Especially among the young’uns, there seems to be a renewed interest in community. Churches, retreats, cruises: they all seem to bear that out.

Renewed Interest in Community

One of my favorite pastors told me once that the secret of success was creating community. It’s something I’m good at. In fact, I even wrote a book about it.

When we started the Men’s Knitting Retreats almost 20 years ago, the men’s fiber community was yearning for connection. We had no idea that we’d tap into such a strong desire to commune as a group.

Since then, social media, dating/hook-up apps and gaming have dampened that desire somewhat. COVID created a major break as well.

Despite the downward trend, the retreats have always had a strong core group of guys who know the importance of community in their lives. Recently, I’ve been reading a lot about how the younger folks are started to yearn again for being together. Even church attendance has started to grow. I’ve also noticed a significant growth in attendance at the Men’s Knitting Retreats. We opened registration for the Great Lakes Men’s Knitting Retreat and it was filled in about 30 minutes. The growth in attendance isn’t just younger guys…it’s guys of all ages. I’m honestly thrilled to know that we had a space prepared and ready for them.

The retreats are a space that welcomes and fosters a very vibrant community of fiber-guys.

Current Spinning/Knitting

I forgot to post a photo of my current spinning in the last blog entry.

Not a ton of progress, but getting there. I like that spinning is a gradual process. It’s more soothing for me that way.

I also finished my first demo model for the steeking/zipper Expert Table in September.

To give you some perspective, this is 6″ tall and this image shows the steek stitches that will eventually be cut and secured in with a zipper.