So this year fro my Mom's Birthday I brought her on the Finger Lakes Fiber Tour. A more perfect present and time together could not have been had. It was amazing!
Wednesday we started out in the am and drove across the state slowly and carefully. What would have been a 3-4 hour drive the fast way, took us 8 hours with a nice break for lunch along the way. We were in no hurry and we both enjoyed seeing the back roads of NY State and what each little town had to offer. We arrived at the hotel: the luxurious Watkins Glen Harbor Hotel around 3 pm. We checked in and had our bags brought up to the room. It was beautiful and clean and full of light. We each had a queen sized bed and it was so high we had to hop up to be able to sit on them! After a little rest we went for a walk to explore the town. We found the yarn store: Finger Lakes Fibers and checked in for the weekends activities. We were greeted with open arms and a bag of goodies for each of us, including yarn, needle holders, and patterns as well as a coupons to local stores too. We walked around and headed back to the hotel to change clothes and rest a bit. At 5 there was a welcome reception at the yarn store and we sat, drank wine, knit, and chatted for a few hours before heading to dinner on our own. Dinner was some good Chinese food and I even had some sushi. After that was back to the yarn store for a game where we all won more yarn and got to know each other, more wine, and dessert.
Thursday started early with breakfast at the store. Next was a over two hour class with Kathy Helton on using a drop spindle. She even covered basic plying techniques, different kinds of roving, and different kinds of spindles. This class sent us home with a top whorl drop spindle and roving to practice with and a how to handout. Class was followed by lunch at the store. The sandwiches and salads were provided by a local bakery and everyone raved over them. At 1:30 we boarded our tour bus and went to Windsong Farm. Here we learned about different types of sheep, what makes a good fiber and about curly locks- something that some sheep have and often are coveted. Then it was a tour of the area with a stop at a local Orchard before heading back to the store. Dinner was on our own and we had such a good lunch that we just stopped at the hotel restaurant for dessert and coffee. After some of the best cheesecake and chocolate cake ever- we headed back over to the store for another workshop. The even ended with some wine and more desserts, while we learned about adding beads to our knitting from Laura Nelkin. I never knew there were so many ways to add beads, and why you would use one way over another, and what the best beads to use are. It was just amazing to learn a new technique and have such a wonderful explanation of designer from the designer herself. We ended up back at the room later than usual that night because the workshop lasted so long, but it was good because the coffee at dinner had me revved up and it was hard to get to sleep. Mom and I sat there in the dark talking about stuff like two kids at a sleepover. It was wonderful.
Friday started with breakfast at the shop and we were quickly on the bus headed to Schaefer yarn company. How amazing to see the workshop, to meet Mary Schaefer, to get to dye our own yarn, and to have another great lunch. We split into three groups and our group was the first to shop. The workshop has an outlet where you can get some awesome yarn- sometimes it is in a bag so you have enough of a dye-lot for a project, sometimes it is something unique (i.e. a mistake or research), and some things are not available in stores anymore. It was soooo cool to get to hunt through the boxes and then racks to see what you find. Then it was off to dying, one of the master dyers walked us through the steps to dying our own hank of sock yarn in the colorway "bugs" which is a five color green and blue colorway. The whole time Mary Schaefer talked to us about starting the company, where it is now, the steps in between, and all that it takes to stay inspired. As a business owner I was inspired by how she started and where she grew the company, I can see my story being similar if I work hard enough and if enough luck comes my way. Then it was lunch time... mom said the bread on the sandwiches was amazing, and I know I loved the potato salad. We then got to tour the rest of the shop, meet some more dyers and see how the yarn is dried and made ready for sale. We headed for there to Bel Canto Alpaca Farms (with a quick stop at the local chocolate store in town). This was my umpteenth trip to an alpaca farm, but by far it was my most enjoyable and informative. We learned about skirting fleeces, the different uses for different fibers from the animals, a lot about husbandry, and about showing alpacas. It was amazing. After that we headed to Standing Stone Vineyards where there were some light appetizers and wine tastings. Exhausted we headed back to the store and went searching for dinner. Mom and I headed out on our own and stopped by a farmers market before heading to dinner at a local cafe. Mom had dessert for dinner again and I had a burger before heading back to the store for one more game and some knitting time. This time we played scavenger hunt- where we split into teams and hunted for words all over the store displays to use in a story that we made up. The team with the most used words won (and it wasn't my team) but it was hilarious the stories we came up with and shared. Add to the festivities some dessert and more wine and we were having a ball! Mom and I cut out early so we could get a good night's sleep.
Saturday we started at the yarn store again (after we went and had a big breakfast at a local cafe) and then were driven to the Finger Lakes Fiber Festival. We browsed, shopped, chatted, learned, and tried different crafts (like bobbin lace) for the next five hours. It was perfect. We had a little over four hours to stroll around this great festival, with enough vendors and people to enjoy it but not too many that you felt rushed, pushed, or otherwise put out. And I must say that the Maple Syrup Cotton Candy is divine! The evening commenced with a banquet at the Blue Point Grill (at our hotel) where we ate, drank, chatted, exchanged contact info, relieved the yarns we dyed the day before, and otherwise just didn't want the night to end. We really had such a joyous time and met wonderful people and made lots of new friends.
Sunday we headed out early, stopped for a great lunch along the way, and ambled our way back home. We arrived exhausted, excited to share our experiences, and weighed down by laundry and new yarn. I hope we can come back again next year because it was such a wonderful time!
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