We've been talking and planning for months, and our big weekend finally came! I spent Saturday and Sunday co-hosting Des Moines' own knitting retreat, knitXmidwest with my fantastic friends Erica and Jessica of Hill Vintage & Knits. It was crazy fun and for our first time putting together a knitting retreat, I think everything went pretty great. (Let me tell you all about it.)

Our crew of die-hard knitters took over this lovely lodge in Walnut Woods, just outside of Des Moines. The trees were gorgeous, the weather was fantastic and it proved to be the perfect place to cozy up with friends for two days of knitting.

Knitting friends traveled from Denver, Chicago, Omaha and surrounding Iowa cities to hang out with us. We had a wonderful group of fun people and it was pretty incredible.

We covered the tables with vintage tablecloths, spray painted pumpkin gourds and ceramic cats.

We met new friends and hung out with old friends.

We had show and tell.

And ate delicious food catered by Tacopocalypse.

My sweet friend Robyn from She Makes Hats talked with us about her goal to knit and give away 10,000 hats in her lifetime. And I'm pretty sure everyone fell in love with her.

I made cupcakes that looked like balls of yarn with golf tee 'knitting needles' sticking out of them.

We did 'knitting' yoga to stretch out our backs, shoulders, arms, hands and fingers.

Maggie Howe from Girl With a Sword talked to us about handspun yarn and fiber creations.

And our friend Diane Muse brought tons of fantastic yarn and craft-related designs that had been screenprinted on kitchen towels, t-shirts, aprons and tote bags.

But mostly, we did what knitters/crocheters do best. We hung out and made things. We admired projects that others were working on. We laughed. We thoroughly enjoyed the girl time.