Current Programs
Join us this fall for an amazing three day retreat in the Pacific Northwest!
September 4-6, 2010
From your arrival on the sunny shores of the Straight of Juan de Fuca to the day you say goodbye to a group of new friends, you’ll be treated to amazing organic meals, knitting challenges and adventures, and opportunities to learn more about the amazing world we live in.
The curriculum for our upcoming fall retreat includes workshops on learning to see more wildlife (use your knitting as a tool!), understanding bird language, using your knitting needles as a tool to protect yourself from cougars, learning to walk in the woods with an awareness of your impact on your surroundings, using non-dominant senses to improve your knitting skills and your sense of ease in the wilderness, using local native plants for fibers and dyes, and much more.
It’s hard to believe that we are going to fit it all into three days, plus plenty of chances to sit calmly and watch the sunrise or sunset while you knit, eat amazing meals, and time to laugh and tell stories and play games with a whole group of people who are as passionate about nature and knitting as you are.
This fall, the retreat is being held on Indian Island, in the Straights of Juan de Fuca, just off the Northeast corner of the Washington peninsula. There are airports in Seattle, Portland, and Port Angeles that give you easy access to the retreat location. Ask for information about carpools when you register. Optional lodging is in old officer’s quarters, refurbished into beautiful accommodations including clawfoot tub, front porch views of the beach, beautiful furnishings, and a comfortable living room with room for everyone to relax and knit.
Registration is currently open, with a sliding scale of $100 to $160 (you decide what you can afford). The registration fee includes all the workshops, all meals, and tons of fun. Just bring your knitting and your sense of adventure.
For an additional $100, you can reserve your lodging in the Hospital Stewart’s House at Fort Flagler, which is where many of the workshops will be held and the meals served. You’ll be right in the center of it all. The charming, century-old historic Hospital Steward’s House overlooks the original grand parade ground at Fort Flagler. It features a spacious kitchen, pressed-tin ceilings, a hardwood floor that leads into a comfortable double-couch living room and a separate dining room decorated with lace curtains and tablecloth. The upstairs includes pressed-tin ceilings, an antique claw-foot bathtub and two bedrooms with one queen-size and two single beds. A private porch with Adirondack chairs offers a scenic view of a historic parade ground, Admiralty Inlet and the Marrowstone Point Lighthouse on the northeast tip of the beach.
If you choose to find your own lodging, sites are available at the Fort Flagler Campground (http://www.stateparks.com/fort_flagler.html), at the Beach Cottages just down the road in Nordland (http://www.ecologicplace.com/) or at several hotels in the Port Hadlock and Port Townsend area. If you would like further information about finding lodging, please send me an e-mail. But remember this is Labor Day weekend, so book something soon!
E-mail DeAnna at deandail@yahoo.com or call 360-584-6638 for more information and to get registered.
*Interested in something a little smaller, or in a different part of the country? Check out the Workshops page for an idea of the 1/2 day workshops that DeAnna facilitates around the greater Olympia, WA area, and for information about getting DeAnna to come to your part of the country to do a presentation or workshop with your guild or just a group of friends.