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The Mini-Class Schedule & Registration Information Posted
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Mini Class Registration will open January 26, 2012 in the afternoon pacific time

Registration for 2012 Madrona Regular Retreat Classes is Still Open. We continue to post class opening changes so check the class schedule page often

  • 2012 Madrona Winter Retreat Regular Classes are still available. We regularly post changes so Go to the Retreat Class Schedule and Information page to check for classes that have openings.
  • Registration is open. Go to the Retreat Registration Instructions page for more information.
  • HOTEL RESERVATIONS: Instructions for Hotel Murano reservations and list of alternate hotels: Go to Make Hotel Reservations page for information.
  • Wait Lists: Fill out and submit the Wait List Form if you want to be on a wait list for a class that is sold out and you have not registered for another class in the same time slot. We are filling openings that become available in classes from the wait lists.
  • Changes to your registration:  Use the Registration Change Form to request all changes and cancellations to your registration.
  • Mini-Class schedule: Will be posted the first week in January and there will be a separate registration for mini-classes the end of January.
  • For more information: See the Table of Contents at the left, click on the information you are looking for and also go to the 2012 Winter Retreat FAQs page

MADRONA 2012 RETREAT PROGRAM OVERVIEW

Teachers are the heart of Madrona and we are thrilled that we have been able to gather so much talent in one place. We are dazzled by the variety and energy that will take you from the traditional to the very edges of the creative universe. I can’t think of any parts of Madrona that embody this spectrum more than our evening speakers.

We are absolutely thrilled to be able to host Deborah Robson, teacher, author, editor, publisher, researcher, spinner and knitter. Deb is the co-author with Carol Ekarius of the new and highly acclaimed The Fleece and Fiber Sourcebook. She has been into fiber most of her life as an editor-in-chief of Spin-Off Magazine for 12 years, publisher of her own Nomad Press, and author of many articles. Deb will regale you with her “Fiber Odyssey” as our speaker at the Saturday banquet. She’ll take you on the wild ride she and her co-author Carol Ekarius took through many an adventure, both weird and exhilarating, in the behind the scenes search for the fibers both rare and of all sorts that resulted in the their fascinating fiber sourcebook. Deb will also be teaching classes for spinners and knitters on working with different wool types, rare breeds, and a special workshop to discuss publishing options for textile folks. In addition, you can tap into Deb’s wealth of fiber knowledge as she will be in the rotunda at a scheduled clinic time to answer questions about a mystery fiber or one that is confusing or frustrating and help you figure out how to make the most of what you have.

There is a wonderful treat in store for you. Sarah Swett will be with us at Madrona and will be our speaker for the Friday Teachers Gallery evening. If you have never seen one of Sarah’s tapestries please, please go to her website at www.sarah-swett.com. They are pictures of one moment in time coming alive in fiber and telling a story — just amazing. Sarah’s talk is “The Luminous Ordinary: Visual Tales in Fiber”. Sarah is one of the most exciting, versatile and passionate fiber artists working today. She spins and dyes her yarns that are transformed in her work. As Sarah herself describes “the design worth pursuing is not a design at all but love made manifest in color, texture, image. It is a second captured in cloth, an unfolding story, a small miracle.” Here is your opportunity to know the richness and expanse of all that Sarah’s fiber art includes. Sarah will be teaching classes that will build your ability to create stories in your fiber work whether it is knitting, embroidery, or weaving. And she will be teaching a one day class to introduce you to tapestry weaving. Join Sarah and explore her passions with her: “My work grows increasingly narrative — incorporating words, stories, recipes, comics theory and sequential imagery in needlepoint, embroidery and tapestry even as my knitting relaxes into the simple and wearable.”

Thursday evening is our Charity Night. Last year we celebrated Women of the World with Anita Luvera and Stephanie Pearl-McPhee. We introduced support for the Global Fund for Women which promotes women’s economic security, health, education and leadership by funding the work of groups around the world. You responded generously with your donations and we wanted you to know what your support helps to foster. The 2011 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded this year to three women whose work was financially supported by the Global Fund for Women. As the fund stated in an announcement “We at the Global Fund are so happy and proud today, not just because the Nobel Committee recognized our grantee partners, but because in naming these three, they acknowledge and confirm that women are agents of change. These women, and millions of others like them, really are changing the world.” We at Madrona agree. Click here to view the full announcement. We hope you will continue to support Madrona’s charity partners: Doctors without Borders, Heifer International, and the Global Fund for Women.

The incomparable Stephanie Pearl-McPhee joins us again at Madrona to speak on Thursday evening. News Flash! Stephanie’s new book, All Wound Up, has just hit The New York Times best seller list! It is always special to welcome Stephanie to Madrona. When I see her walk through the door it’s like a magic wand with sparks of energy and I know Madrona is coming alive! Stephanie will teaching her Knitting with Mawata — showing you how to knit warm goodies from silk in the pure form — and who knows where else she will show up! Check out Stephanie’s blog at www.yarnharlot.ca and see all the pictures of her book tour in Seattle!

Betsy Hershberg spoke Friday evening last year and shared her personal ten year journey from her forthcoming book that led her to a whole new mind-set about the creative process? Her book, Betsy Beads: Confessions of a Left-Brained Knitter, will be hot off the press at Madrona and will be debuted for the first time. To celebrate, Betsy will be available one of the Madrona days in the Rotunda to talk with any and all about knitting and beading, help with your beading projects and show how she transformed that little Victorian Pence Jug that Franklin showed us last year at the banquet into this fascinating beaded jewel — you can do this too! In addition, Betsy will be teaching beaded knitting classes and a new one “Flat to Fabulous” — transforming flat bead knitted fabric into fantastic shapes using the art of fabric manipulation. Betsy is a designer of one-of-a-kind bead knitted jewelry and accessories and a sought after teacher. Check out her website at www.studiobknits.com to see her amazing designs.

Jared Flood returns again to Madrona and his home territory! It is a pleasure to welcome him back. Jared’s designs from his Classic Elite book Made in Brooklyn took the knitting world by storm and now they are joined by additional patterns using his own Shelter yarn line in so many lovely colors that we just want to put them in an ice cream cone and savor them! Join Jared again for one of his signature classes whether it is Seamless Sweaters, Lace Knitting, or Shetland Colorwork. What is the Brioche stitch all about? Nancy Marchant has written, Knitting Brioche, the first book dedicated to this wonderfully versatile stitch that brings texture, color, design elements and incredibly beautiful stitch patterns to many types of garments. Creating a double-sided fabric, Nancy will show you how easy it is to add Brioche to your repertoire of stitch patterns. Born in Indiana, Nancy now lives and works in Amsterdam as a graphic designer. Franklin Habit is back at Madrona! After his marvelously enchanting romp through the history of knitting patterns at the banquet last year, who wouldn’t want to have Franklin help you delve into those intriguing antique and vintage knitting patterns. Well you can at Madrona this year along with his popular Photographing your Fiber and his newest classes Knitted Tessellations and Garter Stitch Gone Wild. Franklin is a knitter, writer, illustrator, photographer and author of The Panopticon blog and It Itches: A Stash of Knitting Cartoons. There is always humor wherever Franklin takes you

It is always a pleasure to welcome Lucy Neatby to Madrona, one of the most creative and colorful knitters we know. Lucy will entice you into color experiments, double knitting for socks, shaping up shoulders and even launching your own designs. With Lucy empowering you and her amazing Learn with Lucy series of DVDs, you come away from any class with a treasure trove of knowledge that you instantly can apply to your knitting. We cannot think about color without thinking about Mary Scott Huff who returns with another exquisite and exclusive Madrona design. This year it’s Entrelac! Learn while knitting a gorgeous mitten and hat set — but wait — NO HOMEWORK! You will do it all in class and learn Entrelac at the same time! Mary’s book The New Stranded Colorwork: Techniques and Patterns for Vibrant Knitwear will soon be joined by a second one due out before long! We are so happy to welcome back Beth Brown-Reinsel who was with us our very first Madrona 13 years ago! Beth anchors our knitting in the timeless traditions of many heritages. You will be able to explore the beautiful stitches and construction of traditional British Ganseys, colorful Latvian patterns, and the lovely textures of Twined Knitting techniques from Sweden. Beth is the author of the classic Knitting Ganseys and a number of DVDs. You can find her blog and many patterns at www.knittingtraditions.com. Janine Bajus has inspired many a Fair Isle knitter with her Feral Knitter blog and her unique and colorful Fair Isle sweaters that make a personal statement. This year Janine brings you “Color Outside the Lines” — a Fair Isle tam design that will build your confidence in color choices.

Margaret Radcliffe returns with a new book, Circular Knitting Workshop: Essential Techniques to Master Knitting in the Round, with the first copies delivered right to Madrona! There isn’t anyone like Margaret who explains everything so very clearly! Her previous book on Color Knitting is the most comprehensive compilation of color techniques and patterns ever in one place. To celebrate the new book, Margaret will be in the rotunda for “circular knitting” clinics — anything and everything about knitting in the round from the very beginning best cast-ons to eliminating those “jogs” with stripes. Writing the book, Margaret’s goal was to create a broad and detailed resource that worked for beginners to advanced knitters alike. It’s a book to learn from and refer back to as you knit. In addition, Margaret will be teaching several classes on using circular knitting and also a class on “Fitting your Knitting” to help you improve your knitted garment fit.

Ilisha Helfman, the queen of Jazzknitting, has you working with the inherent qualities of hand dyed yarn to knit beautiful natural forms without patterns or stitches to count. This is “Knitting Improv” at its best and Ilisha will show you how! A knitter for 40 years, Ilisha has shown her knitted collages in galleries in NYC and Portland. Now she has published a book Jazzknitting: An Introduction about her technique. Check it all out at www.followthethread.com. Jane Slicer-Smith returns to Madrona from Australia with her unique use of color, texture, intarsia, and mitres in knitting. Underlying Jane’s teaching is always her attention to fit and style. She feels that the essence of style is the fit. This year she will have a class devoted to the ingredients and techniques of fit and style she has learned over her years of designing hand knits and made to measure garments. Jane was trained in the UK, settled in Australia, designed for the largest importer of British wools in Japan, developed her own line of Signatur designs and yarns and taught around the world. We are delighted to welcome Elise Duvekot, author of Knit One Below, back to Madrona from The Netherlands. K1b is one of the truly new techniques in creating colorful and unique knitted fabric. Color and pattern is the name of the game and the range of designs that can be created from gossamer fabric to heavy ribbed garments are endless. You only work with one yarn in each row, and yet your fabric is colorful, supple and versatile. Elise’s classes at Madrona will get you started and you can then let your imagination go!

Tired of your hand knit garments not living up to your expectations? We’ve got some answers! Jean Wong, incredible master instructor for the Japanese Nihon Vogue certificate courses, returns with her very popular Japanese Tailored Knitting and Fine Finishing classes. Delve into the world of Japanese knitting and finishing techniques and your knitting will never be the same! Jean’s classes will show you how to fit and finish your garments professionally. Sivia Harding is back with a clever class that will have you creating your own lace triangle. It’s a blend of lace skills, inspiration and discovery! Sivia is known for her lace and bead knitting and her patterns can be seen at www.siviaharding.com.

Gayle Roehm will help you learn the language of Japanese knitting patterns and stitches. Gayle is new to Madrona and we are thrilled to welcome her. The Japanese are enthusiastic knitters and have some of the most beautiful and also challenging stitch and garment patterns. Gayle has lived in Japan and is fluent in the language. Her classes will focus on understanding Japanese knitting patterns, using Japanese stitch dictionaries and learning some of the challenging Japanese stitch patterns to expand your choices and horizons. We are also excited to have Amy Detjen join us at Madrona for the first time. Amy has been Meg Swansen’s assistant at her knitting camps for over 16 years. Amy has a solution for almost any knitting problem but her focus at Madrona will be teaching Elizabeth Zimmermann Percentage System (EPS) along with some other favorites such as Bavarian and Austrian Twisted Stitch Knitting. Andrea Wong brings the unique Portuguese style knitting that is gentle on your hands and wrists to Madrona this year. This is Andrea’s first time at Madrona and she will be teaching the basics of Portuguese style knitting as well as a more advanced class in two color knitting in the round; knit inside out and just purling in the Portuguese style which is amazingly quick and easy. This may change the way you knit!

Kris Abshire returns to Madrona from Alaska. Those who are Madrona “old-timers” may remember Kris’s Arashi silk dyeing classes at the Inn at Gig Harbor. Kris is an amazing fiber artist specializing in weaving and dyeing techniques. Please take a look at Kris’s wonderful work on her website www.krisabshire.com. Arashi is a favorite that uses established traditional methods to accomplish rich, sumptuous textures inherent in this dye-resist art that can be used for garments, wearable accessories, jewelry. You’ll complete 3 projects in this “sky’s the limit” class! Kris will also be teaching classes in “burnout” patterns on fiber like the French (Devoré) and the “fold, clamp and dye” technique like the Japanese (Itajime). Take on a fiber adventure with Kris and it will open new worlds in design! Synne Mitchell always has the next newest weave up her sleeve and this year it’s Weaving Light. Bring any loom (rigid heddle or 4-harness table or small floor loom) — we’ll tell you how to warp it ahead — and Syne will have you weaving electroluminescent wire (el wire) as a supplemental warp. Light up your scarf or shawl at will or pulse it to music while you dance!

Who can resist a class with Judith MacKenzie? From spinning with paper — who thought? — to the secrets of using recycled fibers, the mysteries of silk and dyeing with all that lichen hanging from the trees in the Pacific Northwest! Beloved and revered by all who have taken a class with her, Judith wrote the instant best seller The Intentional Spinner and Interweave has issued 4 DVD’s with Judith….all on the best seller list. These are almost like having your own class with Judith but at Madrona you get the real deal — Judith herself! Carol Rhoades returns to Madrona and we are delighted. Carol is the technical editor for Spin-Off Magazine and her classes in fiber preparation and spinning every type of fiber are legendary. Come join Carol as she blends natural wools, cards, and spins her way from yarn for Arans to the luscious magic of mohair and cashmere!

Amelia Garripoli, the wizard of spindle spinning, will expand your spindle skill-set and demonstrate charka spinning. Those of you who have been captivated by the new e-spinners will want to take Amelia’s e-spinner class to build your skill with these little gems. Sarah Anderson will again be our spinning mentor at Madrona in the Rotunda and teaching classes too. There seems to be a lot of you who have come over to the other side and are spinning your own yarn so Sarah will be available to answer all types of questions and solve problems so come and spin along with her. Sarah’s mini class in raw fleece preparation was so popular last year that we are expanding it to a regular class. Begin at the beginning and follow the fleece from the sheep to your project and get that lovely raw fleece you could not resist buying out of its bag!

And if all this makes your muscles stiff, your shoulders sag, and your back ache, then Carson Demers, PT and ergonomics specialist will teach you techniques to keep your body healthy and knitting and spinning happily ever after. New this year are hour long sessions for just 6 students at a time so that you will get some individual feedback to help make your knitting time more enjoyable and free from “after effects”.

THE MADRONA MARKET, MINI–CLASSES AND MORE!

We have another amazing market for you this year and you can expect your favorite vendors to be back along with a few new ones. We’ll announce all the vendors on the website in December.

Informal gatherings and hanging out is part of the Madrona fun and tradition. Even if you don’t take a class, come and enjoy the Market, demonstrations, clinics, evening events and knit and spin with old and new friends. Remember you only pay for classes and the Saturday night banquet. The rest of Madrona is free!

Daniel Herrera, your guru of every kind of tricky fiber situation, will again be available for problem solving of all kinds in the Rotunda. Sarah Anderson will mentor those who want help with spinning or just want to spin along with her. We’ll have many clinics (all free) and also Mini-Classes for those of you who find you can come at the last minute, want to fill in gaps in your regular class schedule, or just want an introduction to a new skill or technique. Registration for the Mini-Classes, each just an hour and a half in length, will open the end of January as last year, but we will announce the Mini Schedule and all the clinics sometime in December so that you can plan your time at Madrona.