Are you a knitter or a spinner who happens to be a guy? Would you like to meet other guys who share your passion for the fiber arts? Would you like to learn more about knitting and spinning techniques from other guy crafters? Well, read on brothers-in-yarns:
In keeping with the tradition and high standards set this year by the folks that produced the Men's Spring Knitting Retreat 2008, we are excited to present this opportunity for an all male retreat located at the continent's edge at the mouth of the San Francisco Bay. it provides the setting for an unforgettable retreat in a natural, functional setting and is only ten minutes from the Golden Gate Bridge in the Marin Headlands. Retreat website can be accessed at http://www.pointbonitaymca.org/conference.html.
The price for the weekend is $180 per person. This includes bed (dormitory style, like summer camp!), 3 meals a day (including special dietary needs if required) and a private conference room for mixers, classes and bull sessions. And if that wasn't enough to recommend the facility, the Golding Fiber Institute hosts their spinning retreat at this retreat space!!!
Read a recap HERE!
The total amount is for this event per person is $180. This breaks down as follows:
* $148 per person - Point Bonita Retreat fee
* $8.50 per person - Environmental Education fee (based on $75 total)
* $10 per person - MFKR Administrative Fees (helps us with printing, gas, time spent online, etc.)
* $10 per person - Men's Knitting Retreat fee (this will help us setup MKR website and other costs)
* $3.50 per person - PayPal fees
* $180.00 - Total Weekend Cost Per Person (does not include the cost of airfare if you're flying into the Bay Area)
Check-in is Friday, November 7 starting @ 3pm
Check-out is Sunday, November 9 @ 11am (but we can remain on-site until 5pm)
We will require your payment in full at the time of your registration. Please contact Michael Wade (WonderMike on Ravelry, or [mikealanwade at gmail.com] if you would like to join us. And if you'd like to get your groovy MFKR2008 swag, check out the Cafe Press store.
There's a million crafters in Fiber City and we've all got a yarn to spin, knit, crochet, weave...
Friday, October 10, 2008
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Yknit 014 featuring Tactile Fiber Arts
This episode is live!!!
We've got TWO contests.
Leave us a comment... or better yet, write a review in iTunes for us.
Love you all!
~Michael
We've got TWO contests.
Leave us a comment... or better yet, write a review in iTunes for us.
Love you all!
~Michael
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Yknit 13, Yknitalong featuring Larissa Brown
The new podcast is LIVE at Yknit.com and on iTunes.
This interview was so fantastic, primarily because Larissa is a dream subject... smart, thoughtful, funny and very zen. I could have chatted with her for hours, but I knew we would need to edit it down to ~30 minutes so I spared her the fanboy marathon.
If you haven't see her book Knitalong go to your nearest independent bookseller and give it a whirl. It's got great stories, luscious photographs and some simple but elegant patterns to experience.
I know I've gone a bit silent recently, but it's all for wonderful reasons:
1. Anthony has started school (Whooo Hooo!) - He's studying English and poor thing is so nervous. I keep telling him he's going to knock their socks off, but he's not sure if that's good, since I'm an avid sock knitter.
2. Men's Fall Knitting Retreat planning is in full swing - The date has been set for November 7-9 at Point Bonita YMCA in the Marin Headlands. It's going to be tons of fun with lots of fiber goodness for the Y-Chromosome set. If you are a guy or you know a guy who'd be interested in joining us, please put them in touch with me.
3. I'm about 3/4 of the way done with MY FIRST SWEATER (EZ EPS) - Yes, this UFO has been on my needles for well over a year (if not longer). The lure of quick knit objects (like toys) or obligation/deadline knitting (like booties), always jumps ahead in the queue, but, with the approach of the MFKR (see #2 above), I'd like to have a practical but personal FO for show and tell.
4. I'm about 1/5 of the way through the Uncle Argyle scarf from Son of Stitch N Bitch. It's such a striking pattern, but GOTT IM HIMMELL, it's a slow knit. Granted, I'm a slow knitter, but the chart is serious daytime, full-attention work. The results are ENTIRELY worth it.
Hope everyone is doing well!
This interview was so fantastic, primarily because Larissa is a dream subject... smart, thoughtful, funny and very zen. I could have chatted with her for hours, but I knew we would need to edit it down to ~30 minutes so I spared her the fanboy marathon.
If you haven't see her book Knitalong go to your nearest independent bookseller and give it a whirl. It's got great stories, luscious photographs and some simple but elegant patterns to experience.
I know I've gone a bit silent recently, but it's all for wonderful reasons:
1. Anthony has started school (Whooo Hooo!) - He's studying English and poor thing is so nervous. I keep telling him he's going to knock their socks off, but he's not sure if that's good, since I'm an avid sock knitter.
2. Men's Fall Knitting Retreat planning is in full swing - The date has been set for November 7-9 at Point Bonita YMCA in the Marin Headlands. It's going to be tons of fun with lots of fiber goodness for the Y-Chromosome set. If you are a guy or you know a guy who'd be interested in joining us, please put them in touch with me.
3. I'm about 3/4 of the way done with MY FIRST SWEATER (EZ EPS) - Yes, this UFO has been on my needles for well over a year (if not longer). The lure of quick knit objects (like toys) or obligation/deadline knitting (like booties), always jumps ahead in the queue, but, with the approach of the MFKR (see #2 above), I'd like to have a practical but personal FO for show and tell.
4. I'm about 1/5 of the way through the Uncle Argyle scarf from Son of Stitch N Bitch. It's such a striking pattern, but GOTT IM HIMMELL, it's a slow knit. Granted, I'm a slow knitter, but the chart is serious daytime, full-attention work. The results are ENTIRELY worth it.
Hope everyone is doing well!
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Yknit Episode 12, "Y Would Dye 4 U"
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
The Genius of Chihuly
Or, how I spent my summer vacation.
This year instead of stalking Kaffe Fassett in Europe or learning how to dye textiles in India, I took the days off surrounding the Fourth of July and had some quality me time. This means that I switched all of the digital media off (well, all except the DVD player and my iPod) and dove right in to spinning on my new Ashford Joy, knitting on a wonderful double knit pattern from Son of Stitch N Bitch and donating clothes to Goodwill. As if that wasn't enough to keep me busy all the long weekend, I also went to the Dale Chihuly show at the DeYoung Museum in San Francisco AND saw the reunited Yazoo at the Paramount Theatre.
This post will be about the Chihuly experience.
I've never actually been to a solo exhibition of DC's work. The DeYoung had a few lovely pieces in its permanent collection, but I've never been to the Bellagio or to any of his installations in Venice or Seattle. So, this show was overwhelming in the most delightful way.
Anthony and I trekked over to the city at what we thought was a good time, but once we arrived, we saw the crazy long line just to get tickets and I worried that going on a Sunday of a long weekend was not the best of ideas. Fortunately, the line went pretty quickly and the cashier gave Anthony the student discount because they didn't have a disabled one. Honestly, don't get me started on places that don't have discounts for folks in wheelchairs. But, I digress.
Since half of SF decided to go on the day we did, there were limits to the number of people allowed into the exhibit at the same time. We were told that we could enter at 3:30pm but once inside we could stay as long as we liked. This wasn't really a problem since there was a killer Turkish carpet/weaving exhibit I was interested in AND the rest of the museum to explore.
The Turkish exhibit was quite lovely. I don't really understand weaving, but I have a feeling that I would have no patience for it. It seems like a lot of trouble and a lot on investment in tools and materials. Hrrrm. Perhaps that isn't that big of a barrier for me, considering how far down the rabbit hole I've fallen with spinning, but I think a loom would be a huge obstacle to navigate around in our place. But, these pieces were magnificently constructed with beautiful colors and designs. My favorite pieces were the robes! The light was a bit low to preserve the integrity of the fabric and hues, but even under diminished light, it was impressive.
We roamed around the African and Polynesian displays until I realized that I was a bit peckish and needed at least a coffee and cookie from the museum cafe. Yes, the line was from hell, but I made Anthony go ahead and grab a clean table, while I queued up and made my choices. I got a super yummy turkey and poblano spread sandwich (with Peet's coffee!) and I got Anthony an assortment of organic local cherry tomatoes and ranch dressing (with Peet's Coffee). While we were eating our snacks, this scary seagull swooped in (barely missing my head) but then proceeded to peck away at the glass windows/walls of the cafe, because he/she was annoyed with the "other" gull that was mirroring every step s/he made. I captured a quick bit on my camera's movie setting.
Fully sated, we made our way to the Chihuly show.... and I. Was. Blown. Away. Dale Chihuly is such a master of his craft. It was that good. There were crazy Ikebana sculptures, fabulous southwestern motif vessels, glorious organic bowls with glowing edges, a room with a clear ceiling and light shining through hundreds of small glass objects (c.f. the picture with this post), a wall of jellyfish/anemones, boats on black mirrored rivers filled with balls, hanging/writhing pieces that looked like Superman's Secret Lair, and finally a garden of the most unbelievable flora I have ever seen.
We were allowed to take photographs as long as there was no flash, and I took over 200. I was able to edit out the blurry or poorly composed ones, making the final count about 150 but I can imagine taking loads more with a better camera. I only have a Canon Powershot A620 but I dream of a digital SLR in the future.
Anthony and I didn't really fancy coming home just yet, so we went backwards through the exhibit to revisit our favorite pieces. We were finally kicked out at 5:30pm and headed back to the Beast (East Bay is pig latin for Beast). Practically a perfect day with a nice creative shot in the arm.
What have you seen this summer that has filled you with the desire to make art?
This year instead of stalking Kaffe Fassett in Europe or learning how to dye textiles in India, I took the days off surrounding the Fourth of July and had some quality me time. This means that I switched all of the digital media off (well, all except the DVD player and my iPod) and dove right in to spinning on my new Ashford Joy, knitting on a wonderful double knit pattern from Son of Stitch N Bitch and donating clothes to Goodwill. As if that wasn't enough to keep me busy all the long weekend, I also went to the Dale Chihuly show at the DeYoung Museum in San Francisco AND saw the reunited Yazoo at the Paramount Theatre.
This post will be about the Chihuly experience.
I've never actually been to a solo exhibition of DC's work. The DeYoung had a few lovely pieces in its permanent collection, but I've never been to the Bellagio or to any of his installations in Venice or Seattle. So, this show was overwhelming in the most delightful way.
Anthony and I trekked over to the city at what we thought was a good time, but once we arrived, we saw the crazy long line just to get tickets and I worried that going on a Sunday of a long weekend was not the best of ideas. Fortunately, the line went pretty quickly and the cashier gave Anthony the student discount because they didn't have a disabled one. Honestly, don't get me started on places that don't have discounts for folks in wheelchairs. But, I digress.
Since half of SF decided to go on the day we did, there were limits to the number of people allowed into the exhibit at the same time. We were told that we could enter at 3:30pm but once inside we could stay as long as we liked. This wasn't really a problem since there was a killer Turkish carpet/weaving exhibit I was interested in AND the rest of the museum to explore.
The Turkish exhibit was quite lovely. I don't really understand weaving, but I have a feeling that I would have no patience for it. It seems like a lot of trouble and a lot on investment in tools and materials. Hrrrm. Perhaps that isn't that big of a barrier for me, considering how far down the rabbit hole I've fallen with spinning, but I think a loom would be a huge obstacle to navigate around in our place. But, these pieces were magnificently constructed with beautiful colors and designs. My favorite pieces were the robes! The light was a bit low to preserve the integrity of the fabric and hues, but even under diminished light, it was impressive.
We roamed around the African and Polynesian displays until I realized that I was a bit peckish and needed at least a coffee and cookie from the museum cafe. Yes, the line was from hell, but I made Anthony go ahead and grab a clean table, while I queued up and made my choices. I got a super yummy turkey and poblano spread sandwich (with Peet's coffee!) and I got Anthony an assortment of organic local cherry tomatoes and ranch dressing (with Peet's Coffee). While we were eating our snacks, this scary seagull swooped in (barely missing my head) but then proceeded to peck away at the glass windows/walls of the cafe, because he/she was annoyed with the "other" gull that was mirroring every step s/he made. I captured a quick bit on my camera's movie setting.
Fully sated, we made our way to the Chihuly show.... and I. Was. Blown. Away. Dale Chihuly is such a master of his craft. It was that good. There were crazy Ikebana sculptures, fabulous southwestern motif vessels, glorious organic bowls with glowing edges, a room with a clear ceiling and light shining through hundreds of small glass objects (c.f. the picture with this post), a wall of jellyfish/anemones, boats on black mirrored rivers filled with balls, hanging/writhing pieces that looked like Superman's Secret Lair, and finally a garden of the most unbelievable flora I have ever seen.
We were allowed to take photographs as long as there was no flash, and I took over 200. I was able to edit out the blurry or poorly composed ones, making the final count about 150 but I can imagine taking loads more with a better camera. I only have a Canon Powershot A620 but I dream of a digital SLR in the future.
Anthony and I didn't really fancy coming home just yet, so we went backwards through the exhibit to revisit our favorite pieces. We were finally kicked out at 5:30pm and headed back to the Beast (East Bay is pig latin for Beast). Practically a perfect day with a nice creative shot in the arm.
What have you seen this summer that has filled you with the desire to make art?
Monday, July 7, 2008
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