"Weaving Workshop.......Twills!"

A few weeks ago, I attended a twill weaving workshop, with Jason Collingwood (from the UK) as the instructor. It was held in Shoppiere, WI, at Vavning Weaving Studio. This is the class photo for the 2011 workshop.

Vavning Weaving Studio is located in an older church. The lecture part of the class was held upstairs in the former sanctuary, while the weaving part of the workshop was held downstairs in the basement, which, in reality, is at ground level.

Here is Jason "lecturing"..........yep, that's me on the right. Karen, of "Karen in the Woods" blogging fame (http://kareninthewoods.com/default.aspx), allowed me to use some of her photos, for which I am very grateful.

A larger view of the sanctuary "in session". ;) The owner of the weaving studio, Juanita, is in the blue on the right. I'm planning on taking a "double weave" class with her sometime in the upcoming months.

Downstairs is where all of our looms were set up. Katie, closest to the camera, drove from Ohio to attend, with Juanita in front of her, working on a table loom.

Karen came around taking photos........

John, from up near LaCrosse, WI, and I, had our looms at the back of the class, which meant we were the last to set up.....all the women got to the studio earlier. ;)

John is weaving on a Kessenich, 8 shaft, table loom, with its optional loom stand. It is a very nice loom and I think if/when I buy a workshop loom for myself (I had borrowed our friend Barb's MacComber Ad-A-Harness, 4 shaft floor loom for the workshop), I will definitely consider the Kessenich.

Karen worked as Juanita's guest hostess, too, while still participating in the class. She referred to herself as "The Kitchen Wench".....her words, not mine!!!! ;)

This is the results of my 2 1/2 day workshop. I know it doesn't look like much for the amount of time invested, but I'm very pleased with the sampler.

"Maiden Voyage on Lake Wingra!"

Don and I took our boats over to Lake Wingra for our first time out on the water. We had a beautiful day with very little wind.....perfect!

Here is Don in his new kayak, the Wilderness Tsunami 120. He said it fits "like a glove" and he couldn't be happier with it.


I came off the water and took this photo of him doing a little extra paddling.


One happy paddler!


I, on the other hand, was not so happy. I felt like the Wenonah 12' solo canoe was going to go over every second.....talk about being "tipsy"! After seeing the photos of me in it, I also felt it was too small of a canoe for me......


Don't you agree that I look too large for the canoe?


So.......after loading the boats back onto the car, we took Don's kayak home and headed back to Rutabaga's!


Where I tried out the Native Ultimate 14' 7"! It is considered a "hybrid" and is MUCH more stable. I took it for a test paddle in the lagoon behind Rutabaga's and I was fine.


Fortunately, they were very kind to me and I was able to trade in the solo canoe and upgrade to a Native Ultimate. We've not had a chance to take our boats out since until today.......so once again, I will be going on my maiden voyage in a new boat........by the way.....the new one is blue. :)

"Don's Birthday Kayak......."

We'd gone over to Rutabaga's a number of times to look at kayak's and canoes. It took me awhile to convince Don that a kayak would be a great birthday gift.....finally he agreed.

This was "pick up" day! We also had to have a new roof carrying system, too. Our Yakima system wasn't rated sturdy enough for both boats, so we had to switch over to a Thule system. This is a bracket that will fold down when not in use. We needed this sort of bracket so that the car can go into the garage.....our garage door opening has less clearance than the normal garage door.


Here is Don's new Wilderness Tsunami 120 kayak loaded and ready to go!


I'm helping Woody bring out the 12' Wenonah Solo canoe that I'd bought for myself so that I could accompany Don on the water......


Here are both boats loaded and firmly tied down. Woody was a great teacher as to how to secure the boats to the car and racks.


Boats home and in the driveway. They are now stored in the garage, so the car sits out, until we get an outside storage system set up.

"Last Day of Vacation in Traverse City, MI"

I had some problems with Blogger today. I usually use Safari but for some reason, Blogger has gone haywire with it. At Don's suggestion, I tried Firefox and it works perfectly. I guess, someone programmed something out of whack. Anyway, I finally got to post this Tuesday evening instead of early morning. :)

Our last day on vacation in Traverse City was spent with Patrick, Julie, and Abigail. They arrived around noon so we first went out to lunch at the Mackinaw Brewing Company in downtown TC. As we left the restaurant, a parade was about to pass by........we found out that it was about Green Day or something like that. Regardless the reason, it was pretty cool to watch and there were many festive costumes......


And it looked like everyone was having a very good time.


Don, our personal photographer, made sure we got this taken after lunch.


The "walk through" to the parking lot......


Don goes to bike forms like steel filings to a magnet. ;)


Abigail on the bridge spanning the Boardman River, which flows through TC.


Just about to get into the car for the short drive to the Children's Museum. I forgot to mention Abigail is wearing a sweater I knit for her.


The Children's Museum is small but had many different areas of interest. Here Abigail looks through the window of the small playhouse.


Many buttons to push......


Don found an interactive camera/TV........


"Let me in this boat!"


Watching the bigger kids......


So many things to push, pull, or move......


No fear of heights.....


Patrick and Abigail check out the flowing water. This interactive display was a big hit with everyone.


Back at the lake house, Abigail and Grandpa check out something on Don's laptop............


After the kids left, Don and I loaded his bike up onto the roof rack so we didn't have that chore in the wee hours of the morning. I believe we left the lake house at 5AM Wisconsin time and were home in Madison by noon. ;)


We had a wonderful time in TC, as always, but it was good to be home, too.

"Traverse City Vacation Continued......"

After our bike ride, Patrick and Abigail stayed for a little while before heading back to Brethren. We would see them, along with Julie, the next day, so this wasn't our final goodbye.

I think I mentioned that Abigail loves shoes? :)

Late afternoon/early evening, we drove into TC for dinner, stopping at Left Foot Charley, where Don had a hard cider..........

And I had a glass of wine. It was a beautiful time of day and we enjoyed being outside.

The following morning (Saturday, our last full day in TC), we woke to another beautiful day. Don went out and took a few "outside shots" of the lake house we'd rented.

It seemed MUCH taller when looking at it from this angle......

We certainly had a beautiful view.......

This shows just how close the house is to the road. It is a nice place to visit, but not somewhere I would want to live full time.

A view of the other side. The diverging "snakes" on the wall are the electrical connections for the air conditioning units.

Tomorrow, the rest of our final day in TC.........

"Patrick and Abigail Return....."

Patrick and Abigail came back up to TC on Friday so that we could all go for a bike ride. This was actually the first day that we had decent riding weather that didn't have something else scheduled other than the bike ride. :)

This was taken at one of our stops along the way.....I believe it was so that I could raise my bike seat. Notice the "bubble wrap"? An Abigail favorite......

We also stopped at a park so that Abigail could get out of her bike seat and stretch her legs.

Don also enjoyed the playground area, too.

Moving from one activity to another......

Checking them all out for safety......

Patrick had to do a little more than help Abigail go down the slide......it was a participation activity. ;)

Don made his attempt, too, although the slide wasn't too slippery.

These chimes got a lot of attention from Abigail, too.

The time at the park also gave Patrick a chance to try out my electric assist bike.

Abigail back in her bike seat and ready for the last leg of our bike ride.

Back at the lake house.......