And the very long day was followed by a semi-decent night of sleep, but good enough so I could power through a long day of adventures! I decided to hike over to the closest Starbucks, a casual stroll of 1.45 miles, lol. It would have been a simple “L” shape walk, if there wasn’t construction that closed off all access to a couple blocks of the long “leg.” All good – I earned my jumbo Frappuccino! I got to see some lovely window art along the way, too.
And then I made my way to the site for the retreat. I arrived a while before registration, so I sat down and wrote my blog post to share about yesterday. Promptly at 9AM I collected my name tag and goodie bag…
I managed to do a bit of knitting, too, before heading to my class for the day: Introduction to Knitting Looms: Friendship Bracelet, presented by Bethany Tiner. It was an interesting class, though I have very little to show for it. Included in my materials cost was a Flexee Loom, yarn and a few other fixings to make it easier, plus an instruction booklet. Maybe I’ll manage to finish it before I leave, but I have other knitting to do, so maybe not. 😉
After class, I made my way back to my hotel room to get some lunch and rest a bit. I need to pace myself with the peopling – and having roommates adds a little more to the equation. I returned to the ballroom later in the afternoon for the opening ceremonies, where Amy and Megan greeted us all – and took a moment to recognize all that the Juneteenth holiday represents. (I would like to get a copy of what Megan read as it had me tearing up a bit.) There was some administrati to address, reminders to everyone of some of the happenings this weekend, and they also took a census of sorts, to see how many ZK events the attendees have been to, as this is Lucky 13! I didn’t get a precise count but there were a handful who have been to all thirteen. 🎉
What followed was a parade of prize awards. First, the winners of the craft-along competition were announced, and then we all scratched off our raffle-ish cards. Some folks had numbers on theirs while others had a heart. The heart qualifies one for a second-chance prize at the end of the retreat on Saturday. The numbers were announced along with the prize each person won, mostly yarn including some handspun, and a few project bags. Strangely, none of the people at our table had a number – how weird is that? We had eight ladies, and all will be vying for those second chance prizes!
Dinner came after – I had a yummy grilled salmon with asparagus and rice pilaf, complemented by an amber ale. My dining companions all had burgers. We returned to the ballroom after our meal for the evening’s festivities. It was mostly chit chat and knitting… and maybe a little bourbon!
I made some lovely new friends, and ran into somebody I actually knew – a fellow knitter from my years at Into the Wool in Crossville, Tennessee! And I knit and knit and knit – I finished my brioche cowl! There is a celebratory gong available so a finished object can be celebrated by all, and I slammed that sucker pretty hard. 😆
And now it’s time to wind down for bed. Everyone but me is playing with their phone. We’ve got more fun to follow tomorrow!
Knit on. 🧶
Kninja Knitter 
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