Love and community happened again this May despite lots of uncertainty. It doesn’t seem to matter what the circumstances are. The magic still happens.

Join The Love and Community (Despite Any Uncertainty)

We had 39 guys scheduled to attend this year’s Men’s Spring Knitting Retreat (MSKR) at Easton Mountain. There were a couple of troubling events leading up to this annual retreat. First of all, the rates of COVID infection were increasing in the Washington County, NY (where Easton Mountain is). They weren’t massive increases. But they were cause for me to be concerned. The weekend before MSKR, another group at Easton Mountain had 7 guys test positive for COVID. And then on the day before I was supposed to leave for the retreat, I tested positive.

With all this uncertainty within mere days of the retreat, we opted to communicate widely the potential risks and let the guys decide what they wanted to do.

36 men opted to attend and it turned out to be another magical event.

If you’ve followed QueerJoe Blog for a while, you may recall we were constantly amazed at how consistent the “magic” was at the first few retreats. We honestly didn’t know how it happened. Partly it was the venue. Some of it was the planning. The facilitators played some role. But the biggest factor always seemed to be the amazing group of guys who self-select to attend.

And despite all of our concerns, this year was no different. The 36 guys had an awesome time.

I’m not saying the event is foolproof. But even with some issues with COVID, these guys created the most wonderfully loving and supportive community. I will be forever grateful for helping create this event. It consistently brings great joy. Even when I can’t be physically there.

If you or someone you know would like to experience this, we still have a few spots left in the September retreat.

Current Knitting

Fortunately, the Anica Shawl is a relatively quick-knit. I finished the one I had started this past Wednesday.

It’s a great combination of bright colors. Not usually the kind of brightness I’d wear, but many will love it.

Since I’m on a roll, I figured I’d make at least one more Anica Shawl.

This is Urth’s Uneek Fingering in colorway 3018. I think it will be a nice version if the first two are any indication.