Tuesday, June 09, 2015

Squam and Summer Update - a small announcement

Wow. I've been hearing about the Squam Arts Workshops for years now. Many of my friends have been, and I've heard nothing but good things about the experience: the surroundings, the facilities, the classes, the students, the teachers, the organizers.

Seriously, the reports were all so uniformly glowing I wasn't entirely sure that I believed them. (You know me, cynical city girl.)

And then I went.

Yup. They're right. It really is that good.

The setting. Yes, this city girl survived the great outdoors.


Kinda pretty, no?


The accommodations.


The food. The coffee. (Although the mugs were a bit small so I had to use two at a time...)


 The students.

 The decorations... little surprises around the woods.



Really. Elizabeth and her team do a wonderful job creating an entirely unique and very special event. And I'm glad this was the one on I ended on.


Ended? What?

I'm taking a small teaching break over the summer. You won't find me doing any of my usual local classes until September. I need this time to refresh my classes - and me. I've been teaching three... four... five.... six times a week at local shops and further afield pretty much non-stop for the last 10 years. I started teaching evenings and weekends when I had my day job, and it's the teaching that let me make the big jump to quit the day job and go full-time in knitting. I've had the odd vacation, and I usually take a couple of weeks around Christmas and the New Year, but I've had no significant breaks for the past ten years.

It's time. I absolutely love teaching, but to make sure I continue to love it, I need to stop for a bit and gather myself.

I won't be idle, of course. I'm not sure I can do it... my sock book comes out this summer,



and there are other books in the offing, and a fun e-book of designs underway, and a pattern or two to launch. Plus some new classes to be developed. I do also plan to take long dog walks and eat ice cream and enjoy dinners at home. (Teaching in the evenings means that I'm rarely at home for dinner.)

Look for me on shop schedules again in September, both in Toronto and further afield. There's also some special events coming up, including my fourth trip to KnitCity in Vancouver. More details as they are announced. There's a couple I'm REALLY excited about.

2 comments:

carolynch said...

Enjoy your summer! I'm really looking forward to your book coming out :)

May said...

Hi Kate, everyone needs a break from work to recharge/refresh. Enjoy your walks with your dog and having a "regular" routine. My sister pre-ordered your new sock book for me as part of my birthday present so I guess I'll be knitting myself a pair of custom socks this summer!