Last weekend I almost didn’t make it to YarnCamp 2013. Work had been insane. I was tired, stressed, and honestly, not in the mood to travel at all. But isn’t it true that the things you dread the most often turn out the best? Case in point: the 5-hour train ride to Frankfurt was already amazing. I sat by the window, alternately daydreaming, knitting, or doing both – and by the time I arrived, I was relaxed and ready for whatever the weekend would throw at me.

And wow… YarnCamp totally delivered!

Do you ever knit or crochet in public? I don’t. Somehow it embarrasses me. Now imagine being in a room with about 80 people – mostly women, a few brave men – with almost everyone click-clacking away at needles (I LOVE that sound) or crocheting while chatting, discussing, or just admiring each other’s work. Some people even carried entire suitcases full of their projects from room to room. It took me a while to dive in, but eventually I managed to work on a pair of wrist warmers while soaking in the buzz.

And get this – I’m basically a yarn dinosaur. No smartphone for me, which apparently made me the only one at YarnCamp. Everyone else was glued to Twitter, Instagram, Ravelry, Facebook… or just taking pictures of their latest creations. If they weren’t knitting, they were online. If they weren’t online… well, they were definitely knitting.

From the get-go, we were encouraged to contribute, run a session, or just share ideas. In no time, 18 sessions were up on the board, led by participants who had never done a BarCamp before. I was seriously impressed – people were turning their passion into mini-lectures, and the discussions were lively and inspiring.

During the day, I got to geek out over Kaffe Fassett’s knitting (blog post coming soon!), learned how to start thinking like an author, finally wrapped my head around Twitter, and even joined a spirited debate about writing the perfect pattern.

Between sessions, we admired each other’s work, swapped patterns, and shared tips. I loved meeting Mienchen, Claudia, and Pia (keep an eye on her site Akizu – it’s coming soon!), finally meeting Frau Elise in person after following her blog forever, and participating in David’s session, which made me want to write a post about him and his work. The folks at Dye for Yarn are absolute wizards – not only do they dye yarn beautifully, but their lace shawls and that ocean-colored patchwork blanket? Total stash-inspiration.

And let’s not forget the spoiling: generous sponsors handed out yarn, needles, magazines, and books like candy. The buffet was fabulous, the coffee top-notch, and the smoothies… well, delicious doesn’t even begin to cover it. YarnCamp completely blew my expectations out of the water.

Huge shoutout to the organizers – Rebekka, Sara, Romy, and Lutz – who nailed everything from concept to execution. You guys are incredible. I can’t wait to do it all again in 2014!