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.]

As we get into the part of the year with a lot of food-forward holidays, it might be time to start thinking about knitting some new things for your table. While a few of these are more fall/Thanksgiving focused, just changing up the colors would make others work for Christmas, or keep it neutral and use them all year long.

What got me started thinking about this was the lovely and simple Fresh Bread Dishtowel, a free pattern from Purl Soho. Worked in a lovely cotton and linen blend, the towel is mostly stockinette stitch with a bit of texture on the borders.

You could use this same kind of pattern to make anything from placemats to a table runner, but let’s look at some specific patterns for those kinds of projects as well.

The easy moss stitch table runner from Glass Bird Knits is beginner friendly can can easily be modified to fit your table (or, again, to make placemats instead of or in addition to a runner). This version is worked in macrame cord, but you could also use bulky yarn.

Emielle Design has a garter stitch runner pattern that’s made with braided cotton cord for a lot of texture without a lot of work. But be sure to take a lot of breaks when knitting with cord because it can be rough on your hands!

I also love the diamond pattern on the Hamilton Table Runner from Wyndlestraw Designs. It calls for a DK weight cotton and linen blend yarn and comes in three sizes with different widths and lengths. The pattern has both written and charted instructions.

Amy Marie’s Table Pumpkins (on Ravelry) is a fun mosaic knitting pattern that would be great to use as a table runner through the fall and for Thanksgiving. It uses a worsted weight cotton yarn in two colors, and you can make it as long as you like for your table.

The no cable knit placemats from Yarn Culture Studio have a fun faux cable look that would be great for the table through the fall and winter.

Or here’s another pattern from Wyndlestraw Designs, this time for an easy knit and purl stitch placemat pattern that looks different but still good on both sides. It calls for worsted weight cotton and comes in two sizes for placemats, but also has instructions for coasters, a hot pad and a table pad all using the same stitch.

Have you read?