Heart Centred Crochet Retreats ❤️

If you’re reading this blog post you’re either:

• A Bot. In which case you are a complex piece of technology that I don’t understand and I don’t really care what you think (yes, I know computers don’t actually think. Yet.)
• A Human. In which case you are a complex and paradoxical creature that I don’t understand and I care deeply about what you think.

As humans we like to think we act rationally based on reason and logic, but most of the time I think we’re just tugged along by our heart strings.

We may try to justify our heartfelt decisions with wise words and explanations in an attempt to make ourselves look serious,  but mostly I think we just do what feels right – and words are irrelevant.

I often struggle to answer simple questions about WHY I do things in a particular way in my business and in my design work.

“It just felt like the right thing to do” is a frustrating answer that would, I’m sure, be viewed as naïve and rather esoteric in most business networking circles.

A business based on feelings doesn’t conform with any of the existing, conventional business methodologies so I’d like to propose adding INTUITIVE to the list of Waterfall, Kanban, Lean, Scrum/Agile and Critical Path Method.

And I’d define this INTUITIVE approach as:

“A next-gen methodology for businesses that want to function and grow with empathy. Where customers are co-creators not just passive consumers and where the business exists as a peer learning ecosystem at every level. Authenticity and community take priority over efficiency and optimising work flow.” (Thank you very much Chat GPT)

Of course I realise this model is unlikely to be adopted by most sensible businesses but  it’s served me well and aligns with my core values.

When making decisions about where to direct my attention I tend not to listen to conventional advice. I don’t analyse algorithms, study my ‘competitors’, pre-schedule social media posts, or make  5 year plans. I prefer to recklessly do whatever makes me feel excited at the time and then just trust the Universe has my back.

 My business is fuelled by adrenalin and curiosity so I’ve made a lot of mistakes but I can generally course correct as I go.

This approach has led me down many rabbit holes and cul-de-sacs in the thirteen years I’ve been in business but it’s also opened up exciting new opportunities and helped me build an incredible community; things that simply wouldn’t of happened if I’d made a plan and rigidly stuck to it.

With an open mind you’re more likely to notice the signs the Universe is sending you and when you trust your intuition you can act on them.

If you’re interested here are some examples of signs the Universe has sent me:

• A chance encounter with a lady called FAITH one difficult and tearful morning when I’d asked the Universe to show me that all will be well.
• Finding a large potted Aloe Vera plant by the side of the road with a sign saying TAKE ME, on exactly the same day I was going to buy one.
• Experiencing ‘design block’ then discovering a sketchbook from nearly 30 years ago full of design ideas I’d completely forgotten about.
• Waking up thinking about someone I haven’t seen for ages, to later discover they’d messaged me in the night.

You get the idea….

I’m not religious, but I do believe there’s more to life than what can be seen and physically dissected. Even ordinary everyday events can be spiritual in nature.

With this in mind, rewind several months……I’m eating breakfast and listening to the Radio Four TODAY program. The discussion is about the Stirling Prize for Architecture and they’re interviewing Nick Read from Wraxall Yard, one of the short listed developments.

My antenna immediately starts twitching; I stop crunching my toast and listen to what Nick has to say about the project and I can’t explain why but I just knew it would make the perfect venue for a Crochet Retreat.

Carefully designed with full accessibility, in an area of outstanding beauty in the Dorset countryside; it sounded like heaven to me. So I messaged my assistant Jess and with no real explanation other than “it just sounds amazing”  we booked it. Then prayed that we’d done the right thing.

The environments we inhabit influence, even shape, our experiences and our crochet retreats are not just places for making beautiful things, they’re spaces designed for holding space.

For many of us our lives are about the hustle; time management, productivity, striving, achieving, competing, judging, comparing and proving ourselves to others.

Our retreats are designed to provide an antidote to all of this so we focus on pausing, breathing out, slow making, playful experimentation, joy, connection and creativity – in its many forms. When the world constantly requires us to prove our worth perhaps the most radical thing we can do is simply create for the sheer joy of making.

So our retreats are sanctuaries; places where rituals matter, we have gentle rhythms and each day is carefully planned to nourish both body and soul.

We’ve run two beautiful retreats so far this year –  the first one was at Wraxall Yard, and it was everything I hoped it would be. We were catered for by the absolutely amazing Lily from Lily’s Cuisine who cooked everything from scratch and presented it impeccably. And the soothing meditations and sound bath were provided by the multi talented Helen Hayek 

The second retreat was hosted by the fabulous team at Breathing Space in Norfolk which is now a regular venue for us – because we  totally LOVE it there! Mags is always delightful and Paulina’s therapies are just magical.

This year we’ve welcomed guests from the UK, India, America, Switzerland, Holland, and the Czech Republic making us a wonderful international community

So if you’re wondering what we do that makes our retreats so special – here’s a little insight into how we make the magic happen.

This is a typical Weekend Retreat schedule:

FRIDAY

5pm: Yay!! You’ve arrived.  

Our meet and greet is a chance to get to know each other a little. You’ll be met with a warm welcome, a sparkling drink and some beautifully nutritious canapés

 5.30pm: We like to get things started with a hands-on colour workshop. This years workshop is multisensory and designed to challenge the way we think about and use colour in our craft work. Colour stories are created using essential oils as aromatic prompts resulting in palettes rooted not just in aesthetics, but in emotion, memory, and intuition. These colour stories can be used to inform the weekend’s crochet giving the work an additional layer of meaning and interest.

7pm: We gather for a delicious two course home cooked dinner, carefully prepared to fuel our creativity. Our mealtimes punctuate the weekend with shared stories, animated conversation and lots of laughter.

The evening is spent revisiting our colour work together and slowly winding down

“Love all the activities – thought the sensory session was a great idea and new dimension to colour choice.  A revelation!” Breathing Space Guest

 SATURDAY 

8am: Everything’s optional on our retreats, there’s no expectation to do anything, or be anywhere at any particular time, but at 8am (ish – we’re on retreat time after all!) you’re invited to a beautiful guided meditation designed to help you reach a state of deep relaxation in a safe, and inspiring environment.

8.30 – 9.30am: We gather for a delicious home cooked breakfast in anticipation of a full day of creativity.

 10am-12.30pm: In this workshop we’re using our colour stories to inspire our yarn selections ready to start crocheting. We look at the patterns provided and this year there’s a selection of ‘join as you go’ motifs and also a chance to be the first to try out one of my newest crochet designs.

I’m on hand to demonstrate how to work the new motif and between us, Jess and I can offer crochet advice and help led by individual aims and skills.

*These workshops aren’t about production and outcomes – they’re about curiosity and exploring ideas collectively. Peer learning and sharing our skills plays a significant role in all our activities

 Refreshments are served at 11am 

 1pm: We pause to gather for lunch  

 2 – 5pm: In the afternoon we continue to develop our crochet and observe how the colour stories play out.

We also have an optional Sound Bath in the afternoon and we often split into two smaller groups for this. If you’re not familiar with sound baths this is a meditative practice that uses vibrational sounds to help alter your consciousness and create a deep sense of peace and wellbeing. You’ll hear and feel the energy from gongs, singing bowls, bells and other instruments which can lead to feelings of balance and a sense of healing. 

I believe that immersion in a sound bath can balance out the ‘noise’ from our everyday lives and by quietening our ‘monkey minds’ we have more mental space for creative pursuits.

 As with all our activities, the Sound Bath is an optional extra and if you choose not to go you can use this time to find a spot to crochet, go for a quiet  walk, read, or simply chat with new friends.

 Refreshments are served at 3pm

 7pm: We gather for another delicious two course home cooked dinner – on our retreats nutritious meals are the foundation for a well fed imagination.

Saturday night is show and tell night and an opportunity to share your most beautiful or meaningful craft work with the group. There’s nothing better than sharing your craft stories with like minded people who understand the process and know that our work is about so much more than just crochet.

A room full of appreciative gasps and technical questions provides the evidence that this is a group that ‘gets it’ and we all feel bonded by our mutual understanding.

 8am: Sunday morning begins with an optional guided meditation followed by a delicious home cooked breakfast

10am-12.30pm: The first part of the morning is spent consolidating our crochet samples and design ideas with individual help and guidance as needed.

Refreshments are available at 11am 

Before our morning ends there’s just time to take some photos of the samples we’ve generated over the weekend. It’s a final opportunity to document the evidence of a beautiful, colourful and creative experience.

 1pm: A delicious home cooked lunch is served followed by lots of hugs, a few tears and some fond farewells. 

Our retreats often sell out in just a few hours. We don’t really advertise, or shout about them I just trust that the people who really need them will find us and the Universe sends them our way.

 Breaking News! We’ve just secured two new dates for our 2026 retreats at Breathing Space:

29th – 31st May and 4^th – 6th September

If you’d like to stay in the loop you can join our retreat waitlist here and we’ll let you know as soon as bookings are open!

“All wonderful.  Mags catered to my dietary requirements, Paulina’s therapies were wonderful and Sue’s workshops are creative, inspiring and informative” Breathing Space Guest

“The workshops were great. Pushed me beyond my comfort Zone to think about colours, which I needed to take me to the next level of my crotchet journey. 
Great listening to Sue and her absolute passion for colour. So inspirational and a total motivator for me to think differently” Wraxall Yard Guest

“How much fun I had – never a moment that felt uncomfortable or dull and the sense of ‘retreat’ ‘relax’ ‘learn’ etc just embedded in the structure of the weekend was so welcome – thank you – I thoroughly enjoyed it.” Wraxall Yard Guest