Swing Knits® Weekend Retreat at Lonesome Stone Alpacas

August 15th-18th

Early arrival for a fabulous weekend!
(R to L)  Linda, co-owner of Lonesome Stone Alpacas,
Brigitte (moi), teacher, Connie, Yvonne, and LaDonna

Oh my goodness!  I don't know if it was knitting, eating, relaxing, learning, or laughter that came in that order for the entire experience of Lonesome Stone.  The photo above encompasses all six----and then some!
(We're doing this again next year!  Y'all come!)

Knitting. . . .

Jo, Dori, and Roxanne are working on Lesson One.

Connie and Patty are learning the basics of Swing-Knitting™.

Connie and Patty are learning the basics of Swing-Knitting™.

LaDonna and Darlene are concentrating too.

A little Red Velvet Cake for dessert.

Although it was chilly, we couldn't help
wanting to watch the alpacas graze while
we "grazed" also.

 Eating. . . .

Saturday was a magnificent day!  Linda's pasta salad was delicious!
(The others were inside filling their plates.)

Relaxing. . . .

Dori unwinds on the porch
from a delightful day of knitting.

LaDonna is enjoying the serenity of
watching the alpacas graze.

Marv, co-owner of Lonesome Stone
Alpacas relaxes after a hard day.

   

                                                       

Learning. . . . 

This is a new color way for the
new yarn line.  Yummy!

Yvonne finished this Swing Knits®
Autumn Fusion Shawl in one week!

Lesson One examples of the
new color ways 

Laughter. . . .

Marv's Margeritas are "Marv"elous!

Linda, co-owner of Lonesome Stone
and the most hospitible hostess--ever! 

A little comic relief
from the concentration for Roxanne

                               Ahhhhh, and of course, the alpacas and a cat. . . .

Raven

Irene

This is Purl, the "mouser" who delighted in giving us a "gift."

Newsflash!  

We have not one, but three winners!

Three hats (Swing Knits® The Carver pattern) were submitted to the 

2014 Laramie County Fair in Cheyenne, WY. 

Blue Ribbon winners were Nancy Scribner and Connie Wise. 

A Superior Ribbon was awarded to Sherry Cram. 

Congratulations, ladies! Job well done.

The hat pattern is available through Ravelry.com

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/swing-knits-the-carver-hat

It's been a very busy time.  The grandchildren visited for 11 glorious days full of hugs for Grandma and Grandpa while the parents flitted from DC to Denver, San Francisco to Miami, and back to Denver.

One of the outings while they were here was to visit Lonesome Stone Alpacas.  They had so much fun hand-feeding some of the herd (mainly the boys--the girls were in the far meadow).  "Alpaca Grandpa" (Marv) and "Alpaca Grandma" (Linda) were fabulous hosts, as usual, and made the day
memorable.

After lunch I got to see some of the beautiful hand-painted yarns Linda produced for me.  I left with a number of color ways which range from subtle to vibrant.  We all have our personal tastes in colors and that makes it a bit challenging to get "out of our boxes."  Take a look at what you normally wear and think about what color of yarns you gravitate toward in the yarn shops.  Chances are they are the ones that compliment your skin and hair.

Oh, and by the way, these yarns will be featured in a forth-coming pattern on Ravelry.com.