I was away all last week at Cat Bordhi's Visionary Retreat and had a FABULOUS time. For anyone considering it, I highly recommend it. It exceeded every expectation I may have had and I got to meet and bond with some wonderful knitters.
We were able to visit an alpaca farm on the island (did I mention that the retreat was held on a beautiful island off the coast of Washington state?) and I have some pictures.
Oh wait, before I distract you with eye candy, I set up a page for the Stitches West Stitch-n-Seek. We could definitely use more clues, so sign up!
Ok, on to the eye candy. First up, here are some alpacas we saw at Krystal Acres, one of TWO alpaca farms on San Juan Island.
I found out that alpacas look really weird when their ears are down.
There were also sheep on the island.
And birds.
Here's a picture for a sense of scale.
Oh yeah, and Cat Bordhi is knitting with Rae and Robin inside the beautiful lodge at Lakedale.
The island was quite scenic.
I may have gotten some yarn from the alpaca farm. Here is some hand dyed yarn spun from the local alpacas. I love this color.
This yarn is from Peruvian alpaca, but I got it for combining with the deep red for a nice colorwork scarf.
And I got the cutest coloring book all about alpacas! You can take a look at the inside too!
After leaving the retreat, a bunch of us managed to make it to the Madrona Fiber Festival where I picked up this little bit of fiber from Chameleon Colorworks for Kristi. It's Optim wool which is super soft.
Okay, next up more insight to where all the knitting pictures have gone.
That baby alpaca is TO DIE FOR. I'm glad you had fun at the retreat! I'd love to do something like that one day.
Posted by: Ruth at January 29, 2007 12:39 PMYou are right that alpacas do look weird with their ears laid back. Was she trying to tell you something?
And if you went somewhere and came home without fleece or yarn, that is when we would get worried.
Posted by: Mia at January 29, 2007 12:47 PMI've been wanting to go to Cat's retreat ever since going to one of her workshops two years ago. So jealous of your time away, all of it!
Posted by: Deb at January 29, 2007 12:47 PMI just showed the photo of the alpaca with her ears back to some one and their response was that it looked like something from Sesame Street.....
Posted by: Mia at January 29, 2007 12:52 PMi love alpacas so much - they are so cute! i live in washington state and at the end of march i'm going to 'alpacapalooza' - i can't wait!
Posted by: melissa at January 29, 2007 12:52 PMOoOo I love the red Alpaca. It's beautiful. Then again, I have an Alpaca fetish. I even started an Alpaca-along. :)
The Alpaca with the ears back is funny looking, like an emu with hair.
Posted by: shadkitty at January 29, 2007 12:54 PMBeautiful eye candy. Thanks a bunch, it's just what I needed on a Monday.
Posted by: LaurieM at January 29, 2007 1:12 PMI really liked those pictures as I had only a vague idea what Alpacas looked like until your close up photos! That red colorway is really gorgeous, reminds me of the way Seduction looked in the Ruby colorway, but even plusher (plushier? more plush?) looking!
Posted by: Juls at January 29, 2007 1:15 PMThat looks like a wonderful retreat. Aren't Alpacas the cutest. And soft.
Posted by: Sheila at January 29, 2007 3:09 PMNice yarn and fiber purchases! How hard was it to stop yourself from bringing home an alpaca, too? They're so cute!
Posted by: Sarah at January 29, 2007 4:07 PMSounds like you had an awesome time. Great pictures, especially of the earless alpaca ;)
Posted by: Jeni at January 29, 2007 5:01 PMThe red (though it looks a little raspberry) alpaca is gorgeous. Very deep tone-on-tone dye job, which is always splendid to behold. It looks like a dessert!
Glad you had such a nice time. Can you tell us a little more about the retreat?
Posted by: Alison at January 29, 2007 6:56 PMYour photos are great - I'm a sucker for a cute alpaca or two! The earless alpaca sort of looks like a big brown happy q-tip.
Posted by: kelp! at January 29, 2007 8:55 PMthey are so cute! the "earless" pic is my favorite....that last bunch of fiber is so pretty!
Posted by: stacey at January 30, 2007 8:01 AMI love Friday Harbor. It is so beautiful and restful!
Posted by: freecia at January 30, 2007 9:10 AMawww what cute pictures! so envious.... school and work are keeping me from knitting /me tears
can't wait to see what the roving looks like spun up.
Posted by: eca at January 30, 2007 10:10 AMWow, you got some gorgeous pics (so much better than mine)! I really need to take a photography class or something...
It was so great meeting you last week, even though we didn't get much of a chance to talk (next year!). I never mentioned how much I loved seeing your gorgeous socks in person!
Posted by: Chrissy at January 30, 2007 12:27 PMI really wonder if Spielberg ever saw alpacas with their ears down because that one looks like a demented ewok. Hilarious!
Posted by: Opal at January 30, 2007 1:54 PMIt looks like you had an amazing week. I wish I could have gone!
Posted by: elizabeth at January 30, 2007 5:34 PMWhat fabulous pictures! San Juan Island is wonderful, isn't it? And to be able to attend such an interesting retreat is icing on the cake. It looks like even the weather cooperated.
P.S. Opal hit the nail on the head -- that earless alpaca does look like a demented ewok! lol
Posted by: Denise in Kent, WA at January 31, 2007 9:24 AMWhoa! Look at that earless alpaca! I love the hair on the tops of their heads. Teehee. Alpaca is my new(/recent) love. Mmmmsoft.
Posted by: Elinor at January 31, 2007 2:50 PMI love how it looks like they are wearing toupee's... so cute!
Posted by: Ellen at January 31, 2007 5:32 PMVery cool. Alpacas do look funny with their ears down! They have too cute faces though. And they sure have some big birds up there! I don't see any feather spun there...
Posted by: Carol at January 31, 2007 6:32 PMWhat fabulous pictures! I have to agree that alpacas look funny with their ears down ;P
Lovely new additions to the stash too - that red is gorgeous!
Posted by: Lolly at February 2, 2007 5:57 AM