Forward to the Retreat!

A couple weekends ago, I had the pleasure of attending a crochet retreat. I love crochet retreats as much as I love fiber festivals, and it had been a while since I'd been to one. This retreat was organized by designer Laurinda Reddig (ReCrochetions). She hosted it at Quinn Mountain, property her family owns east of Camas, WA. 

Those of us who arrived in Camas a bit early had time to explore the town for a few hours. We checked into the historic Camas Hotel, a very comfortable and friendly inn. I especially loved the fun embroidered pillows on the beds and chairs of the hotel.

The first event of the retreat was a meet up on Friday evening at A Beer at a Time. A large selection of microbrews were available on tap including Walking Man Black Cherry Stout which was fabulous. 

The next morning we drove to Quinn Mountain - a former B&B that was set up for weddings. It's an absolutely beautiful location with gorgeous landscaping as well as natural areas. As we entered the premises we were met by Aylen who stood guard by the driveway.

Around the curve, the house and meeting room building came into view.

The building where we met is the former wedding chapel. 

Enter the garden by way of a trellis embellished with clematis.

And inside you'll find one of the many whimsical touches on the property - a model railroad. No trains were running that weekend however.

Enough about the beautiful setting for now. Let's do some crochet! The first day Laurinda taught us how to do shaping with the classic chevron stitch pattern. Here's a room full of happy crocheters concentrating on their work.

By the end of the day, we each had a fun chevron stitch bag.

The second day we learned to use post stitches to make an endless Celtic knot motif that's a simplified version of one used in several of Laurinda's patterns. This is a challenging bit of crochet, and it turns out that getting the knot to show up in a photograph is just as challenging. I hope you can get the general idea from the shot below. The swatch we made in the class is on the right. The bag on the left is Tavey's Satchel from Laurinda's most recent book The Secret Stitch, A Crochet Companion.  

The book also includes a hat, mitts, and capelet  using the Celtic knot motif. The patterns are inspired by the historical fiction The Secret Stitch by C. Jane Reid. (Pssst! Crochet plays a role in this story line of the book. I thoroughly enjoyed it and eagerly look forward to future installments in the series.)

During the weekend if we needed a break from crochet (yes, it can happen), we were free to explore the property. One of its unusual features is a labyrinth. Many people find that walking a labyrinth can be meditative. I especially find that to be true in a beautiful outdoor setting.

While wandering the property, I also discovered The Door to the Forest! And you just knew I had to see what was on the other side, didn't you?!

 

The door didn't lead to more crochet retreats, but Laurinda will be offering some soon. Check for announcements on her ReCrochetions website where you can also sign up for her newsletter. I'm already looking forward to another crochet adventure at Quinn Mountain.

Thanks for reading!