Rocky Mountain Looping Adventure

Why do I leave my camera in the bag in the back of the vehicle? The weather in Denver last weekend couldn't have been more perfect, and I don't have a single photo of the gorgeous mountain range at sunset to show you. But there were smiles as big as the Colorado sky on the faces of my lovely host and the program committee person for the Rocky Mountain Weavers Guild.

The guild had invited me to do a lecture on looping and a couple of short workshops last weekend. After the lecture, I spoke briefly with Jean Scorgie, who, back in the early 1990's, wrote an article on cross-knit looping for Piecework. It was a pleasure to tell her how much help her needleknit finger puppets article was to me in my quest for looping knowledge. No photo, of course -- I was too busy talking.

I did manage to get some quick shots of my students' work before everyone scattered. The afternoon after the lecture, we did skipped stitch looping using wool yarn over bars of soap. With use, the wool will felt and their projects will evolve into lacy little felt bags.

During Sunday's Burundi looping class, the chorus of ideas I heard for how students planned to use their new skills was music to my ears.

The lecture and workshops were held at TACtile, which had the Studio Art Quilt Associates Regional Members' Showcase on exhibit.

TACtile is located above the JHB Button Museum, so I had a few minutes to indulge my love of buttons, thimbles and vintage stitching paraphernalia.

One of my students graciously checked out three books from the guild library so I could look at them overnight. I could hardly keep my eyes open, but read enough to know I need to be looking for copies of these Anne Bliss titles for my personal library.

That's a logical place to break and come back next time with more on natural dyeing. But first, I just have to say how much I enjoy the people I meet on these little adventures. This time, I met someone with an adult child in circus school in Australia (her own world adventures as part of a handbell choir were fascinating in their own right). I've met people who have visited the South Pole, danced on American Bandstand, worked for Barbie (THE Barbie), and had all kinds of fascinating experiences.

Monday evening I got home tired and happy. My husband was vacuuming and had sheets on the bed for a visit from his brother and sister-in-law, who arrived shortly after I did. We had a lovely couple of days with our company, and I'm just now starting to share with him the stories from Denver. I must remember to tell him about the snow bike.

Seriously -- next time, back to natural dyeing!