knit inn, version 2016

It has been my pleasure to attend the SC Knitting Guild's annual knitting retreat for several years now, and for a few of those years, it has been my honor to be able to teach classes there. When I tell my friends who are not yet knitters that I'm going to spend the weekend knitting, teaching knitting and hanging out with knitters, I get some interesting looks. (And by "interesting" I mostly mean "crazy") That's ok, though, because for those of us who are privileged enough to go, we get the appeal of all that knitting, all that bonding over knitting, and the knitting hangover that means that the Monday after is usually spent lying around like a slug if at all possible.

This year the Knit Inn began like most of my Knit Inns usually do; with an eclair from Strossner's Bakery. I wish Strossner's could expand into Charleston but then I wouldn't stop for my traditional bit of shoe pastry enrobed in chocolate because I could get them all the time and that might not be a good thing after all...

My first class of the weekend was one I was teaching--the Reversible Cable Wrap. I love this pattern because it takes some focus, but when you get several inches into it, you are rewarded with mindless knitting on each row, and when it's all done you have a beautiful shawl. It was a fun class to teach and shame on me for not getting more pics!

That night we had Show and Tell while we knitted and chatted and enjoyed the good fortune of being around people who understand why you are knitting something with garter stitch because you planned ahead to have lots of conversations which means you brought easy knitting that would accommodate social interaction.

The next morning I taught stranded Fair Isle, which involves knitting with two hands (or rather, two hands holding two different colors of yarn at the same time). It also involves learning a pretty foreign skill for a lot of knitters (holding that second color in the non-dominant hand) and this takes patience. I can't begin to tell you how proud I was of all 12 of my students, who all stuck it out until the light bulbs came on and they began to find a rhythm to doing something they had never done before. I told them it would keep their minds young and sharp and eventually become something they would actually enjoy. I think they believed me.

After lunch I took a dye class with my friend Pat from Bird Mountain Creations. I made some gorgeous yarn with which I promised to make something awesome. It was fun putting the dye in and squishing it around and then watching it "cook" in her cute retro microwave. It was so great to catch up with her while the dye processed!

Throughout the weekend I am always pleased when my students show me their progress from classes they have taken. It's truly a delight!

Gerri and her Charleston Indigo scarf from 2015, a lovely mother-daughter duo shows off their Reversible Cable Wrap projects, and you can just feel the excitement of Kathy's mastering the stranded Fair Isle technique on the Mr. Deeds hat!

Sunday morning I took a class in Needle Felting 101 from Cheryl from Purdy Thangz. We learned how to applique needle felting onto a bag (or a sweater or a scarf or whatever) and I'm sure I'm not the only one who came home from that class and ordered more supplies to make more sheep! This was so much fun!

All in all, another great Knit Inn, thanks to the incredible efforts and time and talents of the SC Knitting Guild.  A special thank you to my driver and roomie, Angel, who I hope has recovered from her first year at Knit Inn. Since she was already planning for next year, I know she had fun, too.

Also, I managed to find a peanut butter cookie to end the weekend--two years in a row! (Diet starts Monday!)