I had no problem spotting Isabella Mach, aka Strickizzy on Ravelry, at the airport in Vienna, not only was she wearing my Lattice-Back Jacket but she was also holding onto a skein of yarn, since I had only seen photos of her online before. Isabella had knitted like obsessed to finish the jacket in time for my arrival, even though it was not because I demanded it, see below. The skein of yarn was the idea of the organisers’ of The Austrian Yarn Club. Isabella took Michael and me in her little car to the location of the Wollness Weekend in the beautiful hills of the Pielach Valley, to the family-run Nature Hotel Steinschalerhof.

I was delighted to meet some of the organisers but also a number of the knitters that had already arrived for the weekend in addition to the designer Hanna Maciejewska, aka Hada Knits also accompanied by her husband, Daniel. As all addicted knitters (minus two husbands) we had to do some knitting before we all went to dinner in this charming hotel. The Steinschaler kitchen is ecological, with a lot of the vegetables and herbs grown in the kitchen garden, and the portions are extremely generous. No wonder, last year’s participants gained quite a lot of weight.

After dinner, we continued to knit into the late hours, before we gave in. The breakfast did match the dinner and I will work my way through the huge selection including numerous home made jams and juices. After breakfasting for a couple of hours we continued to knit. My first workshop Finishing part 1 began in the afternoon and will continue today in the morning. I am enjoying all the knitting and the possibility to lower my shoulder back into the right position.