I was in San Diego for The TKGA Conference from Tuesday, July 21 through Sunday, July 26. I intended to blog while I was there, but I was so busy enjoying myself that I didn’t have time. I had a truly spectacular time, and was sorry to see it end. This week, I’ll write a series of blog posts about the event. I hope you decide to come next year; the Conference will be held in Charleston, SC, a mere 5 hour drive from my house. I’ve already put it in my calendar!
The main part of the Conference ran Thursday to Saturday. Wednesday was a one-day pre-conference Master’s Day, with different tracks for each TKGA Master Hand Knitter Levels and a track for Level 3 graduates. Tuesday and Sunday were travel days. On Tuesday, my flight left Orlando at 10:40 am and arrived in San Diego at 12:10 pm local time. The flight was uneventful. I read the whole way — The Age of Homespun, which is fascinating and which I will review on this blog once I finish it.
I took Super Shuttle to the airport and checked into the hotel. There was a long line to check in, and most of the people in the line appeared to be fiber crafters:
The Town and Country Resort is a large property with multiple buildings, two high-rises and several two-story buildings. My first room was on the second floor of one of the two-story buildings, on the far opposite corner of the property from the conference center.
It smelled musty. I wasn’t going to complain; I knew this resort and all the nearby hotels were sold out. But when I was getting for bed and walked barefoot into the bathroom, I discovered that the carpet in the entryway was wet. I didn’t see anything leaking anywhere in the room, but obviously there was a problem somewhere and, judging by the musty smell, there’d been a problem for a while. I was exhausted and it was late, so I stayed in the room on Tuesday night. On Wednesday morning, I went to the front desk and asked to be moved to a new room. My new room was downstairs in the same building and obviously had a facelift. I had no problems with the new room — I was hardly ever in my room, except to sleep!
The English-garden-meets-California landscaping was beautiful!
I spent Tuesday afternoon and evening in my room, even ordering room service for dinner. I took a nap for a while, finished knitting the last 3 Level 1 swatches that I wanted to finish before Master’s Day, and then blocked all 15 of the finished swatches. (The swatch on the bottom right isn’t one of the Level 1 swatches; it was homework for one of the Masters Day sessions.) I brought my blocking mats with me, just for this purpose!
Tomorrow I will write a post about Master’s Day. I learned a lot about my knitting and about the Master’s program. I’m particularly glad that I went to San Diego early so I could attend Master’s Day.
Great pictures Karen!!!
Your pictures are wonderful, Karen. I’m glad you were able to get into a better room. Aside from dealing with a musty and wet carpet – ugh, the second room looks so much more inviting! I look forward to reading your other posts about the convention.