Knitcation

It began with Maryland Sheep and Wool last year, this new need of mine to run off on an annual fiber themed trip. There is something about being surrounded by wool in raw and processed forms with other fiber enthusiasts who do not look at you oddly when you jump up and down with blissfully pure excited at finding the "right" yarn that really speaks to me for some reason. Having gone to a wool festival, this year, I looked for something slightly different and tossed my name into the Spring Fling lottery, not expecting to get a spot.

When the shock of procuring a place at the covetted Spring Fling table wore off, I put in my vacation noticed and waited. Now, a mere five days from coming home, I miss the other Flingers and I miss the little yarn world we lived in for four days. As with all other types of vacations, I'm going to excitedly show you all the wonderful knitcation photos and completely ignore your boredom.

Not knowing what to expect and honestly wanting a relaxing day, I arrived at Spring Fling the night before the scheduled start. Lo and behold, knitters were already in the lobby of the hotel right by the front door! I quickly checked in, dumped off my bags, and ran back downstairs to be with my people. As an introvert, I've made huges strides. This is my first trip alone, ever. I wasn't going to know a single person there, but with knitters, that doesn't really matter. Within a few minutes, I was comfortably settled in a chair knitting with a new group of other likeminded individuals until the wee hours of the morning.

The next morning, as I anxiously waited for Fling to begin, I fulfilled my promise to Little Clover and swung by the zoo. I love having a child who requests I conduct a photo safari at the local zoo and bring back pictures.

From Spring Fling 2011

Upon completing my mission, I returned to the hotel, found the Loopy Lounge, and retrieved my Fling cupcakes, a chocolate peanut butter and a coconut butter cream.

From Spring Fling 2011

The rest of the day was spent knitting and knitting and talking and knitting some more. In our registration bag was a skein of Wollmeise, and instead of putting the color on the label, Claudia (the talent behind the yarn) encouraged us to make a friend and trade. Watching all the knitters walk around and openly eyeing yarn was quite a sight! I swapped my lovely deep mauve for a beautiful grassy green. At some point there was dinner, then more knitting, and sleep, and then knitting again. I took an advanced lace knitting class with Anne Hanson, and tackled my fear of beads with Laura Nelkin. If you ever get a chance to take a class with Laura, do it! She not only crammed a lot of information in her class, but she really explained and demoed in a way to alleviate any fears. Plus, you can make something like this:

From 2011 Finished Objects

Still trying to wrap my head around seeing people everywhere just knitting, I talked to Italian about how my Type A nature was boggled by the downtime. He told me to think of it as a spa weekend and with that perspective, I kicked by and enjoyed the pace. The two classes I took were the perfect amount. I got to revel in the copious abundance of yarn and the civil nature of the multiple trading events, like the sock yarn swap.

From Spring Fling 2011

Look at that yarn! Even dumped their scrap sock yarn on a table and trade in rounds of 5 skeins at a time. When everyone had taken what they wanted, there was still yarn left for the taking. Finally, my turn to visit The Loopy Ewe came and it was yarntopia!

Another Flinger had to put some yarn back:

From Spring Fling 2011

And there were Little Loopies everywhere:

From Spring Fling 2011

With the weekend drawing to an end, a few of us changed into pajamas and shared a bottle of wine while we knit.

From Spring Fling 2011

I'd take a spa weekend like this again any day.