Strung Along Retreats

Strung Along Retreats take place several times a year (almost always Spring, June and November) and provide a unique opportunity for knitters (and usually spinners) to indulge their interests and have an opportunity to fill their creative wells to the brim.  We have wonderful themes and great teachers.  We hold them at The Resort at Port Ludlow, and all the rooms have soaker/jacuzzi tubs and fireplaces, and all the food is about as far from regular hotel fare as you can get.

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We work with the Resort’s executive chef on menus you’ll love, add optional wine flights and make sure it’s a knitterly event to remember. We’re really proud of these retreats, and we work hard to make sure they’re a relaxing, fun and gorgeous treat for knitters and spinners.

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For 2024, our retreats are:

March the 22nd, when you’ll check in, and we’ll have a little welcome, and then classes run Saturday the 23rd, Sunday the 24th, and Monday the 25th, and the retreat will end that evening, around 8:30. Most knitters go home Tuesday morning.

Our teachers or this retreat are Judith MacKenzie, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee and Debbi Stone. Our theme this time is “Holes” and we think it’s such a fun idea.  We’re going to make holes on purpose, figure out what to do with holes that exist by accident – we think it’s going to be a nifty direction to take things in. There’s no knowing how Judith will interpret holes in her spinning class, but she did mutter something about bouclé and the orifice hole on a wheel.  We’re not completely sure what she’ll get up to, but we know it will be fun and interesting.

Note: At this retreat, we have two bonus Workshops you can add on to your retreat. We’ve got one for spinners, and one for weavers.  If you’ve been hesitant to come to a retreat that has spinning, because you’re not sure you’re a spinner, this is for you. The spinning workshop is the day the regular retreat begins in the evening (March 22nd) and costs $250. We promise that Judith will teach you enough that day that you’ll have the skills for the rest of the retreat. She’s a whiz with beginners, and we can arrange to loan you a wheel for the duration – or you can bring your own. This class is good for people who want to brush up, go back to basics, or just enjoy a day with Judith.

The other workshop is weaving. You bring a rigid heddle loom (we can recommend some that will fit in your suitcase quite nicely) and we’ll teach you how to warp it, weave, and finish. You’ll (probably) have a scarf by the end of the day, and have eaten up three balls of yarn from your stash. (This year, since some of you took this class last time, we’re upping the ante a bit, with some fun next level weaving techniques, it’s still appropriate for brand new weavers though, we’ll scale the class to fit.)

June Retreat, June the 7th is when you’ll check in, and we’ll have a little welcome, and then classes run Saturday the 8th, Sunday the 9th, and Monday the 10th, and the retreat will end that evening, around 8:30. Most knitters go home Tuesday morning.

This retreat is affectionately called “Knit, Play, Cook” and has knitting and cooking, and is our only retreat this year that doesn’t have spinning. You’ll spend a day in cooking classes instead. Judith, Stephanie & Debbi and Chef Dan Ratigan will be your teachers, and you’ll spend a day with each of us.  We’re still working on the themes for this one. Judith won’t be teaching spinning, instead well – we think she’ll be dyeing. We’ll keep you posted. (This retreat is appropriate for knitters of any level, and people who can’t cook at all.)

The workshops preceed this retreat too, though Judith will be doing something fun that isn’t spinning. Debbi and Steph will stick with weaving (we think.)

November Retreat: November 8th you’ll arrive in the afternoon for our little gathering, Classes run the 9th, 10th and 11th. Most knitters go home the next morning.     Our Theme this year is “Both sides now” and we’re going to be talking about elements of knitting that are opposites of the same coin, or possess a natural duality, like plant vs animal fibres or double knitting, or reversible knitting.  Judith will work on the same ideas with spinning, long vs short draw, plant vs animal, etc.  You don’t need to be an expert spinner, or even very good at all, but you should be able to spin a continuous thread.)

Note: We have a spinning and weaving single day workshop in November as well. Stay tuned for details.

Every time we do a retreat,  It begins the evening of the Friday (unless you’re coming to the workshops) and then has three full days of classes Saturday, Sunday and Monday, and then off you go. Each student takes all three classes, you don’t have to choose. There’s always a gathering Monday evening, so most knitters go home Tuesday morning, or whenever it suits them.

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The cost of the retreats are $985 and includes three days of really beautiful meals, three full days of classes, fun surprises, and all your materials.  (It doesn’t include accommodations, but the Resort provides our retreaters with a special rate and there’s some shareable rooms, if you’re coming with a friend. We can’t help you sort out who gets first dibs on the tub.)

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To sign up for the retreat, email us at info@strungalong.ca and Debbi or I will write you back, and confirm all the details. If you’ve got any questions we didn’t answer here, we’d love to hear from you too.  If you’d like to talk to some people who’ve been there, we’ve got a very nice Ravelry Group.

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On the Saturday of the retreat we often host a fantastic Community Marketplace – and it’s awesome, and it’s open to everyone. If you’re nearby, you’d probably love it, and if you’re a retreater, you’re more than welcome to a free table to show off whatever it is you make.

If you’re a business, and you’d like to contribute something wonderful for our retreaters, we’d love to hear from you too. We’ll do our best to showcase it.

Info@strungalong.ca

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