Ashford Retreat

August saw me in Ashburton, a rural service centre 70kms south of Christchurch as one of the attendees of Ashford’s 2nd Retreat of the year.

After a warm welcome by Richard & Elizabeth Ashford, the current owners, of the 75 year old family business we enjoyed a most interesting and informative tour of the factory. It was fascinating seeing the spinning wheels and other tools of our trade being constructed.

Our wonderful learning experience brought to us by a host of New Zealand’s best tutors incorporating a range of topics including learning about the different types of carding and how to blend our fibres, the different types of silks and how they are produced; I must admit that spinning them was a challenge for most of us.

Other interesting topics included skirting a fleece correctly, novelty spinning, the art of spinning fine merino and using a knitting loom. The evenings were fun all having a wool related theme.

One of the highlights of the Retreat was the chilly day spent on a high country sheep station. The visit was delayed due to bad weather and a lasting memory of the day was the extreme remoteness of the location and the harsh snowy conditions, which high country residents endure, an eye opener for city dwellers.

I came home from the Retreat with new wool crafting skills and ideas a plenty. I have learnt to spin fine merino and, yes, practice does make perfect (I have vastly improved). Having the chance to use the Knitters weavers loom for the first time was excellent and I hope to put this new skill to great use in the future.

The Ashford Retreat was a wonderful experience, one that I would recommend to all wool crafters especially those visiting New Zealand.