Day dallying at the Gathering while Amy Advises

The whole idea of the Small Wool Gathering is that it IS SMALL but although the bedrooms at the house are full we do still have 5 day tickets available at £350 each or £225 for those who prefer to arrive Saturday morning and depart after Sunday lunch.  Day guests can stay at any of a number of local hotels or B&Bs

What will you get for your money?  Well firstly you will still get to spend up to two and a half days at the beautiful Peddington Manor

The food will be delicious - and will include cake and biscuits at every snack opportunity and wine with your meals, served in this rather impressive dinning room

AND your tutor for the whole weekend will be the lovely (and knitterly talented) Amy Singer, editor of Knitty magazine where we all go to find fab patterns and spinning and knitting advice.  

I met Amy at the first knitting retreat I ever went to, it was such a wonderful experience that I went again the next year.  Sadly Amy and her friend Brenda Dayne (of the brilliant knitting podcast Cast-On and the new book Welsh for Rainbow)  cannot continue to run knitting retreats for the time being and this is how The Small Wool Gathering was born.

So what happens at The Small Wool Gathering?  This is how we will fill our days

Friday 11 October 2013

6pm - arrive and settle in

7.15  - drinks and surprises

8pm - dinner

after dinner - knitting 'show and tell', tell all about a wooly triumph or disaster

Saturday

9am - Breakfast (residents only)

10.30 - Amy's first class (Auto pilot socks - there is homework, learn Judy's magic cast-on before you come and bring with you your chosen sock yarn and needles, circular or DPNs)

1pm - lunch

2.30 Amy's second class (Digital camera secrets for knitters, no homework but bring your camera and its manual and something knitted to photograph)

Free time between classes and dinner

8pm - Dinner (dress code wear something glamorous you have knitted)

my choice of yarn for glamour but will I knit it up in time?

Sunday

9am - Breakfast (residents only)

10.30 Amy's last class (Silk spindling, all materials supplied)

1pm - lunch

the afternoon is free to enjoy beautiful local walks, explore nearby Berkley village and its castle or relax at the Manor with your knitting (or spinning)

8pm - Dinner

Monday 

8.30 - Breakfast (Residents only)

10.30 - depart :-(

Where can you stay?

Firstly I have to say I have not personally tested out these hotels.

The nearest hotel is The Gables, only a five minute drive from the Manor.  It is modern and comfortable but likely to lack much character.  It is one of a chain of hotels that are all generally of a good standard. Although I have not been inside these hotels are all pretty much the same and are ideal for a place to crash when there is something good to go on to (as with The Small Wool Gathering)

In the very pretty village of Berkley, slightly further away (about a 10 minute drive) are a couple of very good looking hotel/pubs which also do B&B including The Malt House which looks comfortable with beamed ceilings in the bedrooms and all food cooked freshly to order.

There are many other hotels and guest houses in the area this page has a list, I see there is even a castle about 10 miles away from Peddington!

There are local taxi companies who can be booked to take day guests who don't have cars to and from the Manor 

More information on Amy's classes please!

Please watch this space, the next blog post will have lots more information and pictures!

Amy teaching how to work with silk hankies at last year's Gwlana retreat

If you would like to book one of the last 5 places at The Small Wool Gathering or would like more information, please e mail Catherine (chopkins2013 [at] gmail.com) or Alli (Allison.thistlewood [at] gmail.com)

The closing date for booking is 29 September

Hope to see some of you at The Manor on the 11th!!

xx

c