Knitrino Literary Society

2nd Annual Retreat

Join us in Bristol, VA June 21-23, 2024 for an intimate gathering with books, yarn, and mystery!

Overview

We are so thrilled to be joined by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Barbara Kingsolver for our SECOND retreat! This retreat includes:

~ Knitting & Book Club: A special book-themed knit along in Knitrino with a one-of-a-kind kit, supplies included

~ Knitting Growth: Individualized knitting classes, workshops, and discussion tailored to your learning needs and style

~ Community: Make new friends and memories spending lots of time knitting and relaxing together, with 2 nights in the beautiful Bristol Hotel and specially catered meals together

Here are some shortcuts to navigate this long page.

Agenda
Packing List/Class info
Handouts and recordings
Our wonderful instructors
Other things to see & do
FAQs

Agenda

FRIDAY Afternoon

Our Airport Shuttle will be running from about 10:30 am to 4:30 pm.

3-5 pm: Retreat Check In. Please join us in the the retreat registration area in the King Ballroom to get your nametag and MKAL kit. There is plenty of space to gather and get to know each other as people arrive.

(from 4pm): Hotel Check In begins at 4pm.

5-9 pm: LUMAC Rooftop Bar, Opening Reception & Dinner

Saturday

8 AM: Breakfast, King Ballroom

9-11 AM: Optional Session I Workshops/Activities

1: Stranded Colorwork with Saysha Greene (Reynolds)

2: Double Knitting with Heather Storta (King Ballroom)

3: Learn to Knit I with Laura Şakirgil (Shelby)

4: Bristol Downtown Scavenger Hunt

11AM -12 PM: Marketplace available

12 PM: Lunch, King Ballroom

1:30 - 3:30 PM: Optional Session II Workshops/Activities

1: Brioche Knitting with Saysha Greene (Reynolds)

2: Darn it all! with Heather Storta (King Ballroom)

3: Learn to Knit II with Laura Şakirgil (Shelby)

4: Group Outing to Country Music Museum (ticket included for the retreat to use as you wish)

3:30 - 5 PM: Marketplace Shopping Hours

5 PM: Dinner, King Ballroom

7 - 10 PM: Evening activities

Sunday

8 AM: Continental Breakfast, King Ballroom

9-11 AM: Optional Session III Workshops/Activities

1: Fixing Mistakes with Saysha Greene (Reynolds)

2: We’re Going Steeking! with Heather Storta (King)

3: Learn to Knit III with Laura Şakirgil (Shelby)

4: Morning Walk

11:30 AM: Brunch, King Ballroom

12:30 - 2 PM: Farewells & tears

Travel

If you are flying to the event, please be sure we have your flight info by filling in the pre-registration form. It’s about 20 miles from TRI to Bristol Hotel. Depending on availability, an Uber or Lyft will run around $50. We have arranged a shuttle than can transport you in the following windows:

Friday, June 21, 10:30 am - 4:30pm from TRI to Bristol Hotel

Sunday, June 23, 2 pm - 8 pm from Bristol Hotel to TRI

Workshops & Packing Lists

MKAL

Your kit for the mystery knit along will include double pointed needles. If you prefer a different format for small circumferences, please bring US Size 3 or US Size 4 in your preferred format.

LEARN TO KNIT CLASS

You don’t need to bring anything for the Learn to Knit sequence. You will receive a full kit in lieu of the mystery knit along kit.

ALL OTHER WORKSHOPS
Most workshop will use DK weight or Worsted Weight yarn, with US 5/3.75 mm or US 6/4 mm circular needles, 16”/40 cm recommended. Some classes will require that you work up a swatch before the class begins (darning, steeking, & fixing mistakes.)

Learn to knit Workshop

The learn to knit workshop is great for those who’ve never knit before, as well as those who have prior experience in the past but maybe it’s been a while. These are informal, small sessions that are very hands on. If you’re attending the LTK courses, a full kit will be provided with needles & yarn in lieu of the retreat’s Mystery Knit Along kit. Please install Knitrino in advance, and we’ll add the necessary pattern to your library.

Knitting Workshops

These courses are great for those who already know how to cast on, knit & purl. You don’t need to have any experience with the indicated topic to take part, though even experienced knitters will learn from our knowledgeable instructors. Please install Knitrino in advance, and we’ll add the necessary patterns (and additional patterns!) to your library. If you forgot what you signed up for, you can look for an email from me a couple weeks ago with your classes listed or search your inbox for forms-receipts-noreply@google.com to find your link to the registration form.

Stranded Colorwork with Saysha Greene - Knit with 2 colors at the same time (stranded knitting) and get lots of tips for improving your colorwork! This class is great for those who are brand new to colorwork, and also for experienced knitters who want to improve their technique.

Homework: Please complete Section 1 (Cast on & Ribbing) of the Snow Bunny Headband in Knitrino so we can dive right in to colorwork.
You’ll need:
- The Snow Bunny Headband pattern Knitrino
- 2 colors of DK or Worsted weight yarn
- appriopriate circular needles (US 5-6/3.75-4mm), 16” in length.

Double Knitting with Heather Storta - Double Knitting is a special knitting technique that produces a double thickness fabric that can be reversible! We’ll knit a small sheepy coaster while learning a two-color cast on, the basics of double knitting, and (time allowing) a seamless bind off. This class is great for those who are brand new to double knitting, and also for experienced knitters who want to improve their technique.

Homework: none
You’ll need:
- 2 colors of Worsted weight yarn (25 g of each)
- straight or circular needles about 2 sizes smaller than you’d usually use (US 4-5/3.5-3.75mm).

Brioche Knitting with Saysha Greene -

Brioche knitting creates a squishy reversible ribbed fabric by alternating columns of slipped stitches and yarn overs with columns of knit/purl stitches. You’ll learn how to work 2-color brioche ribbing in the round. This class is great for those who would like to explore Brioche for the first time, or understand it better.

Homework: none

You’ll need:
- The Brioche Headband pattern Knitrino
- 2 colors of DK or Worsted weight yarn
- appriopriate circular needles (US 5-6/3.75-4mm), 16” in length.

Darn It All: Mending Your Handknits with Heather Storta - Have you ever found holes in your knitting? Worn out a sock heel or toe? Darn it! Darning can be done to mask a hole and seamlessly blend in, or it can be done to decorative effect. In this workshop we will learn how to stabilize our fabrics, plus two ways to darn – the Swiss darning method and the Scotch darning method.

Homework: Please bring a bound-off stockinette swatch in DK or worsted weight yarn (approximately 4” x 4” suggested). We recommend casting on about 24 stitches on US 5-6 needles, and working about 24-30 rows in stockinette (knit one row, purl the next).

You’ll need:
- Completed Stockinette swatch homework
- Tapestry needle
- Contrasting yarn
- Sewing thread or dental floss
- Optional darning egg

Fixing Your Knits with Saysha Greene - We’ve all been there: after knitting several rows, you see a mistake a few rows down. This workshop will show you how to drop down and fix a mistake so you don’t have to rip back.

Homework: Please bring a ~4” x 4” swatch still on the needles in DK or worsted weight yarn.
Swatch Instructions:
Cast on 40 sts
Rows 1-4: Knit across
Row 5: Knit across
Row 6: K10, P20, K10
Rows 7-36: Repeat Rows 5 & 6
Leave live stitches on the needle.

You’ll need:
- Completed homework on needles
- Crochet hook or stitch fixer
- Locking stitch marker
- Tapestry needle
- Waste yarn
- Smaller gauge needle, like a DPN (US 2-3/2.75-3.25 mm)

We’re Going Steeking! with Heather Storta - Steeking Handout - Many people prefer to work colorwork in the round, so every row is a knit row, and no 2-color purling is required. But what if you want to make a cardigan? You need to go steeking! Steeking is a method of cutting your knitting to turn something tubular into something that opens. This workshop will cover how to reinforce a steek, cutting a steek, picking up stitches for a button band and more!

Homework: The completed circular swatch from Flower Fantasteek in Knitrino (note the pattern shows 6 colors, but it’s easy to replace Colors C-F with Color B for a 2-color version. Here’s how to change your colors in Knitrino)

You’ll need:
- Flower Fantasteek pattern Knitrino
- Waste yarn in fingering or sport weight
- Crochet hook (size C-E/2.75-3.5 mm recommended)
- Sharp scissors

Handouts

Recordings

Stranded Colorwork

Brioche Knitting

We’re Going Steeking!

Fixing your Lace (a more complicated version of our mistakes workshop)

Our Instructors

Saysha Greene

Saysha is a knitwear designer and instructor, living and working in New Jersey. She loves creating new knitters and helping existing knitters build the confidence to attempt any project and fix any mistake they might encounter in their knitting. You can find her designs on Ravelry, Knitrino, and several magazine and book publications. Follow her @inSayshable.knits on Instagram.

Heather Storta

Heather is a TKGA-certified Master Knitter, Tech Editor and Knitting Instructor. She is the VP of Education on the board of directors for TKGA, the editor of TKGA’s monthly K2TOG newsletter, and a Co-Chair Emeritus of the TKGA Master Hand Knitting committee, as well as a member of the Cast On magazine editorial committee. Before knitting became her career--and before she had children--she was a Chemical Engineer and briefly a high school science teacher.
But now she has been designing knitwear and teaching knitting for well over 15 years. Her designs have been published in Cast On magazine and Knitscene, as well as Knitty, and elsewhere. Designing items that tickle her fancy, she loves designing socks, lace shawls, and Fair Isle, among many other things. She teaches up and down the east coast as well as nationally (and online), and her focus is on giving knitters the skills and confidence needed to perfect their knitting and to knit complex or intimidating techniques.

Heather resides in the Charlotte, NC area. When she is not knitting, designing, editing, or teaching, she can be found sewing, spinning yarn, reading, or in the outdoors camping and hiking with her family. She can be found online at www.heatherstorta.com.

Laura Şakirgil

Laura is a knitter and high school teacher in Minnesota. During the height of the pandemic, she learned to knit using Knitrino, and began teaching anyone who was willing to learn! Many of her high school students have moved beyond the basics like the Haiku Hat to even making mittens. When she's not knitting, she's outside either on a walk, chasing around children or pretending to know how to garden.

Other Things to See & Do

The Birthplace of Country Music Museum: every retreat attendee will be gifted a ticket to visit the Museum right next door to the hotel! You can attend with the group on Saturday after lunch, or go whenever your heart desires
Grand Antiques: featuring more than 60 booths from regional collectors, this antique mall is a fun way to lose track of time.
Mendota Trail: hike or bike the trail! This trail is a 12.5-mile hiking and biking recreational corridor, spanning tranquil countryside, forests, and creeks on gentle grades between Bristol, Virginia and Mendota, Virginia.
Bristol Motor Speedway: for those who like fast paced knitting, check out the famous speedway, or for a slightly slower pace, visit racecar driver Michael Waltrip’s Brewing Co.
Walk to Tennessee and back: we’re not sure why this is so much fun, but it is.
Paramount Theatre: this 1930s-era theatre is a sight to behold and boasts some great performers.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will Barbara Kingsolver sign my book? No. Due to a hand injury, Barbara does not sign autographs. There will be plenty of opportunities for selfies though!
Where will I meet the shuttle driver? We’ll get back to you on this. ;)
What time should I arrive? Check in for the hotel is at 4pm. If you arrive before 4pm, you are welcome to gather in our event area and mingle. Retreat Registration will be available from 3-5pm.
What should I wear? Wear what makes you comfortable. Jeans are completely appropriate for everything we’ll be doing, and showing off your handknits (even when it’s 90 degrees) is always encouraged.
Is there anything else I should bring? Be sure to bring yarn and needles for your workshops - we’ll have some extra yarn you can use, but not needles. If you’ve knit lots of things in Knitrino, bring them for our group photos! Geofade & Rays of Sun, Moonsong Shawl, so many things.
Can I print from Knitrino? There's no way to print our workshop-style patterns. As soon as you print you lose all the great features people love about Knitrino, like stitch tutorials and progress tracking. While printing is something we may support in the future, it's a shockingly expensive feature to add, and not one we get a lot of requests for.
I’m an introvert and having anxiety about being with a group of people I don’t know. Turns out, there are a lot of introverted knitters! Don’t worry, our goal is to make this a fun and memorable weekend for everyone. Andrea is a pro at helping people have fun, and you’re always welcome to sit and knit if that’s your happy place!