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

Busy Week

It started on Saturday, and we worked hard cleaning up the yard as best as we could. We got the big tree moved out of the yard. My hubby mowed the lawn and the weeds. We pulled unwanted vines out of the bushes. By the time we got it all done, I thought it looked pretty good.

On Sunday, I went to the early Easter service, and they played many of my favorite hymns. When I got home, it was time to hide the 84 plastic Easter eggs. Then we went across the street to my neighbors' for lunch. We had wonderful pizza and visited with friends. There were lots of kids, and it was fun to listen to all the different kids' conversations. After lunch, we had the Easter egg hunt. I’m not sure if all of the eggs were found because I heard three different totals. We may find more throughout the year. 

On Monday, we spent the morning at the dentist, where my hubby had 4 teeth pulled and then had a temporary bridge put in while we wait for the permanent one to be made. I felt so bad for him because he was in pain all day. He didn’t eat anything all day except the oatmeal before breakfast and then Muscle Milk during the day. When we got home, the HVAC guys were there and had started installing our new HVAC system.

On Wednesday, the HVAC guys returned to finish the job. 

On Thursday, we spent all day pricing appliances. We went to six different stores and got lots of prices. It was mind-boggling, and by the end of the day, we were exhausted.

On Friday, we exercised in the morning and did errands during the day. 

Saturday, Hubby drove me to the knitting guild meeting to show off my finished sweater and blanket. Then, I had a Meet a Designer session on Zoom, during which we met with Yumiko Alexander. After the Zoom meeting, we walked downtown to the Italian Festival, which had a great turnout!

 Whew! It was a busy week! 

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 2

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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.

After a wonderful breakfast at 7:30, we headed to the Linn Cove Viaduct. We hiked on the Tanawha Trail and the weather was absolutely perfect for hiking! We hiked a couple of hours in and then back to our car. It was tougher than I remembered. We had to climb up and down a lot of rocks.

After hiking we headed to Spruce Pine and had lunch at the Anchors Away Diner again. Then we went to two antique shops in town.

When we returned to the lodge, I sat and knit with my friends until dinner time. Then after dinner, we knit until the general meeting. It was time for Show and Share and many people had beautiful things to show and share.

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

Spartanburg Knitting Guild Meeting

Yesterday morning I went to my knitting guild meeting at the Inman Public Library. There were 18 of us and I had a great time. Barbara showed us a video on how to make the perfect buttonband and it was a great video.

I realized later that I already had that saved in my playlist.It made me want to knit more cardigans. So, when I picked up some charity yarn, I decided that I would make the Quick Knit Baby Shrug that was listed in our newsletter. That will be a great way to practice making the buttonband. All the people who made the anemone hat put them on and showed them off. They turned out cute when people had them on. Then others also made the Emotional Support Chicken and now I want to try to make one.  I also got to show off my Butterfly shawl and everyone seemed to like it. It is always a fun time when I go to these meetings!

Original Photos  by Pat Hensley

Knit-A-Way Retreat Day 1

We had Day 1 of the retreat at Big Lynn Lodge in Little Switzerland. Since it is only 2 hours away from home, we took our time on the way here. We left home at about 8:30 and stopped at antique stores along the way. We drove to Bakersville to find the restaurant we ate at last year (Bonnie and Clyde) which had wonderful food. Then we drove through Bakersville but there wasn’t anything there so don’t waste your time going there!

We checked into room 139 around 3:30 pm and even though the parking spaces were marked, people didn’t park in the correct space so we didn’t have a space. Don found an open spot to park in. Our room was nice with a min fridge, TV, and internet. Don watched TV while I knit and visited with people. I turned in my charity soap sacks and entered my camper blanket for the clothesline contest.

At 6 pm, we had dinner and sat with Betty Buck. Our dinner was very good (Ham, corn, wild rice, tossed salad, and peach pie with ice cream). Don went back to the room and I knit until our evening meeting at 8 pm. Some door prizes were given out but I didn’t win anything. I was in bed by 9:30

Original photos by Pat Hensley