Retreating to Knit

(This is a guest post from my friend Nell.)

As you know, Hana (wisely or unwisely) often follows my example, and over the years has taken up challah making, singing in choir, hot yoga and knitting.  So when a spot opened up at a weekend knitting retreat sponsored annually by our local yarn shop, I asked her to join me, and she agreed.  It is worth noting that Hana had to leave the farm behind on a busy weekend of markets and CSA shares and picking veggies, and I am grateful to all those who stepped up to cover for her.

Hana and I have found that knitting delineates our personalities precisely.  I knit carefully, following directions, ripping out mistakes, counting and recounting, measuring, using little markers so I’ll know where I am.  Once, when a finished sweater was particularly unflattering (that’s the polite way to put it), I ripped the whole thing apart and proceeded to re-purpose the yarn by knitting a new and much better looking sweater.  (I am still knitting hats for charity out of the rest of that leftover yarn.)  Feel like you’re getting to know me?

Hana knits with abandon.  Measure before starting?  Hah, an educated guess will do.  Things not going according to plan?  Make up a way to correct it and keep going.  Find a hole (or two or three)?  It will be fine, keep going.  Lose your place in the pattern and not sure what you’re doing?  No problem, make your best guess and keep going.  On a trip and need a project, but missing a pattern?  Make one up!   And if the project doesn’t fit the intended wearer, think of someone else that it will fit instead and make a gift of it.  Someone will love it. Optimism and adaptation are Hana’s rules, in knitting and in life.  I’m still working on following her example, in life if not in knitting.

Our knitting retreat included about 50 ladies (and one young man, who worked at the shop), and most of us were of a certain age, except for a couple of daughters accompanying their mothers.  With two other friends, we drove less than an hour from home to a lovely rural conference facility, with stunning grounds covered in fall foliage.  Airlie House keeps its own garden, and they fed us sumptuously at every meal.  As Hana said, they know their stuff when they can serve so many delicious vegetables every time.  So we were spoiled, and we knitted our way from one meal to the next, from Friday afternoon until lunch on Sunday.

The shop owner had set up a mini-shop full of yummy yarns and delicious colors, with patterns to match.  The group had a quick show and tell, when everyone had a chance to say hello and share a completed project.  And we took in inspiration at every turn, as people wore their creations and shared tips and patterns.  Most of us took the opportunity to learn more about an online knitting resource, and we also took a walk to get some fresh air and enjoy the weather.

For me, the best part was the camaraderie.  We four friends shared a table with four other women, all of us attending the retreat for the first time.  Knitting was the conversation starter and the continuity, but we laughed uproariously and frequently as we talked and shared bits of our lives.  I helped a friend who is new to knitting, and Hana (now an experienced knitter) taught a new technique to another friend.  The woman next to me solved my issues with a new pattern, which had confounded me.  And we met more new people at every meal, and learned something every time.  Never in my lifetime will I get around to all the projects that called to me. 

Given the unhappy political events of last week, the timing was perfect.  I realized after we returned that I had taken a “news-cation,” not reading or hearing any news for almost 36 hours.  Knitting, laughing and learning with friends in a beautiful place was a wonderful antidote.  I’m hoping that we will repeat it.