I hit the road after dropping off the kids to school yesterday. My destination was the Knitting Pipeline Retreat hosted by Paula. She lives in Washington, Illinois and hosts a retreat there every year. For several years I have wanted to attend but the timing has never been right…until now.
Knitting retreats take all forms. Some are really scheduled with classes but this one was very relaxed. We met Friday afternoon at a church. We had free time to knit until dinner and then time to knit and socialize after dinner. Saturday there was continental breakfast at the church and lunch. Between those meal times, there were a few informational breakouts available and a vendor fair scheduled for Saturday afternoon. Attendees were invited to do as much or as little as they wished.
I had several goals for the weekend: to meet some of the online knitters I “knew” from Ravelry and podcasts, to crowdsource advice with a few knits I had problems with, to make new friends and to knit. There were a few small lectures I also wanted to attend.
The first breakout was a “show and tell” trunk show by a local designer named Nicole Montgomery.
She brought a lot of colorful accessories but what spoke to me was her Hearth Sweater. I liked the overall design and how the belt was held on by two buttons in the back.
The second informational breakout was about bobbin lace.
Diane brought a huge assortment of samples and demonstrated how bobbin lace is created. It is essentially weaving done on a support form with a pattern and bobbins that carry threads that are twisted and crossed. It was intricate and time consuming work, a form of art new to me.
Although I didn’t take pictures, I also took a workshop on weaving on a small loom and went to a talk about how to do color work knitting with two hands.
Under the category of making new friends, check, check, check!
This lovely lady, Barbara, was just a delight. I met her at the hotel on Friday night and spent more time with her on Saturday. She was a voracious sweater knitter and introduced me to so many people. She talked me through how to mend two shawls and introduced me to Amy Beth who gave me some suggestions on how to fix a problem sweater. There was a whole table of cool kids (podcasters and dyers) who I wanted to fan girl but I kept myself together and spied on them from afar.
Under the category of crowdsourcing, I messaged attendees to ask if anyone had knit a Hitofude sweater. Peggy chimed in that she had and would bring it for me to try on. Hers was lovely but I’m still not sure if I like how it looks on me. It’s a lot of knitting and I want to love what I finish.
I went to the retreat alone so when I walked in on Friday, I approached a group of ladies and I asked if I could join their group. Most of us were new to the retreat although Diane (front left) had been before. We knit together for both days.
Finally, before I left on Saturday, I introduced myself to Paula. She is the magic behind this retreat. She set such a wonderful tone for the weekend and I hope I can attend again.
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