Exciting Men’s Knitting Retreat News!

Good morning and happy Saturday!

The dates for next year’s Men’s Spring Knitting Retreat have been announced, and registration will open in January as it does every year. This has become such an immensely popular event that it sells out within minutes of registration opening. In fact, I think all of the regional men’s knitting retreats have become so popular that they also sell out pretty much on the first day. For the spring retreat here in New York though, it happens literally in a matter of minutes. I think it sold out in about 20 minutes in 2016, and a whopping 8 minutes for the 2017 retreat.

During the feedback sessions at the end of the last several retreats, much of our discussions centered around ideas for expanding attendance or extending the retreat to include either the weekend before or the weekend after. So many great ideas have been presented, and after careful consideration, it’s been decided to basically leave the spring retreat as it is with both the number of attendees and the number of days. We really do have a winning formula, and changes to either of those things, especially the number of attendees, would negatively impact the intimacy of the retreat, which first and foremost is what we want to preserve. In addition, it would make organizing and putting on this event extremely more difficult.

Adding a second retreat weekend seemed the best option, but as an extension either the weekend before or after the spring retreat was not feasible. So we looked at the rest of the calendar and worked with the folks at Easton Mountain to find a weekend that we could make work, and we are thrilled to announce that the first Northeast Men’s Fall Knitting Retreat (NEMFKR) will take place Thursday, September 20th to Sunday, September 23rd, 2018 at the Easton Mountain Retreat Center in Greenwich, NY.

So much of what makes the spring retreat so special is our venue, and the folks at Easton love having us. It’s a beautiful sight to the great room of the lodge filled with knitting men. We wanted the two retreats to be as similar as possible where it counts but distinct from each other as well. The fall retreat will take place the same weekend as the Adirondack Wool and Arts Festival (formerly the Southern Adirondack Fiber Festival, and we will work to schedule future retreats to coincide with this festival going forward.

The festival is at the nearby Washington County Fairgrounds in Greenwich so I am imagining retreat’s Saturday agenda may be lighter on the workshops. Many of the local fiber producing farms that we have visited on field trips at the spring retreat will be at this festival, as well as other local farms, dyers, and artisans. Guys who have been on road trips at the spring retreat may be familiar with The Ice Cream Man, and you will be happy to know you pass it going to and from the fairgrounds.

I am so excited about this retreat, and it is over a year away!

As more details become available we will share them in our various social media groups. If you are interested in staying updated on news about this retreat, send an email to contact@mensknittingretreat.com

Or look for us on Facebook and Ravelry

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/121975541864217/

Ravelry: http://www.ravelry.com/groups/mens-knitting-retreats