Knitting Retreats

and the joy of a shared love

Hello friends, how have you been?

After a three week sabbatical from writing, today I am back with a fresh head full of ideas and things I want to share with you. First up I want to tell you about the knitting retreat I have just returned from..

Every year my sister organises a knitting retreat in her home town in Germany and I always manage to travel across to lend a helping hand if needed. This also gives me the opportunity to visit places from childhood and growing up that are close to my heart.

We are usually a group between 10-13 guests and over the years we have become friends, as many are return participants.

There is a new theme every year and my sister designs a project especially for the retreat. This year it was a top down yoke jumper, and we all fell in love with the design as soon as it was revealed the first evening. A couple of months before the retreat we were given the details of the yarn we would be using and could choose our colour. It was then ordered for us and waiting, ready wound in yummy yarn cakes, to delve right in and get started with the project.

We were knitting, knitting, knitting and soon everyone relaxed into a state of calm heads and busy hands. We laughed a lot and cried a little as an endless stream of stories was shared. We hugged for ‘Good Mornings’, and then hugged a bit more for ‘Good Nights’, everyone enjoying the camaraderie between us. We helped each other when stuck with the project, sharing tips and tricks along the way. Before we knew it it was time to try on our jumper for the first time. The beauty with top-down knitting is that you can try it on whenever you want, making sure that it fits perfectly at the end.

Two fabulous day trips, a lot of delicious food and quite a few glasses of wine were enjoyed by us all and the days flew by far too quickly.

Knitting Retreats are like a tonic. Spending time with like minded people who share the same love for yarn, needles and everything related to this relaxing pastime is like one big therapeutic session from which one emerges calm and ready to face whatever gets thrown at us. It is almost impossible to put into words the feeling of wellbeing when it ends, I strongly suggest you give it a try if you get the chance. I can highly recommend it to anyone and I am now busy preparing for my own retreat in September in the UK.

Until very soon,

Heike xo