The Experience
A Week of Colour in the Dunes
Maaike van Geijn invites a group of knitters to her home ground. Maaike lives in the area of Bergen, a small town bordered by the sea, dunes, and the woods in the North of Holland. For this retreat, Maaike has developed a brand-new workshop program focused on stranded colorwork, in which we will work on an exclusive design inspired by the beautiful landscape surrounding her.
For a week, the group walks with Maaike through the dunes, woods, and along the beach, collecting colours and motifs and working together on the design of the retreat.
The design is exclusive to the retreat. It exists nowhere else, and knitters participating in the retreat will see the design come to life at the place that served as inspiration
You walk first. The knitting follows.
The Timetable
Dates & Duration
- Dates — 19–25 September 2027
- Season — early autumn
- Duration — 7 Days / 6 Nights
- Group Size — 10 guests
The Creation
What You’ll Carry Home
Maaike has built a new workshop programme for this retreat, and an exclusive design to go with it. The palette comes from the walk, the greens of the woods, the greys and golds of the dunes, the North Sea light, and the flat fields beyond.
- Six workshops in stranded colorwork with Maaike
- A yarn kit for the retreat design, included
- An exclusive pattern made for this week and this landscape
- Guided walks through dunes, woods and beach, collecting colour as you go
How it works: The group gathers photographs, notes, sketches, and found objects, then translates them into color and motif before casting on.
The Sanctuary
Where You’ll Stay
Blooming is a former school building set inside a nature reserve outside Bergen, North Holland surrounded on all sides by woods. The sea is fifteen minutes away by bike.
- Region — Bergen, North Holland
- Rooms — a room of your own, or one shared with a friend
- Dining — all breakfasts and lunches, four dinners in, two out
- Getting there — one hour from Amsterdam
Guided by People Who Care
Maaike van Geijn – Knitwear Designer
Maaike is a Dutch knitwear designer and teacher based in Schoorl, on the Dutch coast. Color is her specialism, stranded colourwork, marled knitting, textured stitches — translating traditional techniques in a contemporary way. She has taught in yarn shops and festivals across seven countries, her work published in Laine Magazine and La Bien Aimée, and this retreat takes place on her home ground: the woods, dunes and coast she walks and designs from.
Hosted by TerraGo. Our retreats are fully curated with dedicated concierge hosts on site, taking care of all scheduling details, food setups, and translation support.
Inclusions
What the knitting retreat in the Netherlands includes
Included
- Six nights at Blooming, in a shared or private room, breakfast each morning
- Six half-day workshops with Maaike, plus guided walks in dunes, woods and beach
- All meals included;
- The yarn kit for the retreat design, and the exclusive pattern
- Dedicated TerraGo concierge support
Not included
- Travel to and from Bergen
- Comprehensive personal travel insurance
- Your sock needles, 2.75 mm, in whatever method you like (DPNs, magic loop, or short circulars)
- The optional Alkmaar outing, and drinks outside meals
The Journey
The Rhythm of The Week
The exact schedule may change slightly, but the retreat is designed around a balanced harmony of physical making, shared meals, local experience, rest, and cosy time together.
The week moves between the woods and the workshop table. Maaike walks with you first, gathering colours and motifs from the dunes, the trees and the light, and then turns what you gathered into the design you knit. Mornings are for teaching, afternoons for collecting, cycling, or knitting on the terrace.
You arrive on the Sunday and go straight out for the first walk. By the middle of the week you have cast on the exclusive design made for this retreat, and the last full day is an open studio, with the group finishing together.
- Mornings — Workshops with Maaike on colour, motif and the design itself.
- Afternoons — Walks in the dunes and woods, bikes to the sea, or knitting at Blooming.
- Evenings — Four dinners at the house, two out in Bergen.
The detailed schedule reaches you a few days before the retreat starts.
Pricing
Pricing & Payment
- Price — from €3,150 per person for a shared room, available only to friends booking together, or €3,650 for a private room. Both include the room, meals, workshops and the yarn kit
- Deposit — a deposit holds your place, with the balance closer to the date
- Places — up to ten knitters, so the week fills quickly
- Final balance — payable 90 days before the retreat start date
Further Reading
Before You Come
- What Actually Happens at a Knitting Retreat. The shape of the week, from the first morning to the last evening.
- Knitting Retreats Near Me, and When to Get on a Plane Instead. How to decide whether a week abroad earns the flight.
- Every Knitting Retreat Worth Booking in 2027. What else is running next year, and how this week compares.
- Craft Retreats in Europe in 2027 for Makers Traveling from the US. What the trip looks like if you are flying in from the US.
Other Retreats
- Colourwork Knitting in Algarve, Portugal. Stranded colourwork socks above the dunes at Carrapateira, May 2027.
Before You Book
What to Know First
The design for the week is stranded colourwork, and it is built for advanced knitters. If you are still finding your way around charts, the Algarve week is the better fit.
- Experience — Advanced knitters. The design is stranded colourwork, and the week moves at the pace of someone who has knitted a few of them.
- What you make — A piece in the exclusive design Maaike made for this retreat, in the colours you gather during the week.
- On your feet — Optional walks in the woods and the dunes, on sand and uneven paths, and an optional morning on a bike to the coast.
- Getting there — Blooming is one hour from Amsterdam.
- What to bring — Your 2.75 mm sock needles. The yarn kit is included.
- Rooms — A room of your own, or one shared with a friend.
Not sure the level is right? Send us a photo of something you have knitted and we will tell you.
