Lace class blues

I was so hyped yesterday. It was finally the day for the lace class. I was up before 6:30 am. I never get up that early unless I have to for some reason. I picked up my friend Jess, and off we drove. We arrived in Shipshewanna with time to spare. The Farmstead Inn and conference center is a wonderful place for a retreat. We checked in at the registration desk and received an unexpected gift---a really nice tote bag full of surprises (yarn, knitting needles, etc.) donated by various vendors. We put on our nametags and headed for class.

Our instructor, Joan Schrouder, arrived, gave us a handout, and explained what we would be doing all day. My heart sank, I already knew how to do all that! I held out hope that I would learn something new. I quickly finished each step of the class project and spent a lot of time helping the ladies sitting next to me. The material was new to them and they were struggling.

It was great to get out of the classroom at lunchtime. Knitting Today (the shop running the retreat) had set up a small store at the conference center. I found some fingering weight wool yarn I will dye for a shawl. I can usually find something to buy at a yarn shop. LOL!

Afterwards, we headed over for lunch. Here in the middle of Amish country, they served us a sandwich with a choice of 2 salads, a cookie, and tea or lemonade to drink. Those who were at the end of the line or who arrived late didn't get much. When the food ran out, they didn't refill it. With a 2-1/2 hour break for lunch, we could have gone to one of the Amish restaurants in town for lunch. The food would have been better and might have been less than the $12.50 we paid for our sandwich lunch.

The best part of the day was just after lunch. We gathered in the great hall area where there are lots of comfy sofas and chairs. Everyone pulled out their current projects and began knitting. At 1 pm names were drawn and door prizes were handed out. Everyone got something, which was nice. Show & Tell came after that. There were some awesome projects shown off by attendees. No one appreciates the work that goes into a knitted garment except another knitter. :-) I really enjoyed meeting a lot of new people.

I got through the remainder of the class by listening to Joan and helping the ladies sitting next to me. With my class project completed, I was bored. In desperation, I finally pulled out my Shetland scarf to work on. (Joan told us it was ok to work on our own projects if we were finished.) She was even kind enough to help me fix a mistake I made. Nevertheless, I was so happy to get out of that classroom and head for home.

I would much rather have spent the $122 cost of the retreat on yarn or spinning fiber. At least I would have had something to show for the day. Though in defense of our teacher, it wasn't her fault that I already knew the material she was teaching. It's my mistake that I didn't check it out more before I signed up. If I had, I would have realized I was too advanced to take it. Mea culpa.