Squam 2014

I am back from Squam Art Workshops Spring Retreat – and it was just as beautiful as all those pictures that you can see on Ravelry and all the blogs. More than 100 knitters meet at Rockywold-Deephaven Camps, which is sort of like the vacation resort where “Dirty Dancing” was filmed: Very nice, big wooden cabins that host from 2 to 15, hidden between the trees and most of them with a beautiful view over the lake. The camp has a great restaurant that serves a yummy American Breakfast and coffee around the clock (most important!).

During the mornings and afternoons, there were classes in front of the fireplaces in the cabins, and lovely Elizabeth had decorated them especially for us:

I had a class with knitwear designer Gudrun Johnston that was super useful. She taught us four different techniques (3 of which I had never heard of before), among them the “German Method” which turned out to be my favorite (despite the name, I should add). And I had a class with Stephanie Pearl-McPhee called “Knitwise”, in which she revealed lots of her secrets as an experienced knitter. She is so clever and funny and could totally pass as a stand-up comedian for knitters. I just sat back, knit on my sock and enjoyed the Stephanie show.

Between classes we had lots of free time to enjoy all the sweet yarn bombings that could found everywhere on the site, relax at the lake (or, if you were brave, swim in it), go to yoga classes or talks like the one by Jared Flood, in which he told us his story and presented a new children’s collection. Barbara Parry did a great slide show about her sheep and fiber farm, and I am full of admiration for the work that she does. Her book Adventures in Yarn Farming: Four Seasons on a New England Fiber Farm is really interesting and has lots of beautiful pictures in it:

The blue and the white yarns are spun with wool from her Cormo sheep, it’s supersoft and beautiful. I brought them home from the Squam Art Marketplace where Barbara had a lovely booth:

Ana of Toil & Trouble brought a Hitchhiker knit from her colorful hand dyed yarns:

I especially enjoyed meeting and talking to people from

And the evenings in front of the fireplace chatting away with my cabin mates
Jill, Pat, Carolyn (and another Jill, not in the photo) were the icing on the cake:

On the way back to the airport, lovely Heather took me to a cute bakery in Boston:

It was such a great week – inspiring, laid-back, full of great, creative people, in the most relaxing atmosphere I have ever experienced, beautiful surroundings and great food. And it was over much too fast. But maybe I will manage to be there next year, too?

Please forgive the blurry pictures, I could not fit my big camera into my backpack, so the smartphone camera had to do.