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From Ivan...
Jun. 19th, 2008 01:43 pmTravelogue for the 2008 Griffin Dye Works Fiber Retreat
So, for those of you that my not know, your Baron is a string geek. Spinning, weaving, dying, it's all a lot of fun to me. I like sitting at my spinning wheel turning fluff into thread and so when Her Excellency asked me if I would like to go the Griffin Dye Works Fiber Retreat for my birthday, I thought it was a great idea.
The retreat is a three day camping event held at Camp Verdugo Oaks in southern California, just north of LA. It is not an SCA event, though significantly more than half of the people there are in the SCA. It is sponsored by John and Bjo Trimble, owners of Griffin Dye Works and soon to be Baron and Baroness of Angles; two more hospitable and energetic people are hard to imagine. The cost was $225 a person but camping, meals and most of the class supplies are included in the fee for the retreat, something you won't see anywhere else. The camp also has indoor plumbing, showers, a pool and a number of hard floored tents, available for those that don't want to pack their own tent.
The list of classes was large with 26 official classes and a bunch of people willing to teach you anything they knew. I was specifically interested in learning to use a great wheel, the warp weighted loom and dying with lichens, all of which I got to do.
Our trip started out Thursday afternoon as we crammed everything into our Honda Fit (not even a tight squeeze considering there was no armor or pavilion) and headed for California. Everything was going well until we hit a bolt in the road at Quartzite and had to stop and get a new tire. We weren’t the only ones at the tire place either, as three more people came in behind us with the same problem. After getting the new tire we drove on into the night, finally pulling into a hotel near Six Flags where we crashed for the night.
We drove the last twenty minutes to site the next morning and got checked in (all of about a minutes work) and then got our tent and things set up. I got to see the Great Wheel set up and then got to spin on it. I also got to spend a lot of time with the setup of the warp weighted loom, weaving the header and getting the warp put up on the loom. And I also got to take the class on lichen dyes, which included setting up the dye bath, a four day process (yes, I know it was only a three day retreat, I got to finish the project at home). Ianuk spent her time on embroidery and tablet weaving (there was a whole bunch of tablet weaving going on). That evening, I sat under the tent city of pop-ups with more than a dozen other spinners and had a great time talking and spinning.
Saturday I split my time between the warp weighted loom and the dye pots, dyeing up every skein of thread I had spun. Ianuk did some natural silk tie-dye in the indigo pot and the brazil wood pots, making some fantastic scarves and took a modern tie-dye class. Saturday night I spun up another thousand yards so I would have something to dye on Sunday, as I had dyed everything I had brought with me as well as what I had spun up the night before.
Sunday, I got up and started in on the dying again. We had to be going by noon, and Ianuk was kind enough to pack up camp while I played. I had just enough time to dye everything and let it dry before we had to be saying our goodbyes and be going.
The entire trip out, I kept wondering if it was going to be worth the drive out. The entire trip home, I knew it had been. We got to meet a lot of really great people, learn some new things and spend time doing something I enjoy. It was a great weekend.
Oh, and don't let me forget the food. Our cooks were great, the coffee bar of splendor was a blessing in the mornings and the mid morning and mid afternoon snacks were a great thing.
All in all, if you are interested in all things string, this is a great place to spend a weekend. I know I'm planning on going back next year and I hope I can get a few more to come along.
Ivan
So, for those of you that my not know, your Baron is a string geek. Spinning, weaving, dying, it's all a lot of fun to me. I like sitting at my spinning wheel turning fluff into thread and so when Her Excellency asked me if I would like to go the Griffin Dye Works Fiber Retreat for my birthday, I thought it was a great idea.
The retreat is a three day camping event held at Camp Verdugo Oaks in southern California, just north of LA. It is not an SCA event, though significantly more than half of the people there are in the SCA. It is sponsored by John and Bjo Trimble, owners of Griffin Dye Works and soon to be Baron and Baroness of Angles; two more hospitable and energetic people are hard to imagine. The cost was $225 a person but camping, meals and most of the class supplies are included in the fee for the retreat, something you won't see anywhere else. The camp also has indoor plumbing, showers, a pool and a number of hard floored tents, available for those that don't want to pack their own tent.
The list of classes was large with 26 official classes and a bunch of people willing to teach you anything they knew. I was specifically interested in learning to use a great wheel, the warp weighted loom and dying with lichens, all of which I got to do.
Our trip started out Thursday afternoon as we crammed everything into our Honda Fit (not even a tight squeeze considering there was no armor or pavilion) and headed for California. Everything was going well until we hit a bolt in the road at Quartzite and had to stop and get a new tire. We weren’t the only ones at the tire place either, as three more people came in behind us with the same problem. After getting the new tire we drove on into the night, finally pulling into a hotel near Six Flags where we crashed for the night.
We drove the last twenty minutes to site the next morning and got checked in (all of about a minutes work) and then got our tent and things set up. I got to see the Great Wheel set up and then got to spin on it. I also got to spend a lot of time with the setup of the warp weighted loom, weaving the header and getting the warp put up on the loom. And I also got to take the class on lichen dyes, which included setting up the dye bath, a four day process (yes, I know it was only a three day retreat, I got to finish the project at home). Ianuk spent her time on embroidery and tablet weaving (there was a whole bunch of tablet weaving going on). That evening, I sat under the tent city of pop-ups with more than a dozen other spinners and had a great time talking and spinning.
Saturday I split my time between the warp weighted loom and the dye pots, dyeing up every skein of thread I had spun. Ianuk did some natural silk tie-dye in the indigo pot and the brazil wood pots, making some fantastic scarves and took a modern tie-dye class. Saturday night I spun up another thousand yards so I would have something to dye on Sunday, as I had dyed everything I had brought with me as well as what I had spun up the night before.
Sunday, I got up and started in on the dying again. We had to be going by noon, and Ianuk was kind enough to pack up camp while I played. I had just enough time to dye everything and let it dry before we had to be saying our goodbyes and be going.
The entire trip out, I kept wondering if it was going to be worth the drive out. The entire trip home, I knew it had been. We got to meet a lot of really great people, learn some new things and spend time doing something I enjoy. It was a great weekend.
Oh, and don't let me forget the food. Our cooks were great, the coffee bar of splendor was a blessing in the mornings and the mid morning and mid afternoon snacks were a great thing.
All in all, if you are interested in all things string, this is a great place to spend a weekend. I know I'm planning on going back next year and I hope I can get a few more to come along.
Ivan
