A few weeks ago Thursday I met up with Cathie who had driven down from Reno and we headed out for the Pacific International Quilt Festival in Santa Clara. It is amazing how quickly the time flew between the vendors and the phenomenal quilts. We spent five hours looking and enjoying and wishing we could spend another day but that was not possible because we had signed up to attend the CogKnitive Fiber Retreat 2012 in Tehachapi. After our fun day at the quilt festival we spent the night in Santa Nella and Friday we headed towards Tehachapi with a brief - okay it was a couple hours- stop in Bakersfield. It had been suggested that a visit to Sweet Surrender Bakery was not to be missed for their delicious cupcakes and baked goods. We were driving by so we had to stop. Oh my goodness, this place is just wonderful and the cupcakes are very tasty. We found out they are open on Sundays. Should I mention we stopped by again on the way back home.
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| From top left clockwise: turtle, lemon raspberry, toffee crunch and red velvet |
We also found a wonderful quilt shop Strawberry Patches which is a stones throw from Sweet Surrender. We had a fun time wandering the store and I bought a pattern and some fabric that will become some Christmas presents hopefully.
From there we went onward to Tehachapi and the retreat - this is the fourth annual CogKnitive Fiber retreat put on by 'Dr. Gemma' of the CogKnitive podcast. Her idea for the retreat is to keep it small, affordable and give local vendors exposure for their fiber related products.
Welcome to Tehachapi, the middle of nowhere.
Friday night many of the attendees headed out to the King of Siam Thai Restaurant
It was a delightful evening of community and food. I had ground chicken larb which had been suggested by another attendee and it was spicy and delicious.
The camaraderie of this retreat was stupendous. After dinner everyone went to their rooms to collect their knitting, their spinning wheels, some munchies and assorted libations to share and headed to the general meeting room at the La Quinta of Tehachapi. It was a wonderful evening of sharing which was to be duplicated again on Saturday evening.
Saturday morning started poolside with introductions and a raffle. I won a lovely skein of BFL superwash fingerweight yarn from DyeForYarn in a deep forest green.
Afterwards we all headed inside to check out the vendors and some classes.
I tried spinning with a drop spindle. I need a lot more practice but I did end up producing a small amount of yarn. I'm still on the fence if this is a hobby for me to take on.
My raffle winnings.
Here is Tracie doing a much better job than I spinning with a drop spindle.
Here is our marvelous host 'Dr. Gemma'.
What I found most inviting were the spinning wheels. I love the rhythmic and soothing sound they produce.
This is Minerva, a Jensen wheel.
This is a Matchless wheel.
Although I'm not certain I want to become a spinner I like the idea of hanging out with them. Spinning to me is so zen.
Cathie and I had a wonderful time. I do hope to be in California next year for the fifth annual CogKnitive fiber retreat.
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