Knitting On The Coast Retreat - Save The Date
We are very excited to announce that we are teaming up with Thea Gray to host the next Knitting On The Coast!
Come to just socialize or also take classes. This time we are separating out the classes so you can take as many as you want or none at all. If you aren't taking classes, you can join our many free sessions or do your own thing.
Your hosts will be Thea of Knitting On The Coast and Maia of Black Squirrel Yarns.
Sign ups will open in September. Until then watch this space for more information.
When:
January 23 - 26, 2026. We will arrive Friday afternoon and leave Monday after lunch.
Where:
2026 marks the fifteenth year Knitting On The Coast will be held at St. Dorothy's Rest in Camp Meeker, Sonoma County. It is a tranquil retreat center nestled in a redwood forest near the Russian River and the town of Occidental. We will be staying in beautiful old rustic Craftsman style buildings. Each one has a cozy spot to gather around a fireplace. Rooms are rustic single and double rooms with sinks in the room, bathrooms and showers are shared and down the hall. All meals will be prepared for us and served buffet style with vegetarian, vegan, and food allergy options available.
Classes:
Charting Your Way in Colorwork with Thea: Feeling at sea in the world of stranded knitting? We'll help! In this 3-hour class, you'll learn tricks for designing your own well-balanced colorwork chart and, while making a name tag, practice skills that will help you achieve even tension and beautiful colorwork (seen in Egyptian, Andean, Scandinavian, and Fair Isle designs): simultaneously holding yarn in both hands—English ("throwing") style with your right hand and Continental/German style ("picking") with your left—and trapping floats.
Mosaic Slip-Stitch Knitting with Thea: Mosaic knitting, popularized by Barbara Walker in the 1960s, is a fast and fun way to add colorful, geometric patterns to your projects while only handling one strand of yarn at a time. You'll find this technique used in striking hats, bold tunics and shawls, cardigans with embellished mosaic cuffs, and playful washcloths, to name just a few. In class, we'll play with both stockinette and garter mosaic knitting to make a start on two graphic coasters.
With Rita Rodriguez: Learn the techniques of beaded crochet and slow stitching to create a beautiful, functional, and versatile stitch marker necklace. In the first half of this 3-hour class, you will make the beaded necklace / “chain” using vintage and natural beads of gemstones, pearls, and other sea-inspired “treasure” beads. In the second half of class, we will slow stitch an amulet using vintage and hand dyed fabrics, in natural, ocean-inspired colors/images. This lovely amulet will hold pearl and sea glass markers.
Modifying Sweaters To Fit Your Body: Do your sweaters not fit the way you want? How do you pick a pattern that will work for your body? You have a sweater pattern you love but the arms are too skinny for you, now what? In this lecture class with Maia we will discuss ways to select patterns to flatter you and modify them to fit the way you want them to fit. A handout with useful information and links will be included. Bring your fit questions!
Free sessions:
Help! Get help on your projects with Maia: Don't understand your pattern? Need help with a technique? Dropped a stitch or made a mistake? Have a general yarn or knitting question? Maia will be here to help. She has decades of knitting and designing experience and helps people every day at Black Squirrel Yarns.
Yarn Whispering - Yarn's Essential Nature with Thea and Maia: What does that skein want to be? Something lacy? Cable-licious? Some subtle, smooth stockinette? Following a short talk with samples in which you'll learn how certain yarns lend themselves to certain techniques and projects, we'll help you devise plans for your own aimless yarn. Bring a skein you have no plans for (whether it's a singleton or a sample from a stash of multiples), and we'll give you ideas for what to make.
Group Social Knitting each evening with show & tell, swaps, and goodie bags.
If you want to go off on your own, there are nature walks and hikes, spaces to gather in small groups, shopping in Occidental, the Sonoma coast a short drive away, and much more.
Shop:
Maia will bring a special, curated selection of yarns, notions, and tools to set up a mini shop available during the retreat.
So many more details to come! If you are interested in joining us, sign up for the retreat newsletter and watch for more details here. Sign ups are coming in September. Meanwhile, you can see Thea's previous retreats here.