Yarn School!

Back in October 2014, two friends of mine from my knitting group and I went to Kansas to attend Yarn School. More specifically The Harveyville Project Yarn School. It is such a neat concept and definitely an interesting experience.

Basically the set up is the weekend event is held at an old high school in Harveyville, Kansas that has been converted to hold all types of creative workshops. Yarn School consisted of learning all about fibers, learning how to use a spinning wheel, learning how to dye fibers in various methods, visiting an alpaca farm and just meeting good people and having a fun weekend.

The school itself had a run down hipster feel to it with all sorts of knickknacks everywhere, old school lockers, and we slept in classrooms next to chalkboards. While I understand this concept is still a work in progress and for the most part manageable, the bathrooms could use a bit of an update.

I was super excited to learn how to dye yarn with Adrian from Hello Yarn. That was one of my favorite parts of the whole weekend and wish we had more time devoted to that lesson. Or more opportunities to do additional dying in the down time.

Spinning is hard work. Finding the right wheel, the right fiber, the right rhythm. It's a lot to think about and figure out how to coordinate all at once. I am not the best learner. I get frustrated quickly if I don't pick something up quickly. So I struggled with this part of the lessons. But I did enjoy it once I got the hang of it and one day hope to buy a spinning wheel to better learn this art.

Another favorite part of the weekend was the visit to the Alpaca farm. I think alpacas are my spirit animals. They love me and I love them back. Some days I daydream about living off the grid and owning a few alpacas.

Additionally, the food was fantastic all weekend long. I really wish they would put out a cookbook because I still think of some of the dishes. It was all made from scratch every day which isn't easy to do for over 20 people at each meal.

The school

Our beds

Lockers!

Beautiful sunrise

Sunrise from the men's bathroom. I liked the windows.

Crockpot dying

Trying to be creative with the dying

Colors!

Look at all the pretty colors drying

Adrian teaching us how to hand dye

Learning how to use a drop spindle

One of the spinning wheels I tried

Spinning in Action

Look, I made yarn!

Not bad yarn for the first time.

Alpacas!

I totally want an angora rabbit now

Look at the cuteness!

These sheep were scaredy cats and preferred hanging out behind the bush

Of course I had to take a picture of my Jayne hat next to Firefly Rd

Kansas was surprisingly pretty

All my finished yarns and fibers

Austrian meal

I have a great neighbor who is originally from Austria and she offered to cook me a homemade Austrian dinner. It was fantastic! I have never been to Austria and after hearing her stories about the country and trying some of their dishes, it is now on top of my list of places I want to visit. Hopefully sometime soon.

I need to get to the recipe for the appetizer because it is something I could eat on a regular basis. And the Pork schnitzel was surprisingly easy to make. I've always been scared of frying food, especially dishes that require breading because it seems like such a process but after seeing her cook, I think it's something I can easily do. I'll have to try and report back with my result :)


1. Drinks. This was a simple drink consisting of Campri and Orange Juice. A bit tart but refreshing.

2. Appetizer. Spinach salad with balasmic and olive oil dressing. Tomato stuffed with mixture of ham, onions, mushrooms, sour cream, fresh chives and other herbs.

3. Main course. Pork schnitzel, white rice with peas, cranberry sauce and a German Riesling.

4. Dessert.  A type of homemade sweet bread with vanilla sauce and a little shooter of chocolate cream. I also tried an Austrian drink called Almdudler - it'skind of like a ginger ale mixed with herbs. We mixed that with the Riesling to make a type of spritzer.

Cypress Top Historic Park

I had the opportunity to recently tour the Cypress Top Historic Park. It's a collection of buildings that founded the Cypress area, including an old farm house, gas station, dance hall, and general store. The general store was the best part because when the owner shut the doors in the early 90s, he left everything behind as is. So it has a great collection of random household items that people used to purchase on their drive from Houston back out into the country. Even had a little bar so the men could stop and have a drink while the women were shopping.

It is kind of fascinating to note the progress of this area. While Cypress is in Harris County, the same county as Houston, it was considered to be country farm land for years. Only in the past 20 years has it really developed into a huge suburb of Houston. Now days you can barely tell there was any farm land here - all huge subdivisions with multiple strip malls, fast food joints, etc. So it's nice that the Cypress Historical Society is able to preserve some of the history of the area before it all changed.

Love the old school Life Savers wrappers

All kinds of razor blades

I want an old cash register just because they are so cool looking

Too bad you can buy a Corona for $1.25 anymore

I love old maps.

This pump was in use till the early 90s.

The old gas station

1950s McCall's pattern book

The bar portion of the general store

Another angle of the bar

Hair products from the little barber shop

Apparently original Dr Pepper in bottles are a big deal to Texans

Beer!