Supper was soon on the go and fibre chat began in ernest. Later AM showed up and out came wheels, spindles, looms, and knitting needles as the activities began. We gabbed and chatted and shared ideas. We laughed and relaxed and that was what the retreat was all about. Too soon yawns became apparent and AM made her way home because she lives only moments away and didn't want to camp out considering that she is 86 years of age. Then shortly after NC and FE followed with Mokie as they were staying at AM's house with the intention of arriving once again in the morning. That left MW and myself to spindle and relax for another hour or so before directing ourselves to our respective beds. MW stayed in her vehicle as she had a snuggly bed set up in there and I headed upstairs to my pallet. 5 a.m. in the morning my eyes popped open in anticipation of the day ahead (I was really excited) and while I really wanted to get up and get going I knew that some more sleep would be good since I didn't want to fade out when the real fun started to happen. By 6:30 a.m. I knew I was a goner. I gave up trying to visit the back of my eyelids and I removed myself to the shower to spark myself for a day of activities and fun. By 7:30 a.m. MW and I were enjoying a breakfast beverage while a pot of oxalic acid stewed on my hot plate and a fire merrily crackled in the fireplace. We planned our crowded pot and began soaking out the fibre and skeins that would make their debut in a new colour later that day.
Our choice of colours was to use the primaries in an Ashford palette. So out came the dyes and we began to mix colour.
MW had never done this crowded pot dying and so I led her through the steps with ease. She's a quick learner and so began the day. We played with colour all throughout the day and when our results were not what we envisioned we made other plans to sharpen up colours or try a new concept in dying. It was fun. I have primary colours in acid wash dyes and there came a point when MW and I decided we wanted to try something different. By that time NC and FE and AM had shown up and we were patiently waiting for a couple more people to show, one of whom owns a store in FSJ where she sells all sorts of supplies for fibre nuts like myself and my friends. When she called slightly before noon to say that she wouldn't make it till the next day I jumped on the opportunity to suggest she bring some of the lovely dye colours that she carries in her store. With that in mind we decided to put off any more dying until we had more colour. My fingers by that time were red and yellow and blue.
The rest of the afternoon was spent seeking shade and shelter from the hot sun and then later the showers while we diligently all worked on separate projects. Along about early afternoon MW and I were fading fast and NC and FE were needing some exercise so FE and NC went for a walk while MW and AM went to their respective vehicles for snoozes and I headed for my pallet above for a much needed snooze too.
Hubby and Daughter #1 had headed off earlier in the afternoon for some much needed hay and Daughter #2 and her friend were playing on the computer. All was quiet and so I dropped off for a 45 minute reprieve.
Later the spinning and weaving began again. MW was spindling with a lovely spindle that had an interesting purple marbly looking stone-ish type whorl. It was small and compact and she was spinning a lovely lime green concoction. Very pretty! FE was diligently working on a lovely tapestry
and NC was working back and forth between a tapestry and then some spinning. 
AM had a lovely cream and gray Icelandic sweater on the go. I was spinning thick yarn for a woven shawl on the triangular loom.
We ate a lovely repast of barbequed salmon, with bean salad, green salad, coleslaw, and fruit for desert as well as a sugarless and gluten free rhubarb desert which though it was sugarless and gluten free was delightful all the same. We spinners and weavers never go hungry! Fruit abounded all weekend. The food was not a priority but it sure added to the pleasure of the whole affair.
After NC and FE had followed AM off to her house in HH, MW and myself sat down for a light snack before turning in for the night. By this time Daughter #2's friend had gone home and Hubby and Daughter #1 had showed up with a large bail of hay and Hubby had headed off to the river for an evening of fishing. Just as it was getting dark, in the driveway came MF, whom I had given up on showing up. So though MW and I were about to fall off our feet from fatigue (remember I was awake at 5 a.m. and MW comes from a different time zone) we decided to keep her company and chat awhile with her. Finally MW looked like she was a goner so she headed off to bed and so I waited a little longer before crashing myself. Hubby came in with narry a fish and kept MF company till she was ready to crash at which time she headed out to our trusty old tent trailer.
In the middle of the night it started to rain and knowing that we had all of our stuff spread around I decided to go and check out if there were things getting drenched in the rain. As I headed out onto the deck I discovered that our big dog had discovered a bag of garbage and chewed through to the garbage and proceeded to spread it over "My Deck" Grrrrr! Hubby and I were cleaning up garbage at 4 a.m. in the morning in the pouring down rain.
I was actually able to get back to sleep after this incident and so I was feeling pretty good this morning when all things fibre started again. MF, MW and myself started out on the North deck with spinning and spindling. I even managed a little weaving on the Weavette. So when CP showed up with the dye from her store around just before lunch we all jumped on the opportunity to pick out some very pretty colours. That's when we all dyed!
Actually, I'm not sure that AM and FE dyed but that's ok..... not everyone among the fibre junkies is perfect. Out came pots and rice steamers and slow cookers and vinegar and yarn and fleece and silk hankies and then the serious dying began. People were dying all over the place..... here's the results of our day.
All in all we had a great time. We showed off our nifty weaving....
We showed off our stickers that Granddaughter gave us... thanks Hallie for Grandma's My Little Pony.
We showed off our toe nails
And most importantly, we enjoyed every last minute of our opportunity to just be with like minded people. We dyed, we spun, we wove, and we knitted and what a time we had. I can't wait till next year when we do it all again...... I'm already planning what kinds of dying we can do. Hmmm..... maybe we can get some nature dyes on the go.... maybe we can dye some self striping yarn.... maybe.... maybe.... maybe....
To all you fibre enthusiasts.... maybe you can come and join us. Then you too can dye and go to heaven.
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