October 10th - 12th 2025
On an autumn day in October, 13 women came together to spin. Just quietly as a break from their hectic lives and careers to spend a few days immersed in a craft that they love.

This was something that I had had bubbling away in the back of my mind for some time and to have the event finally arrive was both exciting and I'll be honest, a little terrifying. Of course I shouldn't have been worried because spinners are a pretty much wonderful community of people
Each received a box of fibre in colours of their choosing, a woven face cloth, handmade soaps from a local producer, Tigermuffin Soaps and a quiz with a chance of a ยฃ50 prize from World of Wool
We spun together with the understanding that if anyone wanted to leave for any reason, for a treatment in the spa, or to have a walk around the surrounding countryside, or just to go and have a nap they were to feel free to do so. After all, this weekend is about charging the batteries
On both days there was a demonstration, on Saturday it was around core spinning and how to create Beehives. On Sunday the request was for chain plying and how to get the best out of your dyed fibre.
One of the benefits of having a group with such a variety of experience was the sharing of skills and spinning hacks. As spinners know, there are always at least ten ways of achieving an outcome and one of those may suit you more than others and so it was wonderful to hear different methods shared
The hotel were brilliant and really did cater to all our needs, the food was beautiful. As the organiser, to know that the hotel were so good made my job so much easier and allowed me just to focus on the spinning and the spinners and not to have to worry about other more functional things.
We all agreed that we would love to meet up again in a year and do it all again.
To keep up to date with new dates for spinning or weaving retreats sign up to the newsletter or email me at Cathy.lazykate@gmail.com