to scoot himself into the corner of the pack n play. Got up the next morning and hit breakfast a little late but all good.
Benton took a nap in the rocker during my sprang class and mel got to play with cochineal dye. I got my bowl soldered together and after dinner we managed to put benton to bed when he was awake which is a good feat in parenting I think. He crashed out within about 15 mins of being left to himself and was snoring when we came to bed. So, cute! I then spent the evening spinning. I had won a spindle in the raffle and I used it. It was made by one of the other men at the retreat (we had a few this year besides Woody and Mel) and its does pretty well. Oh, and when we came to the retreat we brought a spinning wheel back that mel had taken last year to be refurbished. He did a really nice job on a wheel that he is pretty sure was just a show piece and not made to be a working machine. Well, it went to Melly (a girl Mel) and she was delighted. She didn't have a wheel of her own and for her $10 in raffle tickets she won. Now another wheel was in the raffle too and it needed work. Mel was being obnoxious and teased me by putting in one ticket. Yeah, guess who brought home another spinning wheel! My dear darling (I'm gonna kill him) husband. Now I was annoyed but with the help of Twitter I had a Tucson owner of the spinning wheel in an hour.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
msaimeesue will get it once mel finishes with it.
So on the mel's addicted to spinning wheels front: He has a 19th Century production wheel, His mother's old Ashford and a wheel he bought forweavedancer to all fix and repair. The thing that has been holding him back is making a wheel jig to hold the wheel flat while he reworks Perin's and his mom's. The whole plan was for him to have all of the extra wheels (he's keeping the 19th Century one) away and then we'd bee down to 3 wheels. Plus in the eventuality that I want to get a wheel I want space for mine as well. So, its funny and annoying at the same time.
Anyhoo, I had a good time spinning and then headed to bed. We did have a coon try to get in the cabin but it just scrambled around outside. I would have slept a bit better if not thinking of animals. Next year we will have our tent and I know what animals trying to get in sounds like.
Sunday morning we got up and the boy was tuckered. He fed and got snuggled during breakfast and when mel and I were packing up stuff in the cabin before mel's class on spinning flax he crashed out. I let him sleep and got the rest of the cabin packed and loaded into the car and got our stuff out in the common area packed up. We participated in the show and tell for the weekend and then had lunch and headed out. We managed to get on the road just before 1pm and pulled in at home at 920pm. We had stopped to get gas once, switch drivers once and have dinner so that wasn't too bad. Benton did well and slept the entire way minus getting a bottle for feeding. I worked on mel's cowl and he worked on my socks when we weren't driving and it was a good but tiring trip. I fell asleep somewhere before we turned onto I10 from I8 and was half asleep the drive to tucson. We got in and Benton got fed and put to bed. He was awake and wiggly for quite a while but then he was crashed out. We relaxed, put a few things away, had a beer and then headed to bed ourselves. All in all it was a great weekend. The pictures should our adventure. I'll be putting links up to other pictures as well.
My Photos of the retreat
Bridget's Pictures
Ercil's Pictures
So enjoy the pictures and go forward and make stuff!
I was really inspired this weekend and that is good. Lots of things brewing in my mind and I bought more fiber so I need to plan out my Tour de Fleece Spinning. Lots to do....
Our MO is to drive after work on Thursday, hotel it at the local Holiday Inn Express and then set up our tent at the camp on Friday and enjoy the weekend. Well with Benton we modified things a bit. We left in the morning and were able to get to our hotel by 7pm and would be staying in a cabin at site the next day. The holiday Inn Express in Santa Clarita is awesome. They had upgraded us to a suite and it was nice to have space and two nice big beds.
After traveling all day Benton was pretty amped up to be squirmy. We fed him at our lunch stop and then in the car while we were driving down the road from a bottle. I managed to pump more milk while we were going down the road. The car adapter for my breast pump was an awesome purchase. He did well during the drive but slept alot thus he was happy to be flopping around on the bed. We did lots of tummy time but eventually mel and I just went to bed and he wiggled until he fell asleep. I had placed him in a pillow fort and he was happy to sleep that way. We got up about 7am and he had a good feeding and then we got packed up for the retreat and hit the awesome breakfast. I again reiterate that I'm sure holiday inn puts crack in their cinnamon rolls.
We arrived on site and things were pretty much setup. We got out of the car and Katrina, The head Kitchen Goddess, stole Benton (carseat and all). We got checked in and then shown our cabin which was nice and we got our cots setup and Benton's bed set up and we were ready to enjoy the day. I had a class at 2pm involving making a glass pebble bowl, mel hit the dye areas and we had a good time. Folks kept asking to watch the boy so he hung out in his rocking chair and enjoyed people time in between feedings. He did not want to nap much but he did okay. He was snuggly though so that was also nice for folks who watched him. I sat in the afternoon working on the copper edging of all of my glass pebbles and chatting with everyone sitting and spinning or working on other projects. After dinner we got to see archeological textiles from gotland (slideshow) and then it was more time out with folks spinning and working on the copper foil. Mel was spinning and dyeing stuff and had managed to tie-dye two of Benton's onesies with indigo. Benton was tired and he kept trying to stay awake. He was so cute and giggling and babbling at us while fighting sleep. He was so adorable but I finally got him rocked to sleep in the chair and we all went to bed. I slept okay that night but not great. I was worried that Ben wasn't sleeping well and kept checking on him. He did fine but had managed to scoot himself into the corner of the pack n play. Got up the next morning and hit breakfast a little late but all good.
Benton took a nap in the rocker during my sprang class and mel got to play with cochineal dye. I got my bowl soldered together and after dinner we managed to put benton to bed when he was awake which is a good feat in parenting I think. He crashed out within about 15 mins of being left to himself and was snoring when we came to bed. So, cute! I then spent the evening spinning. I had won a spindle in the raffle and I used it. It was made by one of the other men at the retreat (we had a few this year besides Woody and Mel) and its does pretty well. Oh, and when we came to the retreat we brought a spinning wheel back that mel had taken last year to be refurbished. He did a really nice job on a wheel that he is pretty sure was just a show piece and not made to be a working machine. Well, it went to Melly (a girl Mel) and she was delighted. She didn't have a wheel of her own and for her $10 in raffle tickets she won. Now another wheel was in the raffle too and it needed work. Mel was being obnoxious and teased me by putting in one ticket. Yeah, guess who brought home another spinning wheel! My dear darling (I'm gonna kill him) husband. Now I was annoyed but with the help of Twitter I had a Tucson owner of the spinning wheel in an hour.
msaimeesue will get it once mel finishes with it.So on the mel's addicted to spinning wheels front: He has a 19th Century production wheel, His mother's old Ashford and a wheel he bought for
weavedancer to all fix and repair. The thing that has been holding him back is making a wheel jig to hold the wheel flat while he reworks Perin's and his mom's. The whole plan was for him to have all of the extra wheels (he's keeping the 19th Century one) away and then we'd bee down to 3 wheels. Plus in the eventuality that I want to get a wheel I want space for mine as well. So, its funny and annoying at the same time.Anyhoo, I had a good time spinning and then headed to bed. We did have a coon try to get in the cabin but it just scrambled around outside. I would have slept a bit better if not thinking of animals. Next year we will have our tent and I know what animals trying to get in sounds like.
Sunday morning we got up and the boy was tuckered. He fed and got snuggled during breakfast and when mel and I were packing up stuff in the cabin before mel's class on spinning flax he crashed out. I let him sleep and got the rest of the cabin packed and loaded into the car and got our stuff out in the common area packed up. We participated in the show and tell for the weekend and then had lunch and headed out. We managed to get on the road just before 1pm and pulled in at home at 920pm. We had stopped to get gas once, switch drivers once and have dinner so that wasn't too bad. Benton did well and slept the entire way minus getting a bottle for feeding. I worked on mel's cowl and he worked on my socks when we weren't driving and it was a good but tiring trip. I fell asleep somewhere before we turned onto I10 from I8 and was half asleep the drive to tucson. We got in and Benton got fed and put to bed. He was awake and wiggly for quite a while but then he was crashed out. We relaxed, put a few things away, had a beer and then headed to bed ourselves. All in all it was a great weekend. The pictures should our adventure. I'll be putting links up to other pictures as well.
My Photos of the retreat
Bridget's Pictures
Ercil's Pictures
So enjoy the pictures and go forward and make stuff!
I was really inspired this weekend and that is good. Lots of things brewing in my mind and I bought more fiber so I need to plan out my Tour de Fleece Spinning. Lots to do....
