Life LackaDaisiCal

Watching the sunset is one of the attractions when visiting Saugeen Shores in Ontario...and the Southampton beach has quite the view. It was just a short one-block walk down to catch this sunset which brought to an end the Docknits retreat weekend. Last year I presented a workshop at the  2nd annual retreat . This year, Mrs. Tischell (my travel buddy) and I decided to go "all in" and booked into the  Chantry Breezes B&B  for the duration! I'd booked the "Garden Cottage" which is exactly that... it was adorable and I loved my tiny home for the weekend! It is Fall here in Ontario, but it was still summery this past weekend. Lucky for me as I was staying in the Garden Cottage....which while not insulated, was comfortable and reminded me so much of childhood summer vacations when the family would go to a cottage in Northern Ontario. The open beams and whitewashed walls were complimented by turquoise blue, slightly faded by summer sunlight. It wa...

The shop was decorated, Susan Gudrum (owner of DocKnits) and Peggy (centre) and Jeffi (right) the DocKnits team, were there to welcome their guests! I was thrilled when Susan invited me to share the new Autumn/Winter 2015/16 Rowan yarns at  an exclusive event  to celebrate the second anniversary of DocKnits! Magazine 58 was on hand for those who wanted a sneak peak! Yarn tasting stations were set up around the store! I had started a swatch for each yarn, and made sure that the corresponding   pattern books were handy! Cheryl here is "tasting" the new Hemp Tweed yarn! (Everyone was invited to dress up and wear a hat - I think Cheryl took the hat thing to another level!) Angela is a crocheter (love her shawl).  She was interested in the crochet designs in the new magazine! (I couldn't help but show her a few of my favourites from past magazines too!) "Afternoon Tea" was served. (It was the social event of the year :) and w...

This past weekend was the 2nd Annual Fall Docknits Retreat Everything about this weekend is fabulous!  A wonderful knitting shop in a unique lakeside community, with a terrific staff who teach classes and hold workshops on all sorts of fibre topics...then add an enthusiastic group of knitters! When I was asked if I could do a workshop for the 2014 Retreat, how could I resist? My family traditionally vacationed each fall in the Port Elgin/Southampton area because my Dad loved to fish there in the Saugeen River....so while I hadn't been here in years....it had a nigh nostalgia rating with me! The subject of the workshop was "Colour Play in Stranded Knitting". We were going to take inspiration from art work from the Southampton Art Gallery, or a photograph brought to class by the knitter, pick shades, and using the Kaffe Fassett "Magic Ball" method, play with colour while knitting a motif that I had designed especially for this weekend. Yarn Dominance in ...