I do not even know where to begin. Camp & Create Weekend was amazing!
I feel like that is all there needs to be said. But I know you all want a little more so here goes…
Over the past few years, I have been trying to figure out a way to join my love of camping and the outdoors and the many crafts that I love, then roll them up into a way to share them will the world! Which might be reaching for a faraway star. So, I will settle for “share them with about 8-10 people at a time”.
And what I came up with was Camp & Create. It is a weekend of camaraderie, crafting, outdoors, laughter, and good food.
The first-ever Camp & Create was supposed to happen last year – but COVID. We moved it out a year and our first ever Camp & Create was the weekend of May 21-23, 2021. There was one early-bird night offered in case campers were coming a little farther. Our first night was just a few and we sat around a fire talking about the things we were looking forward to for the weekend.
Friday was when official check-in began and as the campers started showing up, I was so excited.
Although I love camping in a tent, I know that it is not for everyone and here, in Minnesota, we are so lucky that many of our State Parks have camper cabins. They are simple cabins with two sets of bunk beds and a table, often with heat and electricity. Campers bring their bedding – and one camper brought her coffee maker as she is an exceedingly early bird!
Once all our campers were settled in their cabins, we had a wonderful dinner – prepared on the fire by Chef Dan (aka “the hubs”). Because Dan has been a chef for over 30 years, he was able to work with dietary needs to turn standard camping meal into one I think the campers will not soon forget.
Friday evening we talked a little about the process that we were going to be using to do the dyeing on Saturday. Everyone opened swag and spent some time getting to know each other. We even had a shop - complete with hand dyed yarn, hand painted journals and some mugs.
Saturday was DYE DAY and boy did we use up every single moment of our time together to make beautiful things. I will simply leave a few photos here to describe the fun – as I do not think words accurately describe it! Campers used natural dye extracts (madder root, logwood, and cochineal) to dye silk scarves.
On Saturday afternoon we had a little time to try some acid dyes on yarn and came up with these beautiful colors:
As with all good things, our weekend came to an end on Sunday morning. We congregated with breakfast and talk about the fun that the weekend had given us - plus we did a quick "show and tell" on how to wear our newly dyed scarves!
On a personal note, I want to thank all the campers for their willingness to trust Knitting In The Wild to give them a great weekend. I also want to say how truly blessed I felt to be in the company of such amazing people. I am sure I am correct when I say they walked away from camp feeling energized and full of creative vibes (mostly because they told me they did) – but I walked away with a gift as well. The gift of everlasting friendship, trust, and pride I haven’t felt in some time.
Thank you to my very first campers: Selena, Elis, Amy, Janell, Anne, Raven, Cynthia, and Heather Jane. You all have given me so much. I am so glad to call you friends.
For more information about Camp & Create Weekends please visit the Camp & Create page here.
Photo credits: Cynthia Murdoch, Dan Kostohryz, Amy Munson, Elis Bradshaw
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