Knitter’s Review Announces Retreat Information

For 10 years now fans of the online knitting review site Knitter’s Review have been gathering in New England for a weekend of knitting, camaraderie and learning about fiber with the fabulous founder of that site, Clara Parkes.

The event will celebrate entering its second decade of existence at the Inn on the Lake in Canandaigua, N.Y., November 8-11. Special guests this year include Ann Budd, Sivia Harding, Amy Herzog and Mary Scott Huff. The main event is the weekend retreat, which includes a workshop, access to the “stash lounge,” a marketplace and food and lodging.

Choices of workshops include fixing mistakes, designing a sideways knit shawlette, knitting to fit and color knitting. An optional Thursday extension allows for another workshop: reading your knitting, designing lace, and extended version of the knit to fit class and Selbu mittens.

Registration for the event begins August 3 at noon Eastern US time. It’s sure to sell out quickly, so if you want to go you need to be on your toes.

Have you ever been to one of these retreats? Spill it!

[Photo by Knitter’s Review/Clara Parkes.]

Next Pattern:

I love a good stash busting project, and that’s the first thing I thought of when I saw the Brilliant Brickwork Wrap by Amy Crumpton.

It’s actually designed to use mini skeins of fingering weight yarn, but I feel like you could use scrap yarns in harmonious colors to get the same kind of effect.

The pattern was written to use 24 colors of 10 gram skeins, as well as a 100 gram/400 yard skein of yarn. But there’s a design modifications section in the pattern that talks you through using 12 colors in 20 gram increments, 10 gram scrap balls or even three full skeins of yarn if you’ve got bigger amounts of pretties you want to use.

The wrap is worked in garter stitch and it’s sort of a log cabin style, where stitches are picked up from the edges of previous sections to build the next piece. It is worked in two sections that are joined in the middle with no seaming required. The pattern includes row by row written instructions and end of row stitch counts so you can keep your place easily.

The designer rates the skill level as for adventurous beginners and beyond. You’ll need to know how to knit, slip stitches and pick up stitches from a slipped stitch edge.

I do love the look that minis give you in this project because they are designed to work well together. (Check out more patterns great for mini skeins and advent calendar yarn.) But being me I’m always thinking about ways to use your yarn stash, and I think with proper planning this would be a great project for getting rid of some of those odd balls. You could also work the wrap in a different weight of yarn for a different look depending on what yarn you have that you need to use.

As written is measures about 14 by 60 inches, or 35.5 by 152.5 cm, but you can adjust the length without too much trouble.

Check it out and grab your copy from Ravelry.

[Photo: Amy Crumpton]

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