We came, we crafted, we had a ball!

This is our logo, the symbol of Strong Women who are Passionate About Yarn!

We braved the Texas Summer Heat and arrived at the Lone Oak Ranch & Retreat near Gainesville, Texas, on August 7, 2015, to experience the wonderful community of crafting, fiber, fun, and friendship!  We were not disappointed. There were 37 of us this time, more than ever before.  New faces, familiar faces, sharing, laughing, eating, learning, crafting in the inviting atmosphere that is Lone Oak Ranch Retreat.  And the WiFi signal is strong and well-used, I must say. What would we do without our electronics and our knitting needles?  I do not know, but suffice it to say we can have it all here at the Chix Packin Stix Retreat, twice a year, and that is definitely a Good Thing!

It is a five-hour trip for me to get from Nacogdoches to Gainesville, so I got up before the sun and left home around 6:30 am on that Friday.  I have figured out ways to cut almost an hour off the trip by trying different county roads and highways.  There is absolutely no direct path to the destination from anywhere, but that doesn't mean it is hard to find. Along my route are horse farms, hills, prairie, and lots of beautiful bodies of water to cross.  It is a very satisfying and peaceful road trip for me.

Some of the Committee members and helpers met at a sweet little restaurant, Sarah's On The Square in Gainesville, Texas, for lunch, before heading a few miles south and east to our destination. Upon arrival at the venue, we immediately got to work, unloading cars and trucks, setting up tables and chairs, and getting organized for registration and the weekend's events.

As the self-proclaimed Goodie Goddess of Chix Packin Stix, I set about organizing all the donated "goodies" I had collected for our weekend.  For each and every attendee, in addition to door prizes, there was a "Bag O' Goodies" stuffed with a project bag, samples of recycled sari yarn, wool wash samples, stitch gauges, and other "freebies" from the wonderful shops and businesses that were kind enough to donate to our retreat.  Later there would be door prizes and some bright pink bags filled with the yarn and pattern to either crochet or knit a little sheep! What fun!

Cyndi and Joyce came up with this adorable idea of

a Survival Kit for our Retreat.  Enlarge the photo and 

read what is on the card!  Quite clever, I must say!

Setting up for the weekend.

In the midst of setting up, the attendees began to arrive, and, as sisters in crafting are inclined to do, pitched in to help after they had moved their things into their sleeping assignments. Foodstuffs, Ott lamps, knitting/crochet project bags, and spinning wheels began occupying spaces around the tables. Our buffet-style supper of baked potatoes and all "the works" was organized and set up along one wall, and large containers of tea and water, coffee pots and K-cups, and soft drinks appeared on the counter of the bar.

After supper, we had a fun "getting to know you" activity, then went straight into learning how to do our first planned project - shawl pins made of metal, taught by Terri.  Simple, fun, and lovely!  I am working on a prayer shawl for my friend, Judy, and I think one of these would be just perfect for holding it in place. And, I can definitely see myself playing with metal wire quite a bit in the future.

The first project of the weekend, a pair of metal shawl pins!

After finishing this first project, beginner knitters and crocheters were invited to learn the basics  of those yarn crafts, while the rest of us got busy on projects, or just making the rounds and visiting.  This really is a weekend of doing whatever you want, or nothing at all.  And there are always plenty of snacks!

I spent most of the evening visiting with old friends, and meeting and getting better acquainted with others. Smiles and laughter were everywhere.  And so ..... I didn't make it to bed until .....  3:48 am! Thanks, Gracie Lou, for my pink sheep pj's and the late night sharing!

As you can imagine, our continental-style breakfast at 8 o'clock Saturday morning came just a bit too soon for this old gal after such a late night. Our first door prize drawings were scheduled to start at 8:30 and I needed to be alert! Thank goodness for a couple of cups of coffee from the Keurig machine is all I have to say.  Caffeine totally ROCKS!

Breakfast time and relaxing before the beginning of activities on Saturday.

Door prize give-aways started off with my donning my Goodie Goddess Hat, which is quite the Attention Getter.  It is huge and, as I found out during this retreat, quite hot if worn for more than 5 minutes during this time of the year. This hat of mine is part of my costume when attending the Texas Renaissance Festival in late Autumn, when the weather is decidedly cooler and I have had a few tankards of Guinness.  I think it must be a lot cooler then!  I may have to reconsider my headpiece for the future ....

Me and my feathered hat at the Texas Ren Fest!

For this Retreat, whenever you saw me don my huge feathered
hat, it indicated that it was TIME FOR DOOR PRIZES!

Some of the awesome door prizes I was handing out.

At the Chix Packin Stix Retreats, everyone is the lucky winner of a door prize!  No one is left out of the goodness of donated gifts.  We are truly grateful to all of the wonderful shops and vendors who made a donation of something from their businesses for our weekend!  We couldn't believe all the wonderful things we received for this August event. There were hand-painted yarns, coloring books for adults, jewelry, chocolate, knitting books, handmade goat milk soaps, needles in various sizes and styles, notions and so much more!  AWESOMENESS!

Some hand-painted yarns for door prizes from Paradise Fibers. 

Darn Good Yarn not only sent a skein of their recycled chiffon sari yarn, they also sent each of us a
5-yard sample card of their sari ribbon, enough for using in a project.

When contacting the various shops to ask if they would participate, I would tell them we would have about 40 lovely crafty ladies attending and using that information, some sent 40 little gifts for our "Bag of Goodies" along with their business cards. One of those was Happy Ewe in Jonestown, TX, who sent a humongous box full of little pink bags.

A huge box arrived in the mail from Happy Ewe!

Inside each of the little pink bags was a pattern and the yarn to either crochet or knit a little sheep!  ADORABLE!

Joanna R. has finished her hot pink "sheepie" from Happy Ewe already.

I haven't made mine yet.  But when I do, it will be pink like Joanna's and it will find a home right up there on one of the window shelves in my den, along with the rest of my "flock".  It will really stand out, I think!  I really do need to get crackin' on that project ....

One of my window shelves in the den at HeartSong Farm. 

For every Chix Packin Stix Retreat, we have a Project For Charity.  I really love this aspect of our group dynamic.  We can give so much from what we have, and it is also quite a bit of fun for us to create something that is so appreciated.   

This was my contribution for our charity project - fleece  blankets for babies and kids in one of the
Dallas-area hospitals.

Saturday morning, after the first round of door prizes, it was Astrid's time to teach us all about rug hooking, traditionally done with wool fabric strips.  Wool fabric is quite expensive, so we were going to throw in some yarn and some other types of fabric strips for our creations this weekend.  There were traditional designs as well as some more modern looks to the projects the ladies were inspired to work on.

Astrid brought some of her finished work along with her expertise.

Mounds of fabric strips for the rug hooking class.

Intent, yet Conversational!  That's what it is all about!

Looks like the beginnings of a sheep to me!  

And here we have a Dominiker hen, I believe!

And a black cat .....

.... a llama with a hat and bandanna?!!!!  Why not?!

And .....  a mermaid under the sea!

As you can see, rug hooking can be anything that strikes your fancy ....  traditional designs or not.  We had some really wonderful interpretations of this very old craft.  I was too busy visiting to really get started on mine and am still contemplating what I want to make.  At the time, I was much more interested in going around and seeing what others were doing than sitting and concentrating on crafting that day.

A gorgeous pine needle basket creation was inspiration for the Saturday afternoon project class.

Rapt attention on Rachel B. as she introduced us to the craft of pine needle basket making.

Pine needles prepped and ready to be woven, walnut pieces for basket bottoms, and sinew to hold

it all together.

Basket weavers sporting our Retreat tee-shirts.

Around and around we go ....

I see the beginnings of a basket there!  Whoo Hoo!

There were a greater number of spinners at this Retreat than ever before.

And a new spinner being created right before our eyes!

Sunday morning it was time to learn our last project for the weekend:  crochet/felted flowers!

Diane P. showed us how to make some cute flowers using felted wool, yarn, and buttons.  As she remarked, the sky is the limit on the creativity this project can encompass.  Lots of almost instant gratification!

Quick and easy to make, these would be cute on a vintage hat or .... make two alike and put them

on a pair of flip flops!  And matching ones on a beach bag and sun hat????!!!

So pretty!  I can see this on a hat or scarf or barrette, can't you?!

After a wonderful lunch on Sunday, it was time to start packing it all up and heading home.  The time had come for Gracie Lou to part with her tree babies as she passed them on to me to care for on HeartSong Farm!  She brought me 6 seedling pines and 3 seedling pomegranates.  The pomegranates came from seeds from her grandmother's original tree in Laredo, TX, and the "mother tree" of the pine seedlings had been transplanted many years ago from Nacogdoches, TX, near where I live (and where Gracie Lou had attended college) to the Dallas area.  Now its babies are coming back to their "roots!"  Pun intended!

Gracie Lou and her tree babies.

Kissing her babies goodbye!  I promise I will take great care of them!

Gracie Lou and I believe that by sharing living things with each other we are also sharing a spiritual connection.  I have shared seeds and plants with my friends Jo, Judy, Astrid, Wanda and Ellen in recent years, and I plan on doing even more in the future with others.

The August 2015 Chix Packin Stix Retreat Group Photo.

With hugs and fond farewells to new friends and old, we packed up this version of the Chix Packin Stix Retreat and vowed to meet again in March of 2016 for more fun, sharing, learning and laughter.

Some of what happens at Retreat must stay at Retreat .....  for next time!

And back here at HeartSong Farm, we are anxiously awaiting the advent of Autumn and some much cooler temperatures.