Knitting Retreat

[knitter4democracy]

I know I'm still fairly new here, but I'm trying to get the word out.

I'm putting on a knitting retreat in SW Michigan from March 4-6. It's at a really nice bed and breakfast (http://www.castleinthecountry.com), and the events are priced a la carte, so you can decide what you want to do or not. The class on Saturday will be on intermediate knitting techniques, and the fee will include everything you need except the yarn and your usual knitting tools. The dessert party on Friday night will be done by a trained pastry chef, and the dinner on Saturday night will be quite nice (with three options, one vegetarian).

If you want to know prices or sign up for the retreat, please e-mail me ([e-mail]) before February 10th so I can make sure there's room for you and that you get your information packet in time.

Thanks!
Carina Gunnerson
CYCA Certified Knitting Teacher, Level II
Riverwalk Yarns

[HEAVYHEART]

1. Cool

I'll pass this on to people I know.. I'll check out your web site in a minute! Kicking this for now!

[Ellen Forradalom]

2. Wow, cool!

I'm in Chicago, so it should be a breeze for me to attend!

[knitter4democracy]

3. Yea!

Just give me quick e-mail so that I have you on my real-for-sure list when you know for sure that you can come. It's a great B&B--sooooo nice and great on the pampering. It should be a fun weekend!

[knitter4democracy]

4. Interest is starting to pick up

Other places I posted this are starting to get me some more responses. Since I can only have 20 people in the class, make sure you let me know soon if you're interested. Thanks!

[TNDemo]

5. My niece is a great knitter and I was going to tell her about this.

Can you tell me about the cost?

[knitter4democracy]

13. Sure

The class is $55, which covers teacher fee, pattern, needed notions for finishing the project, and a gourmet basket lunch. To stay at the B&B costs anywhere from $75-100 per person, per night and includes a full breakfast each morning, private bathrooms for each room, snacks throughout the day, and a great place to relax and knit. The more expensive rooms have hot tubs. On Friday night, we're having a dessert party ($10) being catered by the owner's husband, who's a trained pastry chef. On Saturday night, we're having a fully catered meal with three options (one vegetarian) for $20 per person. I'm doing the costs a la carte so that everyone can decide just how much they want to do or not.

The pattern is one I'm designing (still in progress). It consists of 8 different squares focusing on different techniques, from intarsia and fair isle, to kitchener stitch and seaming, to an afterthought pocket and buttonholes, and to i-cord and eyelet lacing. We'll covering even more in class, so it'll be quite a workout. The squares then all sew up into a toddler activity pillow (or a nice wall hanging if you don't want a pillow).

If your niece wants to come, she should e-mail me at [e-mail] and then also make her reservation at the B&B (http://www.castleinthecountry.com). She'll need to tell them that she's with the retreat to get the better price. If she doesn't have anyone to share a room with and wants to, she'll need to let me know, since I'm in charge of that. I'll need to know by Feb. 10th so that I have time to get the information packet out and have the numbers for all the last-minute prep work.

We're going to have a great weekend, I think, and everyone seems pretty excited about it. I hope your niece decides to come!

[TNDemo]

21. Thanks - I e-mailed the info to her.

Sounds absolutely lovely. I knitted as a teenager but haven't done it in years. My niece has made so many amazing things but I am always amazed at how much more it costs to make it yourself. I am afraid to sweat in her stuff. Hope she gets to make it!

[knitter4democracy]

27. That's why she made it, though

We make things to be used. Don't worry about the costs if she doesn't. It is more expensive sometimes to knit your own sweater, but it's much more likely to fit well and be just what you wanted than a store-bought sweater. You ought to pick up the needles again and see how nice many of the new yarns are. Your fingers remember how, I'm sure, and there are so many more resources available, even on-line. I hope your niece gets to come too--it's going to be fun!

[trof]

6. Is knitting making another comeback?

Think I remember reading that.
It enjoyed a resurgence in the 70s (I think?).
Men too.
Pro football player Rosie O'Grier would bring his knitting on Johnny Carson's show.

[yardwork]

7. Yes and I hopped on the band wagon this time

Knitting is newly cool. I just learned and it is very relaxing and pleasant. I started my first project on election night. Helped me stay calm.

[trof]

8. I'm knitting a boat.

Fiberglass.
;-)

[yardwork]

11. Are you going to sail that boat to a blue country?

[knitter4democracy]

12. Been done

In Unexpected Knitting, Debbie New shows off her lace knitted boat which was then covered in some kind of plastic. It actually works.

[msgadget]

9. I thought Rosie Grier was a needlepointer

only, didn't know he also knit.

[trof]

17. You could be right.

google?

[msgadget]

22. No, I'm that old!!!

:P

[knitter4democracy]

14. Yup.

Knitting has been in an upswing for about 5 years or so now, and we still haven't reached a peak. It's a wonderful craft to know how to do, since it's quite meditative and productive at the same time. Nothing's quite so nice as knitting a fun project with really nice, soft yarn. What's really amazing about this upswing is that it's global as well, and there are incredible yarns available like never before--cashmere, silk, angora, extra fine merino, quiviut, you name it.

A lot of actresses knit now, and it's even starting to show up in their work.

[msgadget]

10. Ah, I wish I could attend

but have something else planned for that weekend.

What intermediate techniques will be featured? Maybe you shouldn't tell me, it'll just make not going worse!

[knitter4democracy]

15. Well . . . .

I am opening up a new yarn shop in Battle Creek this fall, so you could come to that. We're going to have retreats through the shop after I get it going, Thursday night knit nights, and other fun times. If you're not too far away, I'm also going to be teaching some classes this spring, with this one probably repeated, since the interest is so high. There are so many beginning classes, but there aren't too many intermediate classes or design classes available for people who want to stretch their wings.

[msgadget]

23. Not gonna say, huh?

Well, good for you! I taught myself short rows via Barbara Walker's book and can shape a shoulder but I'd love to learn how to shape other things with them. IOW, I want to be fluent in the short row! I need a class.

[knitter4democracy]

25. Good way to master short rows

A good way is to knit socks. They use short rows for the heel--and some heels are all short rows (like the ones on manufactured socks). After you do a couple of socks, you start seeing all the possibilities for short rows and how you can use them for bust darts and all. There was a good article at knitty.com, if I remember right, on using them for bust darts and shaping. If it's not there, it might have been in INKnitters a couple of issues ago. I'll look for it today, if you want.

[msgadget]

31. Thanks!

I know socks have been the rage for years and I do love to knit with dps (it's so grown up!) but I've only done one...and it looked like it belonged to Big Foot.

I design my own patterns but have a couple sewing patterns I'd like knit that have bust darts. They aren't large darts but would make a world of difference in the fit, plus it just seems like a fun experiment. I'm going to look through my knitting books again but I didn't find it in Newton's (i have the older one, think she has a newer one now).

I went to knitty.com and...why'd you send me there?? Now I have to knit Aibhlinn, the cowl on the opening page! I don't knit with cotton but I know I've got something in the stash with a similar gauge).

[knitter4democracy]

32. Yeah, that's an addictive site

I hang out at their boards all the time (username of Bina), and I seriously love that site. Amy Singer also has just come out with a book that's pretty fun, Knit Wit.

If you need a sock pattern, I could e-mail you my general sock pattern that I always use. It's good for almost any gauge (the really bulky stuff won't quite work with how I wrote the toes), and it's free. PM me with your e-mail, and I'm send it. I use the round heel and peasant toe. A really good book for socks is Lucy Neatby's Cool Socks, Warm Feet. She really breaks everything down and helps you figure out what you want to do on your own. Her website is http://www.tradewindknits.com where she sells her patterns (extremely good) and books (also extremely good). I'll be selling her stuff in my shop.

Btw, I'm knitting a Banff. It's an older pattern on Knitty, but it's been really nice to knit so far (of course, I had to change the pattern a bit, but that's what I do--it's pathological). :)

[msgadget]

37. Is that Amy from the original Knitlist???

Thanks for the link to Lucy's site!

[knitter4democracy]

29. Check post #13 for details

I put more details on the class there. Sorry I forgot to post that earlier. :)

[peacebird]

16. how funny! i just bought needles and yarn this afternoon...

used to knit a little as a girl and now 30 years later had the urge to try again! i have a sorta lopsided 1 ft long section of scarf i decided to try as a "first"!
:)
so i just put the needles down, log on and here's a knitting thread at DU!?!?

the retreat sounds great, but a bit too far for me to travel. i do hope you get a good group!!!

[knitter4democracy]

18. Yea!

That's great progress, getting that much done just today. My theory is that your fingers never forget how to knit or do anything, actually. The lopsidedness could be from getting back into doing the motions over and over the same way to get the same gauge or from the usual blips of little mistakes. Either way, you've got a great thing going!

Maybe we should get a knitting thread going and keep it going? We can't talk politics on knitting sites (well, other than knittersagainstbush.com), so here would be a safe place to really be ourselves. What do you guys think?

[peacebird]

28. knittersagainstbush.com!

"don't unravel our rights!" I LOVE IT!

can't believe that i didn't notice your sig line before!

excellent!

on closer examination today it appears my uneveness is due to tension - sometimes i was making tighter loops and sometimes looser. need to work on consistency, but it is relaxing!

\:)/ <---(poor attempt at making a knitting smileyface)

[knitter4democracy]

30. That's become my sig line for everything!

I love that site, btw.

Don't worry about uneven tension--it always works itself out with practice (and sometimes even works out after you wash and block the piece). It might be that you purl a bit tighter or looser than you knit, a very common issue. I wouldn't worry about it, as it'll take care of itself.

You ought to try knitting a scarf with some really nice yarn, something soft and pretty (like Barrufa's Maratona, Cascade 220, or Elsabeth Lavold's Silky Wool). After a scarf, your tension will probably even right out. I'm so glad you're enjoying it--that's the whole idea!

[peacebird]

33. if you don't mind helping a beginner...

what would you recommend after the scarf. today i bought Vogue's Knitting Quick Ref - because I couldn't remember how to END the scarf (which is now almost 3 ft long - tho i seem to have added 6 stitches a row, oops? guess after a couple of the "looser" rows i assumed that i had dropped a stitch - LOL! oh well, it looks good to me and more importantly it feels fabulous!)

I want to try a simple sweater for myself next, is there a beginner book or reference you can recommend?

[porkrind]

19. Tell us some knitting jokes.

:)

BTW, how many hours does it take to make a sweater?

[knitter4democracy]

20. Did you hear the one about the knitter pulled over by the cop?

There's this knitter weaving all over the road, so the cop turns on his lights. Nothing. He turns on his siren. Nothing. He finally pulls up next to the car, rolls down his window, finally gets the driver's attention, and yells, "Pull over!"

The driver looks down, looks back at him, and yells back, "No, cardigan!"

Sorry, it's the one I know off the top of my head.

Sweaters take me forever to make, mostly because I am known for having at least 10-15 projects going at any given time, so I'm a bad person to ask. When I needed to finish my Zig-Zag Jacket for a class I was teaching, I think it only took me two and a half months to make. Other knitters are much faster (or don't get distracted by my four y.o. and two y.o. kids . . . ), and some are slower, so it just depends on the project and the knitter.

[msgadget]

24. I don't know a lot of knitters who think about the amount of time

projects take. I'm a process person and it doesn't really matter if something takes weeks or years, as long as the process remains enjoyable. It's also why we multi-task and start projects before finishing others.

Really, I've warned you people before: it's an ADDICTION!

[knitter4democracy]

26. Exactly!

The only time we worry about how long something takes is when it's a present for Christmas or a birthday--when there's a deadline. Other than that, as long as it's fun . . .

Yeah, it's totally addictive. All that soft yarn, those nice needles, the rhythm . . . :)

[knitter4democracy]

34. Wow! Something unexpected happened.

I got this e-mail from a former student on my e-mail list who had said she wanted to come:

"You know, I was very excited about this weekend until I got to the part "Knitters Against Bush: Don't Unravel Our Rights!" I think it is very presumptuous of you to put something like that on an e-mail and send it to people you have no idea where their loyalties are. I for one am a Bush supporter! Very proud to be one and very proud of him as a President! Please take my name off your e-mail list!"

That's all it said. So, I replied with this:

"Dear XXXX,

Of course I will remove you from my e-mail list if that is your wish. I never wanted to offend anyone or hurt anyone's feelings, and yet, my politics are also very important to me. Would you have been equally offended if I had a signature line quoting the Bible or saying how important my Christian faith is to me? If I had a line at the end saying something you agreed with, would that make it okay?

I am not offended that you are a Bush supporter--that is your right and your decision. In fact, it doesn't bother me at all, really. When I get e-mails from friends that have signature line supporting Bush, I don't write those friends off as people I never want to talk to or see again; I just know that it's a part of who they are. I am sorry that you feel you want to have nothing to do with me or my classes and retreats simply because of my political beliefs.

Do you think that I'll turn the weekend into some Democratic Party rally? Why would I do that? That's not what it's about, and it would have no place at the retreat. I assure you, I will make sure that it doesn't even come up, but something tells me that all the assurances in the world won't change your mind.

I am truly sorry that you have chosen to be so angry about this. I hope you can find a way to come through your anger to a place of forgiveness and understanding that is right for you.

Blessings as always,
Carina"

Was that wrong? I'm not taking sig line off, but I'm sorry this happened. Is this what the Great Uniter has brought us to?!

[Bertha Venation]

35. I emailed this to a friend at work who knits. n/t

[knitter4democracy]

36. Thank you! nt