Knit-A-Way 2025 Day 3

The Knit-A-Way retreat was held at the Big Lynn Lodge from September 18 to 21.

Don had severe heartburn and had to leave breakfast early. I finished breakfast to check on him, and he decided to rest for a little while, so I went to knit on the patio. In about an hour, we headed to Marion and Rutherfordton to go antique shopping. In Marion, we found a flea market and baby pigs for $100, but I didn’t buy any. LOL Next, we found a farmer’s market with live music. Then we went to Rutherfordton and went to the Vintage Lace Antique Market, where Don found a treasure (a 1939 World’s Fair ashtray). Then, Don wanted to come back early so he could watch ballgames, and we weren’t hungry, so we skipped lunch. After a shower, we made our hotel reservations for DC, and then I sat on the patio and knit until dinner. Don watched ballgames until dinner. At dinner, we had pot roast, rice and gravy, carrots, and green beans, but Don had heartburn again and didn’t eat much. He went back to the room, and I knit until it was time for our 8pm meeting. At the meeting, I won a door prize of 3 skeins of beautiful yarn! We decided to skip breakfast and leave early, so I checked out at the front desk.

Original photos by Pat Hensley

Knit-A-Way 2025 Day 2

The Knit-A-Way retreat was held at the Big Lynn Lodge from September 18 -21. 

The lodge served breakfast at 7:30, and it was wonderful as usual. After breakfast, we headed down the Blue Ridge Parkway. One lady told us yesterday that the parkway was closed to Mt. Mitchell, but at dinner, another lady informed us that it was open. So, we decided to go find out for ourselves. 

We made it about a mile only to find out that the parkway was closed. So, we headed north for about 8 miles, and then the parkway was closed again. We decided to head north to Moses Cone National Historic Site. We walked around there and then went to Flat Top Manor (the Cone’s summer home), and they had an open house of the 2nd floor so we were able to see the upstairs rooms. For lunch, we ate at a Mexican restaurant in Newland and then went back to the lodge. I spent the rest of the day knitting. 

After dinner, we had Show and Share. I shared my Bonfire Tee and my Go Go Dynamo shawl. They were both a hit! 

Original photos by Pat Hensley

Knit - A-Way 2025 Day 1

The Knit-A-Way retreat was held at the Big Lynn Lodge from September 18 -21.

We left home at 7:15 and arrived at Big Lynn Lodge at 9:30. I dropped off my lawn chair and said hi to everyone before heading to Burnsville. We went to Hammond Antiques, where Don found some postal stamp pins. Then we walked to the Yummiyarns yarn store (opened at 11 am). I bought a skein of West Yorkshire Spinners, and the owner (Wendy) gave me a skein of Ella Rae yarn. Then we stopped at Spruce Pine to see how it fared from the hurricane. Most everything was gone except a few restaurants. We found one shop that had store gifts and vintage items. I found a knitting book there.

Then we went back to the lodge and checked in. We are in Room 134, located on the ground level, which is a nice room. I knitted on the patio until dinner, and then after dinner, Don had an issue with the TV. The lady at the front desk reset the TV for us. At 8pm, we had our group meeting where door prizes were handed out.

Original photos by Pat Hensley

Knitting Projects, the Lawnmower, and the NC Apple Festival

I finished 5 knitting projects this week:

• 2 emotional support chickens - one small (fingering weight yarn) and one medium (DK weight yarn)
• My Bonfire Tee sweater. I modified it by making a large split hem, and I really like how it fits. 
• 2 hats for the staff at the lodge where we hold our September knitting retreat. 

We also had a little trouble with the riding lawnmower. The back tire was completely flat. We tried to take the tire off ourselves, but Don couldn’t get the lug nuts off. We went around the block to the tire place on Main St., and the guy said that if it was a tubeless tire, he could fix it. So, we pumped up the tire and Don drove it there while I followed behind with the emergency flashers on the Prius. The tire was fixed for $10, and Don drove it back home. I love how the lawn looks after he mows it.

On Thursday, we hiked at Lake Conestee Nature Park. It was an easy hike, but we used different muscles than we use when walking laps in the gym. Some of the trails were still closed because of the damage from Hurricane Helene last year. The weather is beautiful! I was also able to take some nice pictures with my new phone.

 

On Saturday, we went to Hendersonville to the NC Apple Festival. We arrived at 9 am and were able to find a free parking space along the street. Don bought a ¼ peck of apples for $7, and I bought 6 apple cider doughnuts for $7. After taking the items back to the car, we walked back along the vendors, and I found homemade apple ice cream for $5; it was so tasty. We stopped to put some stuff back in the car and then walked several blocks to the farmers' market before returning to our car around 11 am. On the way home, we stopped at Palmetto Yarn Shoppe so I could drop off the 2 hats that I made. Everyone was still at the guild meeting, but Nancy was there. When we got home, we had lunch and spent the rest of the day watching college football.

 

It was a great week!

Original photos by Pat Hensley

Knit-Away Retreat Day 3

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After breakfast, we headed towards Burnsville Along the way, we saw a sign for an antique store called Sparkling Clean Antiques. It was an interesting place and we had a nice chat with the owners.

When we arrived in Burnsville, we parked and walked to Hammond’s Antiques. Then I found the yarn store called Yummi Yarns. I bought a skein of sock yarn and the owner tossed in a free skein of Bamboo Pop.

We stopped at Ingles for lunch on the way back to the lodge. Since we got back early, we watched the Clemson football game. Around 4 pm, I joined the group and knit until dinner. After dinner, I knit until the general meeting.

At the general meeting, they gave out prizes and awards. It was a great ending to a successful retreat.

Original photos by Pat Hensley

Knit-Away Retreat Day 1

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Last week we went to the Knit-A-Way Retreat at Big Lynn Lodge in Little Switzerland, NC. It was hosted by the Spartanburg Knitting Guild.

We left home around 8:30 am and drove through Woodruff, SC. Then we stayed on Hwy 221 to the Blue Ridge Parkway. We stopped in Rutherfordton at the Victorian Lace Antique Mall which I thought didn’t open until 11 am as Google Maps stated. It was open when we arrived at 10:45 and the lady said they opened at 10 am and Google was wrong. We ended up buying several things there including a Tom Clark figurine. We finally arrived at the Big Lynn Lodge around 1 pm and were able to check into Room #132. It was in the building on the right and the last room upstairs. The room was very nice!

I sat on the porch and knit until dinner and Don watched TV. Dinner was turkey, mashed potatoes, corn, and cranberry sauce. For dessert, we had peach pie a la mode. Dinner was delicious. After dinner, we knit until the dining room was cleared and then met at 8 pm for our general meeting. I was excited that I won a door prize tonight!

By 9 pm, I was ready to head back to the room and get ready for bed.

Original Photos by Pat Hensley

Traveling Home

6/23/2024:

We left Rochester, Minnesota at 6am. We waited until daylight to start traveling because we have gotten to the age where we don’t like driving in the dark. We were surprised by how much flooding there was in Iowa! We stopped in Wayland, IA for gas at a Flying J. Don drank some Muscle Milk and I had cookies for breakfast. As we headed south, it kept getting hotter! We arrived in Paducah, KY around 4pm and decided to stop for the night. We got a room at the Comfort Inn for $88 off of Hotels.com. Then we went to Sam’s Club and filled up with gas. For dinner, we stopped at Culver's. After dinner, we went to the waterfront and walked along the beautiful painted murals.

6/24/2024:

We left Paducah, KY around 6:40 in the morning. We hit a lot traffic around Knoxville so we stopped for lunch at Culver’s. Then 30 minutes later, we stopped at Bucees for gas in Kodak, TN. Then we hit road construction all the way home. Instead of taking 25 to Greenville, we stayed on I-26 all the way to Woodruff and came home the back way. It was so hot when we got home (94F compared to the 53F when we left Minnesota). After we unpacked, we went to dinner so the house could cool off. Then we went into the kitchen (that is still a disaster area) and covered the air vents with cardboard so the AC wasn’t cooling a room that we couldn’t use. Finally, around 10pm, we decided to call it a night!

Cradle of Forestry

Last week we went to Pisgah National Forest and visited the Cradle of Forestry. This was the birthplace o the US Forest Service. Along with a wonderful interactive museum, there are 2 hiking trails to explore. We took one of the hikes with a volunteer tour guide who made the story of how everything started come alive. You could tell that he enjoyed telling the story as much as we enjoyed hearing it. Even though we have been here many times and watched the old movie about this, having someone share stories about the school made it more exciting. All of the characters seemed to come alive because suddenly they weren’t just pictures on a screen or a display. These stories made them like real people with real emotions.

It made me realize how important it is to share some personal stories when trying to get students to learn about a time in history. Just knowing the facts doesn’t make it seem like an event actually happened. By adding emotional impacts to the story, really helps to learn new information and retain it.

If you ever get to visit this place and take a guided tour with Richard, I would highly recommend it! We bought an annual national park pass, so we can get visit as many times as we want and I know we will. I like to see this area in different seasons because there are also many different wildflowers to see! They also have a new movie but I don’t think it gives as much information as the old one.

Have you ever been here? If so, please share about your experience!