I won't say that I had a terrible time at Spa this year, but it wasn't like last year. I'm not sure if it's the stomach virus I got the day I left that clouded the whole weekend or what...but the magic is gone...or at least the excitement of going next year is. I think I realized that mostly all the people I enjoy being around are the ones I see all the time...either with the Manchvegas Knitters on Wed nights, the new Friday Night Knitters at Yarn and Fiber Co. or the Island Pond Spinners in Hampstead (though I haven't been there for a while...since it's on Friday nights!)
The drive over to Freeport, ME on Friday afternoon was really difficult. Heather did a super job of driving in the horrible storm, but the roads were so bad and it took us over 3 hours to get there. Once there, I was feeling cold/hot/stomach gurgling nastily and was in a slight daze. After dinner (at a saucy little place called Pedro O'Hara's), the lovely Julie, Patti of The Yarn Sellar, Mary, Melanie, Heather, Ericka and Chris and I all went back to the hotel bar to meet up with other Ravelers.
The bar was a tiny little section off of the lobby and, since I was pretty much pooped out already, I sat for only a little bit with everyone and then went to bed early. I think everyone else sat and drank for a while. I was disappointed with how the Ravelry/Blog Meetup went, though. It wasn't like the open arms welcome that most knitters give to each other most places I go ("Hi! Do you knit? My name is so and so. What're you knitting?...smiles,etc...")...which was strange...it was more like -"Hmm, well...we all know each other over here and we'll take a quick look at you to see if we know you or read your blog, but, if not, then we'll just turn back to our friends here." It may very well be because I wasn't feeling well that I felt like that, but besides the-always-wonderful Amy, there wasn't much warmth in that area. It was kind of sad, if you think about it...more like a high school clique atmosphere...and I was excited to meet other Ravelers.
The hotel was beautiful, the beds supremely comfy and most of the vendors had just gorgeous things. I was very, very frugal this year and only bought 4 oz. of fiber from Amy...a superwash merino roving in "Thin Ice"...and 6 oz. of Frelsi Farm Icelandic/Mohair blend top in white...very, very nice. Here is the Icelandic/Mohair spun and plied so far...I may be wrong, but I think I was able to get a 2 ply laceweight this time! Woo-hoo!
I was thrilled to be able to spend most of the time I wasn't spinning (or recovering from stomach pains...ugh!) with Julie and Patti, who I don't get to see half as much as I'd like to. We got to talk about our kids, Clover (of course!), visiting yarn shops and working in a yarn shop. Great conversations and fun!
I was also soo happy that I got to see more of Laurin and Lisa this weekend than I did last year. Both of those ladies crack me up to no end and you KNOW you'll be laughing with them, no matter what. I was actually successful in taking a quick pic of my dear friend, Laurin (and her newly finished sock) here with my favorite married, knitting couple, Chris and Ericka:
And here is the fantastic Lisa modeling her very first hand knit hat (woo-hoo!) and wearing Laurin's scarf (aka Salad Fixings) around her neck:
Hanging out with Mary (who is becoming a regular at Friday Night Knitting club) and meeting her friend, Melanie, was also wonderful and they were truly enjoyable people to be around. I was even able to show Mary how to navajo ply her handspun and, boy, she did a great job. I don't even think she really needed my help at all!
And, last year, I met Brenda at Spa and I was very happy to see her again this year. We even got to sit next to each other both days and spin! She's made an Amanda mini-Headband out of her handspun and it's soo cute! As soon as she finishes it, she promised to send me a pic so I could show it on the blog. She was only learning to spin on the spindle last year and, this year, she was just sailing along on her wheel. It was amazing to see that!
I snuck a pic of Patti, Julie and Brenda here...
I even won a door prize, but gave it to Heather since I already had it. She was more than happy to receive it. LOL! I think almost everyone won something, which was really great. Here she is spinning with Ericka and Chris knitting his sock...
I missed my boys and missed all the other ManchVegans (especially all of their crazy shananigans) and thought that I wasn't really sure if it's worth the money to go and spin there next year. I heard that sales were low this year, too, for the vendors...much lower than last year. Was it just me feeling sick? Was it the storm? Something else?
After two disappointing weekends away this year, I'm not as keen to plan for more. I love my Wednesdays and Fridays with my friends (both groups are growing like crazy!) and I think those nights (which are FREE!) are WAY more fun than the outings I've been on this past year. Maybe I'm just being a big, boring ol' baby about it (which is certainly possible!), but I like sticking to what makes me happiest and most comfortable. Am I crazy?
8 comments:
Gina, I'm glad you got to spend time with some of our favorite people!! Sometimes it's nice to meet new people, but sometimes it's just good to stay with what's comfy, and that includes the friends we see every week.
SO good to see pics of Julie and Patty too!!!
Sorry you didn't have a great time ;-(
It was fun spinning with you and catching up. Love the lace weight yarn. Now if I just will find my camera I'll get a pic of the finished headband. Hope you're feeling better!
Oh Gina, I'm sorry you didn't have a good time. You're not crazy; I think it was probably mostly because you weren't feeling well. It was good to see you and spend some time with you; I wish we lived close enough to get together more often.
Your lace weight looks great!
Gina, I am sorry to hear that you didn't have the really great time you were hoping for. I know what you mean about the familiar being something you really look forward to.
That laceweight really does look great and spinning just a little for me this weekend really got the bug going again for it. Hope the weekend at least got that going for you. Hope you are all better now!
Being sick definitely puts a damper on things for sure. I hate when I plan for something and I get sick. It's so unfair.
Sounds like you are very grateful for the knitting friends you have. Stick with what works. And have fun!
Sorry to hear that it was not as much fun as you had hoped.
How about a new place with the same old people for next time.
Check out my blog for pics of my knitting weekend.
Man, I hope being stuck with a lousy roomie wasn't part of the problem. :( Sorry it was so disappointing -- I'll see you tonight.
I'm bummed that I didn't get to see you more and that I missed the meetup. Or was that the meetup in the bar? Though, there were so many people that I wanted to be with, I didn't get to be with everyone. I kind of knew that would happen.
I still had fun at SPA but there was a different feeling this year. I think it might have been because it was really broken up with events going on in 3 buildings.
I hope you're feeling better now.
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