During the last week of January, Kate Atherly and I were teaching on board the Celebrity Reflection during the Cooperative Press Knitting Cruise.
It was a 7 day cruise leaving from Miami. There were a variety of classes available to the cruisers, ranging from Lace Design to Soxpertise, Sizing & Fit to Reversible Cables, and all sorts of other delightful topics. Linda Sokalski was also there teaching Swedish Twined Knitting and Modular knits.
I have worked with Kate before – among other things she was the technical editor for Ancient Egypt in Lace and Color – but I had never had a chance to spend an entire week together with her. We had a lovely time. The classes were wonderful (many thanks to all our students for making this such a great experience for both of us) and in addition to that it was nice to just hang out and chat (and knit!) with another designer and author. We work so much via the internet and electronic communications, but sometimes it’s really great to have a real, live colleague in the same room at the same time.
The classes were taught during the days that the ship was at sea. In addition, Linda (who is sitting right next to me in the picture above) arranged a couple of stitch-and-bitch sessions. At this one, the ship was getting ready to leave St. Thomas, and we got to enjoy both our knits, the company, and the fabulous view of the harbour as we were continuing on our journey to St. Maarten.
I also had the chance to get some knitting done on my next design on our own balcony. I’d grab a cup of tea and settle down and knit for a while. It was wonderful. And quite the stark contrast to the current weather at home (it was -25C in Ottawa during the week I was gone).
And of course I had the chance to venture out on the islands while the ship was docked. It was absolutely heavenly to get to swim in the Caribbean in the middle of winter. I also went biking in Puerto Rico, and snorkling on St. Maarten. I miss the warmer weather during the summer when I can spend a lot more time outdoors at home. At this time of year, I tend to curl up by the fireplace instead. Also nice, but not quite the same.
We also brought some books and patterns to sell. I had Shaping Shawls and Ancient Egypt in Lace and Color, as well as a number of single patterns, and Kate had brought her Beyond Knit & Purl, as well as Knit Accessories.
We met lots of lovely people, and I really want to thank everyone again for coming. And for those of you who didn’t get a chance to join us, I hope we do it again in the future. January is a most excellent time to take a break from winter by knitting in the Caribbean.
