Knit Camp 2017 and 2018
Saturday 14th October 2017
I think this has been the longest I have ever gone between blogs. That is mainly because Knit Camp 2017 happened last weekend and most of the 4 weeks prior to that was given over to the final preparations. I have worked in many different roles all my life but I have never worked as hard as I did on Knit Camp.
When I decided to run it, which was a decision taken in October 2016, I had a pretty clear vision of what I wanted to deliver. Somehow, I think we did deliver that vision, very close to the concept and the plans – in fact in many ways, even better. The concept seems simple: a knitting event that is not a holiday or a retreat, but a fully focused teaching and learning event. The emphasis being on high levels of technical content all pitched at a variety of levels from intermediate to advanced, and also a range of project sizes from small to large. All these factors determine the degree of difficulty for the knitters, and they also scope the teaching requirements for the teachers.
At KC 2017, we specifically taught:
- Beaded icord
- Picking up and knitting along a beaded icord and using this as a base for a knit-in-the-round accessory
- Two handed, no-swap Fairisle, in the round
- Steeking
- Picking up and knitting into lace edge, a side edge, a top/bottom edge, and a steek-side
- Shawl shaping, including short-row shaping on a lace knitted-on border
Plus anything that was needed one-to-one.
Because it was over 2 days, Knit Campers could also choose and start more than one of the collection. I will add some images of the Bailbrook Collection here but if you want to have access to the Drop Box folder that I created for Knit Camp 2017,
contact me, tell me you want to see the 2017 Knit Camp Drop Box album, and I will add you to the access list. Knit Campers have been able to look at this folder for some time now, but now it is over, I will widen the access.
I loved it. Don’t get me wrong, I also hated it at times, and there were several times when I wished I had not started it, and swore I would never do it again. The sheer volume of Knit Camp was (self-imposed but) daunting at times and I wanted to tick off every conceivable detail, to create an event that was unique, special and really enjoyable.
Teaching with Kathryn, and working with each other all year to perfect these designs, was a joy. I would never have done it alone. To teach this level of content to almost 30 knitters, and have the grades of project content, at the same time as organising and running a complex event was something I will admit I found challenging, but then there was nothing for it but to work and then work a lot more to deliver the event we imagined. So much was pre-planned, that on the weekend, it all just fell into place.
Next year, Knit Camp will return, in late November 2018. We will stay at Bailbrook House, in Bath, and the basic format will be the same. But this will be Knit Camp 2018 – the Christmas Edit. It will be coinciding with the start of the Bath German Christmas market and the gorgeous Georgian hotel will be starting to get dressed up for Christmas. So Christmas at Court Cottage will, in 2018, move to Bath. This means I can widen the design scope with some festive content. It will be Christmassy – but not too much; just enough to get that pre-Christmas tingle started.
My 2017 Knit Campers have first refusal, but inevitably, they won’t all want, or be able to attend. So in a week or so, I will be opening up Knit Camp 2018. If you are on my email list, you will automatically get an alert. But if you are not, or you are not sure, please
contact me and I will add your email address.
If you join us, I can promise you a weekend of absolute indulgence, luxury accommodation, delicious food which was also not overwhelming, inclusive wine, full board with all catering needs included, the undivided attention of my little team, an amazing weekend of companionship and laughter with lovely like-minded knitters – and a packed knitting and teaching schedule with lots to learn and choose from. Along the way throughout the year, Knit Campers get regular Bulletins with news and previews, a private Drop Box folder as the designs emerge and first refusal at future events. It means we build up a community. And that is exactly what it felt like. If you want to join in, please
let me know. You can see a general overview for 2018 and some of the 2017 feedback
here.
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