For those who don’t know, Camp KIP is a knitting retreat I attended last week in New Haven, Missouri, hosted by the spirited Jackie of the KIPing-It-Real podcast. The event was a Knitting-Podcast-A-Palooza of sorts, with headliners from many of my favorites (see some links at right). I’ve practically stopped listening to music in recent years to make audio time for podcasts. Specifically, knitting podcasts. I’m a knitting podcast junkie, it’s true. Even though I have a decent community of knitters in my real life, apparently I just can’t get enough yarn-on-the-brain-all-the-time discussion. The opportunity to connect in-person with knitters everywhere who share my audio community was too much to pass up.
It was…
- Idyllic (I had no idea how beautiful the St. Louis countryside would be);
- Indulgent (Knit anywhere, anytime, and get fed regularly);
- Accepting (Everyone else understands!);
- Communal (Sit down with any single person and you automatically have common ground for friendship);
- Inspiring (So many lovely finished projects and works-in-progress to admire);
- Restorative (Not just knitting and spinning… yoga and massage too!); and
- Fun (Oh, the shenanigans!).
It was a treat to meet the people behind the voices that have become such an integral part of my day-to-day life. I was definitely shy about connecting with podcasters… I’ll have to work on getting over that in the future and remind myself that they are regular people who are just a bit famous within our circles.
It was an unanticipated treat to connect with and meet new people that I didn’t have the internal-fangirl-barrier with. I’ve made cherished new friendships that I’ll carry with me into the future.
Camp KIP 2012 is on my calendar. I hope I can do it again!
WOOLENWARRIOR 
I so enjoyed meeting you. Thanks for seeking us out in Little Lodge on the last night. I hope you can go again next year! Your socks are going to be in the next episode. I hope that is ok.
Paula, I’d be honored to be mentioned! It makes my month!
What a great description of CampKIP!
I feel the same way!
What a delightful blog post! It was so much fun to be with you, both at Camp KIP and at the airport. Those rocking chairs were a riot . . . and thanks for being there for the birth of my Daybreak. You and Deb need to be godparents or something.
PS: After you and Deb took off, a very sweet woman took the rocking chair next to me. I was working on my Multnomah, trying to get it started . . . and she wouldn’t stop talking — not light conversation, but pulling me away from my project to show me photo albums, etc. It was my reintroduction back into the world of non-knitters. I missed you so much. : )
Thanks Karen for a most excellent sum of our week! Upon deeper consideration, the group that met at camp KIP had another unique connection that some groups do not have – Jackie. While knitting drew us together, fans of knitting podcast had the extra edge that made our time together exceptional. Don’t you agree?
Thea, Definitely!