Workshop Holiday with Marie Wallin!

Marie Wallin's first "workshop holiday" was fabulous!

When this workshop appeared on Marie's web site I immediately signed up.....to hesitate would have been disastrous as it was fully booked within hours of being offered. Luckily a quick call to a knitting friend in the UK and she was in too!

A little bit of workshop for knitters who wanted a holiday break in a lovely country hotel in the Yorkshire Dales.

Photo courtesy of The Devonshire Fell

While it didn't snow while I was there, one morning the frost was so heavy
that this Canadian girl thought it was snow!

It looked like snow.....it looked just like this!

My room was the middle windows on the second floor, on the left side
....you can see it just behind the large tree!

The Devonshire Fell hotel.....located in the spectacular Yorkshire Dales, surrounded by gorgeous scenery (stone walls and sheep galore), in the company of fellow knit enthusiasts...it was perfect!

Photo courtesy of Marie Wallin

Our project for the workshop was this fair isle cushion....with each section being worked off of the previous one, changing the orientation, like a quilt block! 

Everyone was instantly captured by the gorgeous shades of
Jamiesons Shetland Spindrift yarn!

After a short introduction by Marie, everyone was off and running. As all of the knitters at this workshop were experienced knitters, some more comfortable with fair isle than others....and Marie and her assistant Gwendolyn were available to help with any questions a knitter might have. But in all honesty, it really was a retreat for knitters who happily knit away, sharing tips and personal techniques!

14 live in knitters from as near as the next "dale" and as far as Italy, Brazil and the west coast of the USA, and one "day girl" from just down the road in Skipton.....styles varied! Most of us followed the suggested colourway exactly.....others personalized the colourway to their decor! With 14 shades of Jamieson's Spinning Shetland Spindrift fingering weight yarn, this cushion will look gorgeous in most settings!

NEWS FLASH******Marie Wallin and Jamieson's of Shetland? YES! Marie visited Shetland recently, met with the lovely people at Jamiesons of Shetland....and will be creating a collection of designs using their Shetland Spindrift for release in 2017!*******NEWS FLASH

Our knit days were spent in a lovely room with windows on two sides, providing light during the short November daylight hours. The views were spectacular, every once in a while someone would jump up and run outside to take a photograph!

Lunch was off site....one day we walked down to the village of Burnsall....a short walk to "the pub" for a lunch of soup and sandwich!

Photo courtesy of the Bolton Abbey Priory

The next day included a field trip to the Bolton Abbey Priory....which I decided to miss as I had developed a cold (typical for me after a flight) and I wanted to get on with my knitting. (5 of us ended up staying at the hotel and joining the group for lunch at another village pub...just a short drive away.)

Our knitting room was full of the sample garments from Marie's most recent books....Springtime and Winter Crochet! I'd just purchased Winter Crochet before the workshop and was totally thrilled to see the garments up close! Quite a few have been added to my knitting queue.....so many wonderful designs, just never enough time to knit them all!

The Fair Isle Club 2 blanket was there too...see it peeking out from underneath the garments? As I haven't finished my Fair Isle Club 1 blanket, I was resisting the second club, but I think I have to give in....it was spectacular in real life!

My room at the Devonshire Fell was fully equipped with tv, dvd player, iphone speaker charger stand, a selection of Taylor's of Yorkshire teas, and a couple of Herdy mugs! Thank goodness for Judy, who had a supply of Lemsip with her that she graciously gave to me....I couldn't have made it without that and the endless cups of tea I consumed. 

So comfortable was I that I could have stayed, but my friend and I were off to the last bit of our great November UK Yarn Adventure! More about that next time! Also, an update on my cushion progress! AND, there will be a giveaway announcement for a signed copy of Marie's "Once Upon a Time" collection!

So stay tuned for that!

Happy Knitting, 

Anne

(with Lackie and Daisy just getting over being miffed that I left them home with the Hubby!)

#MarieWallin #knittingholiday #knittersofinstagram #jamiesonsofshetland

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