Cowichan Valley Retreat

This past month has been pretty intensely packed.  Welcoming my TRIFECTA crew was refreshing and fun, and it kicked off a whole month of fiber-y craziness.  The following weekend I hosted a tiny retreat, teaching and learning about the Cowichan Valley and the Coast Salish knitting tradition.  Then I took part in the Cowichan Fleece and Fibre Fair, and then traveled to Seattle to teach at Knit Fit and do a fairly massive photo shoot.  

I'm finally catching my breath and am excited for lots of amazing things to come.  In the meantime, I'd like to share our Cowichan weekend in pictures.  Almost all these photos were taken by the incredible Kathy Cadigan.  You can find even more pictures and info about the weekend on the Tolt Yarn and Wool blog.

We got to see and try on so many sweaters.  

Anna trying on a beautiful sweater with pockets!  She made that pom pom hat too.
Photo © Kathy Cadigan 2013

This is a vintage genuine Cowichan sweater knit for Leola Witt-McNie of Leola's Studio.
Photo © Kathy Cadigan 2013

I love Anna's new vest!  If you stop by her shop, you may get to see it in person.
Photo © Kathy Cadigan 2013

A selection of Cowichan and Cowichan-inspired sweater we saw at the Duncan Farmer's Market.  There were lots more!
Photo © Kathy Cadigan 2013 

Having so many sweaters around allowed us to study them pretty intensely.  

See how different the inside of the color work is from Fair Isle?  They use a technique that basically catches the float every stitch.  We were pretty fascinated by this.
Photo © Kathy Cadigan 2013

We had a great time at the Duncan Farmer's Market.

Photo © Kathy Cadigan 2013

And we met a lot of adorable animals at The Happy Goat Farm.

All the animals wanted to say hello!  (I regularly eat eggs that those chickens lay.)
Photo © Kathy Cadigan 2013

Photo © Kathy Cadigan 2013

Last weekend when I went down to Seattle for Knit Fit, I got to visit Anna's new yarn shop before it opened up.  I have to say that Tolt Yarn and Wool is completely my dream yarn shop.  The space is open and rustic and perfect, and her yarn selection has just the right mix of woolly wools and luxury fibres.  

I'm honored to have worked with the shop to create two new patterns that celebrate their grand opening, which is happening on Saturday, November 9, 2013!  You can get a sneak peak at the Tolt Hat and Mitts on Ravelry before they go on sale tomorrow.  If you're a knitter within driving distance of Carnation, Washington, you need to be at their shop tomorrow to see what they've been working so hard on!  You'll even be able to get kits that include the new patterns and the Spincycle and Imperial yarn to knit them up.

Happy fall!

Tolt Hat and Mitts
Photo © Anna Dianich 2013