Tofino - the Retreat

Wow!  We have just returned home from a lovely week spent in Tofino and Victoria B.C.  The reason for the visit was a retreat organized by Knits by the Sea.  The 'teacher' was Amy Swenson who taught us all about different shapes for shawl knitting, basic triangle, wedge and crescent.  She also gave us a great tutorial on photography - as it relates to the knitting/yarn that we use.  She was very inspirational and I am buzzing with ideas!

We stayed in the lovely Middle Beach Lodge and Ellie from Knits by the Sea booked the great-room/lounge for our classes.  Due to the number of attending knitters (about two dozen), we took over the whole lodge.  Great fun!

This was the view from our room:

Absolutely stunning.  Going to sleep and then waking up to the sounds of the waves crashing on the beach was amazing.  It makes you think about what you would like to do in the future - you know, when retirement comes knocking on the door.  I have a few years to go yet, but living by the sea is certainly top of my list.

During the photography session, the lovely Ellie from Knits by the Sea kindly modeled my Grains of Salt shawl that I test knit for Maja - the pattern is available on Ravelry, is is a great, fun knit.

 

Interestingly, this was the only picture that I took with the light shining through the shawl as the small 'view' on the back of my camera did not look too good - but in the end, this was my favorite photo - I love the way the beach and sky open up the lace. - Thanks Ellie, your cheque is in the post!!

This is the second retreat that Ellie has organized - Cookie A came last year and I am looking forward to seeing who we will have next year!

Here are a few more gratuitous holiday pics!

And last but not least - check out the lovely, plump starfish.  Totally adorable!