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Meg Swansen's Knitting Camps and Retreats

Application Period for 2008 is closed. 2009 dates will be posted by September. If you have applied for a 2008 camp or retreat you will receive information about your status by early March.

Dear Knitters,

Knitting Camps and Retreats 2008 dates are below. Please Note: We have opted to discontinue the few hours of class on Monday to allow for greater ease with travel. Arrival will be Thursday after 3 p.m. for check in as usual and an evening welcome supper. Class all day Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The Sunday night stayover is included in your fee, and knitters are welcome to gather Sunday evening and Monday morning in the classroom, however there will be no class Monday morning.

Camp/Retreat Sessions:

Camps are based on EPS (Elizabeth Zimmermann's Percentage System) and require a basic knowledge of knitting (cast on, knit, purl, increase, decrease, cast-off) and plenty of questions. Retreats are gatherings of old friends, but we welcome new Campers to join us as we network and zig and zag through knitting minutiae and what has happened in the knitting world during the preceding year. Show and Tell, discussion and mini-workshops for specific techniques are highlights, as well as our yearly Knitting Contest.

CAMP Session 1: arrive Thurs, July 3; class begins Fri July 4 through 4 pm Sunday, July 6th. Meg covers updated details of Elizabeth Zimmermann¹s Percentage System (EPS) for circular, seamless garment construction plus color-patterns, steeks, and assorted techniques and tricks. There will be small projects to knit during the session, plus Show-and-Tell. We recommend reading at least one of Elizabeth Zimmermann's five books prior to your arrival, or watch some of her DVDs.

RETREAT 2.75: arrive Thurs, July 10; class Fri July 11 through 4 pm Sunday, July 13th. A mixture of intermediate and expert knitters. Plenty of Show and Tell, mini-workshops and group discussions; a contest (The Great Knitted Mythical Beasts Contest) will highlight this session.

CAMP Session 2: arrive Thurs, July 17; class Fri July 18 through 4 pm Sunday, July 20th. For those knitters already familiar with EPS and Elizabeth's books, we will explore additional territory and offer handouts for small projects to knit during class.

RETREAT 3: arrive Thurs, July 24; class Fri July 25 through 4 pm Sunday, July 27th. A mixture of intermediate and expert knitters; Retreat 3 (determined by vote of 07 participants) will include a review of EPS and other technique demonstrations by Meg. There will be a more limited Show-and-Tell, the usual mini-workshops given by volunteering participants, group discussions and a contest (The Great Knitted Golden Memories Contest-in honor of 50 years of Schoolhouse Press and 35 years of Knitting Camp) to highlight the session.

Housing:

We stay at the new Holiday Inn Conference Center in Marshfield, WI with all the amenitites you expect including fridge and microwave in the rooms, indoor pool/hot tub and more. We have a large conference room for our classes, a private dining room and a knitting supplies marketplace.

Meals:

A supper buffet will be served from 6:00-7:00 pm on the evening of your arrival, plus the hotel provides a complimentary continental breakfast in the knitting room each morning at 8:30. You will also receive a coupon for a free breakfast at the Kitchen Table restaurant (most excellent fare) the morning of your choice (Closed Sunday). Lunch will be catered each full class day, plus we will have a daily mid-morning snack break. Non-knitting companions may join us for the supper buffet, the continental breakfasts and he/she will receive a coupon to the Kitchen Table (lunches are not included).

Transportation:

By air: Madison, WI, Minneapolis, MN, Milwaukee, WI, or Chicago, IL airports all have feeder lines to Central Wisconsin Airport (CWA, phone:715-693-2147) in Mosinee/Wausau, WI (35 miles east of Marshfield). A van shuttle service from CWA to the hotel is available through the Holiday Inn (call in advance, 715-486-1500); the cost is $30 per person-one way. Or, you can rent a car at either CWA or a major airport (Madison, approx drive time: 2.5 hrs, Milwaukee, WI approx drive time: 4 hours, Mpls, MN, approx drive time: 3 hrs, Chicago, IL approx drive time: 5.5 hours, CWA approx drive time: 35 minutes) (More complete travel recommendations will be added to acceptance letters.)

Tuition (2007 prices below; 2008 prices TBD by time of application):

Single ($735)
Double w/knitting camp roommate ($635)
Double with a non-knitting companion ($750)
Off-campus ($520 )

Your tuition includes lodging, some meals, and teacher's fees. Transportation is not included.

Questions? Call us at (715) 884-2799 or send us an email.

Knitting Camp Yahoo Group

After attending Camp 1 in 2006, the knitters from that session created a Yahoo Group - MS Knitting Camp - to continue the atmosphere of knitting comraderie for which EZ and Meg's knitting camps are known. The group is open to anyone who has attended any Knitting Camp session, any year.

You may subscribe through email or visit the Yahoo Group online.

Yahoo Group address

If you have questions please contact the list owner. Though Schoolhouse Press staff participates in the group, we are not responsible for the content or technical functions of the list.

PBS and Schoolhouse Press

In July of 2005, a public television crew filmed Meg Swansen's 2.75 Knitting Camp. The PBS program aired as a segment on the December 22, 2005 "In Wisconsin program "and is now available for anyone to view as streaming video on the public television site.

http://www.wpt.org/npa/transcripts/index.cfm?did=19485

(Paste the link above into your browser, then scroll down past the description to Related Links and click Watch this Segment.)

Knitting Camp
Every summer since 1974, knitters have come to Wisconsin for knitting camp. The camp was first held at a University-Extension campground in Shell Lake. It s now held every weekend in July at a hotel in Marshfield. Meg Swansen of Pittsville, daughter of the late Elizabeth Zimmermann, who was the original teacher at Shell Lake, leads the camps. Producer Art Hackett explains how some of the camps have grown beyond educational efforts into an annual retreat and reunion for dedicated knitters.