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.

My retreat to Lone Oak Ranch

I have been back from my first retreat with the Chix Packin Stix gals for over two weeks and I am still riding high on the energy and creativity inspired by the gathering!  One of those "natural highs" that I love!  

The location for the retreat was the Lone Oak Ranch near Gainesville, Texas, and that was five hours from where I live.  I was not sure how I would survive the ten hour round trip and still be able to show up for work on the Monday morning afterwards.  Not to worry!  I was Energized!

The flyer said that we would be playing with a peg loom, sewing a blue jean bag/purse, knitting washcloths for charity, making a wreath with yarn and perhaps felted balls, and having a wonderful time just being with fiber friends.  It all sounded just wonderful to me, especially since I had always enjoyed the company of the two organizers/instigators, Cyndi and Joyce.  All materials were to be provided and the peg looms were ours to keep!  We could do as much or as little as we wanted. There was an online sign-up sheet for choosing what to bring for the Friday night pot luck supper and the snack island in the Activities Room.  Alrighty then, sign me up!

I was excited, too, because the venue was within a few miles of the university I had graduated from in 1970, North Texas State University in Denton.  Maybe I could visit the campus on the way home and see just how much it has changed in all these intervening years!?  

The drive was quite nice and very easy, with great highways and little traffic (until I hit McKinney!). As I left the hills, red clay and pine trees of the Piney Woods of Deep East Texas and headed north and west, I passed through open fields, flat land that changed to rolling hills, and eventually to areas of scrub and mesquite.  Pastures changed from cattle to mostly horses ....  gorgeous horses ... and in one, there was a herd of bison!  The area north of the Dallas/Ft. Worth area where I had attended college had turned into horse country with lovely estates scattered across the rolling green countryside!  Crepe myrtles appeared to be the landscaping tree of choice, in shades of pinks, reds, purples and white.  It was all quite lovely!

Landscape of North Texas, with a lovely buttermilk sky!

Upon arrival, I was greeted warmly by new and old friends, and noticed that everyone was already having a great time. Some gals were at the sewing machines making purses and bags out of blue jeans.  Others were moving into their rooms in one of the buildings, bringing in their contribution to the potluck dinner on Friday night, or just sitting around in the air conditioning knitting and visiting!  

This is the Charles Goodnight House which was my "home" for the weekend. 

I thought this stoop with the horseshoes was kinda cool!

I dropped my things off at the little house I was assigned to, which turned out to be where Cyndi and Joyce were also staying.  That would turn out to be even more than a lot of fun!

Then I gathered up my "stuff" for the retreat activities.  This included my knitting bag (full of needles and hooks of all manner of sizes in metal, plastic and wood, straight and circular and double pointed, along with pens, notions, scissors and notebook), and a bag of yarns and projects in progress.  Once those were deposited near the seat that I had chosen in the Activities Building,  I looked around and breathed in the Wonderful Air of Creativity! Yes!  I needed this so much, and I was so very glad that I had decided to make the trip to the Chix Packin Stix Retreat.  It was around 4:30 pm, and Life was grand!

The Activities Building at Lone Oak Ranch

Chill-laxing with new and old friends at the second Chix Packin Stix Retreat.

Not long thereafter my arrival in the Activities Building, I was introduced to a sweet lady about my age who was in need of some knitting tutelage so that she could get started on the pattern for the washcloths we would all be making to benefit the M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.  The washcloths are given to cancer patients who have just recently finished up their chemo and/or radiation therapies, to symbolically wash off the lines and marks of the battle they have just fought so courageously.

Hand knitted washcloths are fun and quick to make out of cotton yarns easily available.  They

make a really nice gift along with some special soap.

As we were getting acquainted during the next hour, Liza asked me where I had gone to high school in Houston.  I told her Robert E. Lee, and she said:  "ME, TOO!"  It turns out that we were in the same grades at the same schools in 7th and 8th grades, and then again in 10th and 11th grades, but there were so very many of us in our grade that we really didn't know each other.  We did, however, have some of the same teachers, and knew some of each other's friends. How cool is that?! To finally meet, after 47 years!!!  She grew up as Betsy and is now Liza;  I grew up as Sally and am now Sara. Small world, indeed!  I couldn't wait to get home and find my year book.

My new high school friend, Liza

After a delicious pot luck supper, I found myself sitting at one of the 4 sewing machines working on my blue jean purse.  I picked out my pair of jeans, some red print cotton fabric, and a bag of various brown, purple, white and red yarns, cut to length and chained together.  I also picked up a pretty silk scarf that I thought might be useful, but later put it back.  It didn't seem to go with the way my creation  was developing, after all.

I cut the legs off of the jeans, seamed across the bottom, and then sewed the red fabric into a lining. Next I twisted the colorful bundle of yarns into a shoulder strap and attached it to each side of the blue jeans' waistband.  I tried this and that with some ribbons, admired what others had done with theirs, and decided that I was happy with what I had done so far, but would need to get home to my stash of "this and that, bits and pieces" in order to finish  and be pleased.  I find that I have to think about my projects, even agonize over them, and I rarely finish something at a class or retreat.  That is just how I operate!  I think way too much, and have difficulty making decisions, but I am working on improving!

This one is full of Bling!

This pair of jeans was turned on it's side, with the zipper on top, 
 and appliqued with flower prints and gingham leaves!  

And a very stylish bag with handmade flowers of ribbon and fabric!

Around 8:30 pm, the "early to bed ladies" went to their rooms while the rest of us stayed and worked and visited and relaxed a while longer.  By 11:00 pm, all but us certified night owls had left the building and gone to their beds, and the 10 of us that were left ended up "partying" until 1:30 am before retiring as well.  We were still full of energy, but we knew we needed to get to our beds and catch some sleep before morning and the activities planned for Saturday!

Cyndi and Joyce, as organizers of the retreat, were responsible for making the breakfasts both mornings. Those of us who were lucky enough to be in the same little house with these two gals, got to help in the kitchen.  What fun making pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon, and breakfast casseroles with fiber sisters!

Making the batter for sourdough pancakes on Saturday morning.

Tasting committee!  YUM!

The finished product ready to be taken to the Activities Building for the breakfast buffet.

Saturday morning some of the ladies opted to sit and learn to knit from an experienced knitter.  For the rest of us who wanted to participate, Joyce passed out the peg looms with pegs that she and Cyndi had made for us, and then invited us to grab some chenille yarns from a big cardboard box for our next project. Talk about a mad scramble!  And, did I tell you that the peg looms were ours to keep?!

Joyce demonstrating how to weave on the peg loom, with help from Terri.

Joyce patiently gave us our instructions, and showed us some examples of items made from peg looms that she had brought:  scarves, bags, purses, and rugs.  There was a flurry of activity and we all got down to threading our pegs and then began to weave with these clever little looms.  Some of us caught on faster than others, and, as usual, I was one of the ones at the back of the class trying desperately to keep up!  But by late afternoon, even I had finished my little green and beige bag for carrying my Kindle Fire.  Some had already started on a second project! I began to think, what else could I try on this clever little thing?!  I am thinking maybe some new bath mats made with old towels cut in strips for the weft.  Stay tuned ....

My peg loom with weaving in progress.

This is my little bag for my Kindle Fire that I wove on the peg loom.  I
added all of the finishing touches after I got back home.  I made a macrame
shoulder strap, then raided my button jar for the perfect mix of buttons!

Lunch and supper were served by the folks at Lone Oak Ranch, buffet style.  The food was good and plentiful, and the conversation delightful. Food always brings out the best stories with fiber folk! The evening continued with desserts and snacks always available in the Activity Building. One new friend had brought an awesome banana pudding, and another gal made spongecake rolls filled with whipped cream and fresh peaches! We spent the evening visiting and finishing up what we had started at the retreat, or working on projects we had brought from home.  Some decided to play a board game and had us all laughing at their antics!

After breakfast on Sunday, Joyce showed us how to go about making a seasonal wreath out of a wire frame, some funky art yarn, and small felted balls.  The yarn colors I wanted to use for my fall wreath were gone by the time that I got to the yarn box.  Although there were plenty of yarns of other colors, I am very particular when it comes to color choice .... AND, the wreath is to be a gift for Matt's girl, Melissa, and it just has to be perfect!  So, Cyndi said she could order and mail me the yarn colors that I wanted so that I could make mine after I got home.  Awesome! The yarn arrived yesterday, and I just love, love, love the colors!  They remind me of the Texas Renaissance Festival.  Will take a photo when it is finished!

Joyce also showed us how to make some felted balls for decorating the wreaths if we wanted to use them for part of the decoration.  The process involved small styrofoam balls, soap, water and tiny amounts of wool, both natural and dyed.  We were running out of time, so I opted to just sit back and work on my washcloths and visit with those around me.  I needed to start winding up the weekend, and tie up some loose ends.  This was the way everything worked at the retreat.  No rules, just fun.

Sometimes we need a helping hand from a friend!

New friends working on their wreaths on Sunday morning.

It was time to pack up our things and head out in all directions for home after our lunch on Sunday.  I decided that I would save the trip to visit Denton and my old college campus for another time.  I already knew that I would be attending another Chix Packin Stix Retreat! So much fun!  Just what the doctor ordered!

I chose a different way back home in order to bypass McKinney's traffic, and was rewarded with more lovely horse country and the sight of a roadrunner along the side of the highway! 

Roadrunner!

I would often see one near HeartSong Farm, but not in the last several years. So, that was pretty fantastic, and seemed like a sign that I should definitely make road trips now and again to this area. 

I had no problems getting up for work on Monday morning.  I also had lunch with my friend, Judy, wherein I just about talked her ear off about the good time I had, poor thing.  She quilts, and I keep telling her she needs to go to a Quilting Retreat sometime!  She just smiled ....

This is my Daisy Duke Bag that I finished after I got home from the Retreat.  The inside lining is the red calico print like the "belt".  I am not overly fond of the light blue button, but until I find the perfect one, it will have to do.  I  want a brown or purple one, I think, but there were none in my button stash.  I think a trip to Hobby Lobby is in my future!  

It is sassy, like me!

The next Chix Packin Stix Retreat is already set for January 30, 2015 - February 1, 2015.  For more information and more photos of the retreats, go to their Facebook Page here.  I have already sent in my registration and deposit! Maybe I will see you there?!



I am now working on some previously abandoned knitting projects here on HeartSong Farm.