News from Shetland and Madrona

I'm in Tacoma, attempting to be productive until my flight leaves. When I checked my email, I had a newsletter waiting from Shetland, and thought everyone who's visited this special part of the world would be interested to get this news too: http://www.shetland.org/ and http://www.shetlandhamefarin.com/hamefarin-newsletter-february-2010.pdf.

I've enjoyed my visit to the Madrona Fiber Arts Winter Retreat and this morning took a bead knitting workshop. The teacher had us make a sampler showing different methods of using beads, which will be good to keep for reference. My time at Madrona has been enjoyable: a mixture of visiting with old and new friends, admiring the numerous beautifully knitted creations worn by the attendees, and just sitting knitting. I managed to control myself in the market place and did very little shopping.

I'm glad I brought my computer with me on this trip, as I've emailed Garth (my website guy) the remainder of the details for the two tours later this year. Please let me know if any of you have questions about either tour. The information is on my website: http://www.joycejamestours.com/.

An announcement!

I had a phone call from Garth (my website guy), to let me know that he had completed the revisions for my website: http://www.joycejamestours.com/. Have a look at it and you will see it has a completely new look. I like it and after close to ten years, I think it is time for a change in format! Be sure to visit my site regularly --we'll continue to update the information as more tour details are finalized.

You'll find most of the information for the tours later this year: in August to British Columbia (including Victoria, travelling on Vancouver Island, Salt Spring Island, Tofino and the beaches of Pacific Rim National Park): http://www.joycejamestours.com/joycejames2010/westcoast.html

In September we'll be going to Italy: Venice, the villages of Tuscany and Florence. The price for the Italian tour is on the website: http://www.joycejamestours.com/joycejames2010/italy.html

I'll be sending Garth the tour price for British Columbia so he can do what is necessary to convert it to a web document. (It's all I can do to be a tour planner and knitter, however the fine points of programming computers and their language are way beyond me.)

I'm off to Tacoma on Wednesday and have a stack of flyers with me to publicize the tours. Reports will be forthcoming from the Madrona Fiber Arts Retreat. I've even bought a new suitcase.

I'll be travelling

Next week I leave for Tacoma and the Madrona Fiber Arts Winter Retreat. www.madronafiberarts.com. I went there two years ago and really enjoyed myself. The city is interesting and I went to two very interesting museums, but mostly spent my time at the event.

Organizer, Suzanne Pedersen has done an excellent job of creating a relaxed atmosphere, providing a wide variety of talented instructors and a marketplace, but most importantly lots of time to knit and visit with other like-minded knitting enthusiasts. Many people return year after year. The host hotel is the Murano, with an outstanding display of hand-blown glass. I'm going to take one course: Knitting a Bead Sampler. I could have registered for more classes but wanted to leave time to visit with old friends who will also be attending. I'm looking forward to hearing the guest speakers too. Have a look at the Madrona site to learn more about them.

I have Mary Adams and Suzanne to thank for designating the Shetland Guild of Spinners, Weavers & Knitters as one of their charities for the past two years. The donations that the Guild received from Madrona attendees were very much appreciated and went towards their building fund for a home for the Guild and their collections.

I will also be taking flyers to tell people about the two tours for 2010. The trip to Vancouver Island (Victoria and area, Salt Spring Island) is scheduled from the 23 to 31 August. The trip to Italy (Venice, Tuscany, Florence) will take place 20 September to 02 October. Details of both tours will be on my website very shortly. (Again, sorry for the delay as I know many of you have been waiting for that information.)

A worthy project

This week I received the January newsletter from talented fibre artist, Anna Hergert, who I've profiled in an earlier blog. Have a look at her website: http://www.annahergert.com/, and click her blog to find the 06 January entry. Be sure to go to the end of that blog and click on 'Read More' to learn about a non-profit organization called KIVA, which is organized to help women in Third World countries who are "willing to help themselves". Once these women receive donations, which are actually loans, they have a specified time to repay the amount.

Anna has also started a lending group towards this end. Hers is directed towards textile artists and she has called it "Textile Artists for Global Change". She has photos of two women, one in Nigeria and the other in Ghana.

Once you've read about the details, you may wish to make a contribution to support this worthy endeavour.

I've been knitting

I'm embarrassed to admit how long it took me to go through the steps to find and to successfully post this photo--there must be a lot of very talented people on the internet, as obviously it isn't a difficult process for most of you! I was ready to hire an expert, but thanks to an instructional video from Garth (my website guy), I was able to slowly demystify the necessary steps.

This is a photo of my elder grandaughter, wearing the scarf I knit for her from Lucy Neatby's 'Sea Lettuce' pattern. I bought the pattern and the yarn (Celestial Merino, 100 gms.) when we visited Lucy and her staff on our tour in September.

The scarf could have been a little longer, but I stopped a bit early so that Madeline's mother could incorporate some of the yarn into a hat she was knitting for her. I found the project to be enjoyable and would try it again, but did start to wonder when I would finish with all the twirling. It is a dandy pattern for travelling and when one has interruptions, as it was easy to pick up and find out where I should resume knitting.

New beginnings

After many years doing my travel planning through an agency in Toronto, I have decided to join an Ottawa agency, Executive Worldwide Travel, www.executive-trvl.com. I am very much looking forward to this association and being in the same city will allow me to take part in day-to-day agency activities. The agency offers a number of special interest group tours and I think it will be a better 'fit' with my trips.

For anyone with travel enquiries or who wish to book, my email address remains the same and you can always contact me by that means or by phone at: 613-695-0889.

I've also been working on the second tour for 2010--a knitting journey to British Columbia. Our trip will begin in Victoria and we will travel on Vancouver Island with a visit to the beautiful gulf island of Salt Spring.

In addition to staying in Victoria--with afternoon tea at the famous Empress Hotel, the beautiful Butchart Gardens and the Royal Museum of B.C.--we'll visit the Cowichan knitters at Duncan; travel on the Island to meet craftspeople, visits to yarn shops, an alpaca farm and meet with talented, local knitters. Salt Spring Island is known for its scenic beauty and its interesting, talented population. One of our highlights there will be a visit to Treenaway Silk and we'll time our visit to take in the weekly market.

I've been listening to the news of a bad storm in the Maritime provinces and the Confederation Bridge was closed due to high winds. For those who came on the tour in September, it will bring back memories when we had to delay our crossing on the bridge for several hours, however the weather then wasn't nearly as inclement as this snowstorm.

A tour for 2010

My apologies to those who have been waiting for the details of the upcoming trips in 2010.

I've not been completely idle and have been spending a lot of time doing background reading--at the moment for the one to Italy. My desk is piled high with reference books and a detailed map, and I’ll be taking a site-inspection trip to Italy in January. I’ll be sending details to Garth, my talented, long-suffering website designer and a preliminary itinerary will be there very soon.


Concerning this tour, it's been a difficult decision to finalize the itinerary--there are just too many wonderful places to visit. However, I've narrowed our main stops (where we will stay in hotels) to three places: Florence, the small Tuscan village of Anghiari (described as being located in the "geographical heart of the Italian Renaissance") and ending with wonderful Venice. This tour will take place in late September.While I've been thinking of a trip to Italy for several years, it seemed a matter of serendipity when Nicky Epstein's book, Knitting in Tuscany, was published. This book has been an inspiration and has validated the areas which I had been planning for our itinerary.

We'll spend at least five nights in Anghiari and while we're there will take excursions to the nearby villages of Siena, Assisi and Arezzo. Throughout the tour, our days will be spent enjoying the Italian cuisine, marvelling at the wonderful scenery, visiting centuries-old buildings and viewing treasured art. Just a few of the activities you can look forward to: a cooking class with a chef who will take us to the local market and then prepare a memorable meal; a private tour of La Tessitura Busatti, a family firm of talented weavers which has been in existence for over 170 years; visit with a glass blower on the island of Murano; Sansepolcro, site of a lace-making school; a tapestry weaver in the mountains of La Verna.

Season’s Greetings to all! My sincere wishes for a healthy, happy 2010.