A serene setting, sumptuous meals…and a chance to perfect your intarsia technique? Manka’s co-owner Margaret Grade first invited her mother, Shirley Grade, to hold a Wool Lovers’ Knitting Retreat at the Inver­ness resort 10 years ago, and the annual gathering is now considered the ultimate immersion course. Lucky for Bay Area residents, it’s in our own backyard. Shirley, who owns a yarn store in Wisconsin, guides about 30 knitters each year through three days of instruction, including lessons from a world-renowned knitter (this year, it’s Canadian Sally Melville).

Because a fire devastated Manka’s main building in 2006, knitting classes will be held in the resort’s iconic boathouse, the waters of Tomales Bay lapping below. Knitters are still encouraged to explore the surrounding national park and seashore when not perfecting their purl, and the locally harvested, grown, and foraged meals are still prepared by Margaret. You can stay in one of the lodge’s cabins, or ask Shirley about other accommodations in the area.

Having a great time! “You’re pampered, the food is extraordinary, and the people who attend are so interesting that we never run out of things to talk about,” says New Yorker Sue Dorn, former deputy director of the Museum of Modern Art.

-Sarah Mueller Bossenbroek

THE RETREAT RUNS MAR. 4–6, 2008, AND COSTS $500, INCLUDING TWO DINNERS, THREE LUNCHES, FOUR BREAKFASTS, AND INSTRUCTION. LODGING IS NOT INCLUDED. WOOL LOVERS’ KNITTING RETREAT: 262-786-5660. MANKA'S INVERNESS LODGE: 415-669-1034, MANKAS.COM.