Madrona (suite et fin, as we say in French)

Well, I am back home and recovering from Madrona. I edited the last post I wrote, because I made some unnecessary remarks in it. I only realized that the next day, when it finally dawned on me that the fact I had been freezing for the last 48 hours had nothing to do with the temperature in the hotel (which was fine), but was due to the fact I was running a fever. The trip home on Monday was a relief, because Colin pampered me as soon as I got home and I have been resting and getting better.

So I got my 15 minutes of knitting fame as the "anonymous woman" the Yarn Harlot wrote about in the P.S. of her post dated February 17th. It was very funny to read it and recognize myself in it. I did indeed see her and recognize her (despite what some people thought), but I thought, after four days at Madrona and the fact we had to get up at the uncivilized time of 5:00 a.m. to get to the airport and catch the plane to Toronto, she wanted some peace and quiet. If she wanted to talk, she would, and if she preferred to be left alone, that was fine. Anyway, I am shy myself and I wouldn't dream of going up to her and speaking to her; the irony is that I would not have hesitated to talk to her if she had been a total unknown and I had seen her knitting; fear of rejection, I suppose...

My last class with Cat Bordhi on Sunday was, as usual, a blast. She is a woman full of talent and totally bursting with creativity, and she has no ego. The day flew by and I said good-bye to her, definitely hoping to see her this summer at the Sock Summit, which is taking place in Portland in August. I took photos, but they did not come out too well, this is the least bad of them:

 

I saw her talking and hugging a beautiful woman who looked vaguely familiar, in the hallway just before class started. I asked if that was Sivia Harding and she did confirm it was indeed her. And there I am, knitting one of her patterns. The photos I have seen of her don't do her justice; she is much better-looking in reality.

I have downloaded photos from my little Sony camera, so here are some from Ruth Sorensen's class:

 

And the little sample I knitted during her class:

   

These are from Vivian Hoxbro's Domino Knitting Class (Vivian is in the middle):

 

 

Here I am modelling one of her creations (we were all wearing one of her garments and group photos were taken, but the photographer forgot to take one with my camera):

 

And here is a photo taken of Betsy Hershberg during Thursday's class:

And two of the samples I knitted (out of focus):

 

Speaking of Betsy -- I usually assume only a handful of people read this blog, so imagine my surprise when I got an e-mail today from Betsy, who was given a copy of my previous blog post by one of her students. She wrote a very kind e-mail in response to the comments I made, and the least I can do is to post part of her e-mail here (I did tell her I would):

I am so sorry that you found your experience in my class less satisfying than you had hoped for. It is always my desire to provide a wealth of information along with a fun experience in my classes and clearly this class was less than that for you. It was clear early on that you are quite an accomplished knitter and I wasn't sure whether you were being quiet because you were so focused (and quickly successful) or if the pace was causing you frustration. Now I know! I appreciate your understanding that the diverse skill level of students in the class had something to do with this problem. As for your other issues:

 

1) I take full responsibility and apologize for the "type and paste" problems in the handout - won't bore you with the reasons for them as in the end they are my fault. 

 

2) As for not being on top of my game, that too must be true but you should know that I was trying to push through an oncoming bout of flu, a poor decision that landed me in the ER of the Tacoma General Hospital all day on Saturday on IV fluids and meds and a scary high fever. But having looked forward to my first trip to Madrona for so long, I just didn't want to disappoint anyone. Hopefully, this is not a decision I'll ever have to make again, especially so far from home!

 

3) Lastly, I usually do bring in samples of my work that illustrate the use of the techniques we learned and can only blame my feverish brain on the oversight. I wish you had asked for them for I most certainly would have gotten them between sessions.

 

Bottom line, I value my student's experience in my classes and I'm sorry that yours was a "less than you expected" one. I appreciate and value all feedback and hope always to use it to the benefit of future classes. And if the opportunity arises, I hope you will give me another chance to provide you with a "more than you expected" experience. It would be my pleasure to see you in class again.

 

I was very touched she actually bothered to write to me and I really appreciated her detailed and comprehensive response. I think this is makes a great teacher -- to be able to receive criticism and to respond constructively. Needless to say, I will take a class with her again in the future.

Comments

[MichellB]

We have to promise next year to actually chat at some point during the retreat! I was the one who said hi to you as you were getting off the elevator. I only figured out it was you as the doors were closing.

It was a great event. I can't wait for next year.

[Purpleworms]

It has been wonderful reading about your experiences wit some of the knitting greats!!