On knitting retreats
Hey friends, this blog post has been marinating for quite some time just waiting for a chance to come out. At the end of June I had the pleasure of attending the KnitWit at the Shores knitting retreat up in Searsport, Maine. It was a really special opportunity for me for a lot of reasons - it was my first ever knitting retreat, it was in midcoast Maine which is unbelievably beautiful, and it was in that special little pocket of time where vaccinated people could move about freely. There was even unbridled hugging. A side note - in mid-June my pool guy, who I really don’t know well, came up and gave a huge hug. The guy explained he just missed hugging people so much during the pandemic that now he wants to hug everyone! Buddy, I feel you. Literally.
I digress. I showed up at this thing having no idea what to expect. And of course, me being me, I barely made it there in time for my first class of the first day - Shawl Shapes with Bristol Ivy. I show up sweaty, stressed out and feeling totally unprepared. Well I needn’t have feared - it was a revelation. Mind blown. Bristol is an incredibly talented individual and also a really terrific teacher. In addition to learning several new shawl shapes (one of which I used for Marly & Me, my latest design published just this week!), I got some insight into how this incredible woman’s mind works and how she approaches design. I promptly vowed to buy her book, Knitting Outside the Box - which I did the very next day - and work my way through it. I have started that process and there is another blog post marinating inside my brain on that very topic. I signed up for as many classes as I could physically take during this retreat. Alicia Plummer’s Sheep to Sweater class, where we took raw fleece, scoured it, carded it, and spun it on a drop spindle, was like pouring gasoline on my already out of control addiction to all things wool. Another side note - I am taking a spinning class with two of my lovely classmates from that Sheep to Sweater class! More fuel to the fire. Two more design focused classes and a natural dyeing class - another thing I feel compelled to get into!
Most importantly, however, I spent 3 days of concentrated time in the presence of my people. Knitters. It was sheer heaven. I’ve always loved getting a group of knitters together, but after 16 months of purely solo knitting it felt like coming home after wandering around lost. I made some fantastic connections and met some incredible people at this retreat that I hope will become lifelong friends.
So, fellow knitters, if you have an opportunity to attend an event like this one, DO IT. It will change the way you look at and approach your knitting, and you will have a blast. After all, part of the joy of this passion called knitting is the knitting community itself.