I had a wonderful weekend. I didn’t take any pictures. I just relaxed and enjoyed the activities. What was I doing? I attended the River Knits Retreat, of course! There was food, knitting, classes, games, door prizes and great conversation. The classes were great. From Sheryl Krohne, we learned about stretching and other exercises to prevent repetitive stress injuries. Then I taught a class on how to make beaded stitch markers. JoLene Treace joined us Saturday afternoon to share her experience with knitting counterpanes. On Sunday, Brian Doggett expanded our fiber horizons with Kumihimo Braiding. I wish we’d had more time to spend on his class. I feel like we barely scratched the surface with that.

Elizabeth also set up a mini River Knits yarn shop on site, with tons of great deals! I picked up 10 balls of this:

Papiro Yarn 

 

 

 

 

Laines Du Nord Papiro 100% cotton yarn. It’s so soft and wonderful. I couldn’t resist the colors and texture.

And this:

Meilenweit Cotton Stretch

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Meilenweit Cotton Stretch. I don’t own any handknit cotton socks, and I think it’s about time I fixed that!

And this:

Little Bag

 

 

 

 

 

A great little bag that will be perfect for keeping a small project in the car. The side pockets can hold miscellaneous tools. That way, even if I run out the door without my purse, I’ll still have a knitting project in the car waiting for me.

I also finished this while at the retreat:

Super-10 Top

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s a top-down summer sweater I designed myself. The yarn is Butterfly Super-10 Cotton. I love it. I love how it fits. I love THAT it fits!  Please note: In this photo, the garment is fresh off the needles and hasn’t been blocked or anything. It will look much better once it’s been washed and blocked. (And, for that matter, paired with the right pants…)

I was so inspired by this success that I was moved to cast on this two days ago, using the above-mentioned Papiro:

 Papiro Top

 

 

 

 

 

Again, it’s my own design. Obviously, knit from the top down, raglan style with a wide neck. So far, it fits great. The key to good fit is constantly slipping all the stitches to waste yarn and trying the thing on. Frequently. Very frequently. It’s almost irritating how frequently it must be done. But it’s totally worth it when you end up with a sweater that fits.