This past weekend I spent up near the Wyoming border at the Benedictine Abbey of St. Walburga. I was leading a knitting retreat and it was SO MUCH FUN! A wonderful group of 17 ladies (including my dear SIL) came to the beautiful valley in Virginia Dale where the Benedictines have created a haven of peace only two hours from Denver.
We all arrived around 4:30 pm on Friday and knitted and talked and participated in the sisters' prayer-life and just generally had a superlative time. So great, in fact, that the ladies have asked to "do it again" next year!
I gave talks on the history of knitting, the design process (where do ideas come from; getting those ideas from your head to your needles; tools of the trade), ethnic influences, fiber choices and "hand" of the fabric, color theory, stitches for textures, the "pros" (famous and not so famous hand-knit designers), and outlets for creativity (charity knitting). Over the next few days, I'll be posting the text of my talks so that those who couldn't join us will get an idea of what we covered.
Additionally, Sr. Genevieve Glen, who edits the Magnificat, gave a fabulous talk on the spirituality of creativity and the link to God's ordering from chaos as shown in Genesis 1. As soon as she posts her thoughts on her own blog, I'll link to the talk as it really was wonderful.
Intermixed with talks and prayer time, we had LOTS of time to sit and knit and chat and really get to know each other.
I can't wait for next year's retreat!
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