Home again!

We had a delightful breakfast with the knitting group at Early Girls in downtown Asheville.  This was our second meal here as we also ate dinner here the first night we arrived.  We do love this place with its Farm-to-table comfort food… delicious.

Daughter #1 and I then headed out to find the Apple Valley area with apple stands.  We wanted to purchase cider, apple pie, and some apples to bring home.  Not only did we find the Apple Valley area and make our purchases, but we meandered down Highway 64E instead of getting back on I-40.  It was a wonderful choice as the drive was terrifically scenic with lots of fall color on the mountain tops. We also found Chimney Rock State Park which is located by beautiful Lake Lure.  We decided this was an area, mindful of a small Lake Tahoe location, that we would definitely want to return to for a long weekend.  After a few more hours of driving, we were happy to be back in Durham.

Meanwhile – back at SAFF – the first class I took found me working with wool roving fibers from The Holler Farm in Renick, WV.  We worked at creating hand needle felted flowers to decorate a wool fiber wreath.  The flowers were especially fun to create.  Later on Friday, D1 and I participated in Kathleen Taylor’s “Writing Patterns for Publication” class.  Kathleen shared generously from the knowledge she has gained publishing several pattern books, individual patterns, and novels over a 30 year career.  We both were delighted with the knowledge we gained from this class.

On Saturday morning, I attended another exceptional class.  Geri Forkner of Weaving Arts Studio in Tellico Plains, TN, took us through the Nuno felting process – messy but rewarding.  Her instruction was so clear!  We all started with silk scarves to which we felted merino wool fibers.  The result was a soft, comfortably wearable,  silk and wool scarf!  I’ll add a picture of that result soon!