Big Dreams

When Knitterguy Ted first came up with the idea of a men's knitting retreat, the vision was simple...bring guys together in a beautiful place where they could knit, crochet, spin, teach, etc.

Expanding Dreams
Never in our most vivid imagination did Ted or I think that this little dream would be anything exceptional, and yet, the way that these retreats have taken off has been nothing short of amazing.

As we prepare for the fourth Men's Spring Knitting Retreat in upstate New York, the men's retreats have expanded and taken off into other areas of the World including San Francisco, Michigan, Seattle, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

The latest new venue for one of these incredible retreats is the Rocky Mountains of Colorado.

And I am more than thrilled to be able to take part in this newest retreat.

Frank and Brady have organized this latest retreat, slated for July of this year in Sunshine Mountain Lodge in Allenspark, CO (South of Estes Park for any of you familiar with the area.)

I can't imagine a nicer place to be with a bunch of great guys glorying in all things fiber.

I've never been to the Rocky Mountains before and I am stoked about going there for this event.

For registration information or to register for the event, Brady is taking e-mails at mrmkr2011@gmail.com. Brady will send out a PayPal invoice to secure your spot. There is a limited number of spaces (32 max!) and they've already filled about half the spots.

Current Crocheting/Knitting
As many of you witnessed via video, I did end up ripping out the crochet baby blanket, and started it anew (almost anew...a little bit of a-old was left after ripping out most of it).

Two things that I'm happy about with the latest effort...I MUCH prefer the aesthetic of this blanket better than the first attempt...at least for a baby. Second, I had made a minor, hard-to-detect error in the blanket that is now gone!

I haven't done any more work on the other baby blanket, but I will (I have two babies to make blankets for).

Readers' Comments/Questions,
Beverly from NJ writes, "Loved the video! Have you lost weight since Rhinebeck? You look great!"

Actually, I have lost a few pounds, but not many. I think I just hit one of those weights where it shows in my face a bit. Thanks for noticing!

Stashhaus writes, "Thanks for the video. Can we now have the chicken and mashed potatoes recipes? Looks de-lish!"

lol...it was quite good. I'd give you the "recipe" for both, but honestly I think frying chicken requires a certain gene or something...Thaddeus can make ANYTHING that requires frying and make it taste great. I know that for the chicken, he uses Kosher chicken or brined chicken, always thighs with bone-in. He just heats up a big skillet with a half an inch of oil in it (medium heat which heats it up pretty hot, but not smoking), puts some regular flour and some flavoring (Goya Adobo or McCormack's chicken seasoning) in a zip-loc bag, and pats the chicken with a paper towel and shakes the chicken in the flour/seasoning. He fries the flour-coated chicken (skin-side up) at a pretty high temperature for the first few minutes and then turns it down to medium-low and let's it cook for about 15 minutes, turns it and cooks it for about another 10 minutes.