West Yorkshire Knitting Retreat

Enjoy your first full day on the retreat with Jane at the hotel, as you start on your projects.

The collection of the Knitting & Crochet Guild is a treasure trove of textile wonders. Housed in a former mill, in the Colne Valley village of Slaithwaite, it is at the heart of Yorkshire textile production. Visitors will be see the huge range of textiles, publications, tools and yarns in the collection, in particular the Yorkshire elements.

Yorkshire knitting was traditionally done using a knitting stick or sheath and highly patterned gloves were produced in small numbers. These traditions will be demonstrated using the knitting sticks in the collection. Patterns from the Dales glove from the collection will inspire a project for the participants. You will also receive an annual membership, which has lots of member benefits which you can find on their website.

After, there will be the opportunity for time at leisure to have some lunch in Slaithwaite before walking over to Stylecraft. Here we will have a behind the scenes tour of the mill and learn about the process behind developing and launching new yarns. We will also have the opportunity to view the showroom and enjoy some tea and cake before returning to the hotel.

We start today with a visit to British Wool in Bradford, the perfect opportunity to see that earlier stage processing and learn about wool. British Wool demonstrate the unique characteristics of British sheep breeds and offer a walk around their grading depot.

After, we will travel to Saltaire Village. This UNESCO World Heritage Site is named after Sir Titus Salt who built a textile mill, known as Salts Mill, and this village on the river Aire. The village was famous for producing high end luxury fabrics, samples of his cloth can be seen in Salts Mill. Enjoy free time to explore at leisure and have lunch.

This afternoon we will visit West Yorkshire Spinners. Spun in Yorkshire, they create beautiful British yarn with care, innovation and expertise. We will enjoy a tour of their mill and have the opportunity to browse a pop-up shop.