This weekend our dear friend, Natasha, took her 'Taking A Moment In Time Retreats' to a new level and built herself a mini festival site on the fields of her new farm. Hill View Farm in Buckinghamshire is an exciting new venture which will be growing into a yarn related retreat experience, complete with sheep, highland cattle, home grown vegetables and flowers.
We all arrived on Friday afternoon to be greeted with a beautiful camp site of bell tents, marquees and a fire pit, all ready to start straight away on our first workshop of the weekend. I was lucky enough to be hosting a workshop making dreamcatchers and this was just one of the crafts that were on offer over the three days.
Our knitting and crochet instructors even included Donna Smith all the way from Shetland, and lovely Donna was just one of the talented ladies who had travelled from far and wide to share their skills.
I was particularly excited to finally have a go at macrame knotting with the expert guidance of Sam from 'Pretty Little Knots" who led us through quite a sizeable project that we all managed to finish with sheer determination. I have to admit that Sam did have to finish mine for me as my back was playing up, and this really proved to me how much time and effort goes into making each piece.
Another of the workshops that I attended was with good friend Katie Robbins of 'Ceramic Magpie' who showed us how to cheat at making porcelain style decorations with an clay that can be baked in the oven. Other crafters were also busy with different styles of knitting and crochet and after our small groups we all came back together for delicious meals cooked by Natasha and her team from the farm's home grown vegetables.
The weather was kind of mad, but maybe we just noticed it more as we were outside with such expansive views, but the odd shower didn't dull our enthusiasm or spirits while we all concentrated on making wall decorations with Olga Prinku and Mobiles with Sarah Notes.
It was such a treat to spend time with the other like minded crafters and instagrammers and meet up with some previous retreat buddies like Renee from East London Knit who designs beautiful and unique knitwear.
Keep a look out for next years dates as this is going to be a regular event up at the farm and sure to get booked up quickly. The variety of workshops brought together a lovely group of what I hope will be a regular gang of makers.
Apologies from me if this summer I am slightly sporadic with blog posts as I'm in the process of a big life changing venture. In the meanwhile, a little vote for me in the Amara Awards would be very much appreciated, my voting page is
Many thanks in advance, see you soon with more news. Janice
