Fun
Announcing: MDK Summer Camp 2024!
Dear friends,
It’s that time of year again! We are tickled pink to open registration for MDK Summer Camp 2024, a virtual event that will light up your summer. Grab your canteen and your autograph book, and join us—it’s going to be a blast.
MDK Summer Camp 2024 is a virtual community experience that promises good company, learning, and a whole lotta raffia. BYO s’mores!
If, like us, your favorite part of any camp experience—whether it was sleepaway, day, or vacation Bible—was the craft hut, then MDK Summer Camp is for you. For a few glorious summer hours, we’ll take a break from our lives—and our knitting—to learn something new and fun, together.
What’s in Store
On Friday, July 19, 2024, in a three-hour virtual camp session on Zoom, we’ll be making baskets—yes, the classic craft hut favorite!—with Anne Weil, the founder of Flax & Twine. The live session will be from noon to 3 p.m. Eastern time, but it will be recorded and sent to all campers afterwards, to watch at their convenience over the course of the following four weeks.
Our Camp Counselor
This year’s Craft Hut counselor will be Anne Weil, the founder of Flax & Twine. An inspiring and skilled teacher, Anne will lead us through basketry basics as we work on our very own Calliope Baskets.
We first met Anne on the floor of a needlecraft trade show, where we fell in love with the stylish simplicity of her baskets and her warm, inspiring way of communicating the love of handcraft. Two minutes into a conversation with Anne, we were desperate to make baskets!
Our Basket Project
We’ll be making the Calliope Basket, a perfect project for beginning basketeers. You’ll learn the basic techniques without worrying about counting or exactness, and shape your basket as you wish, from a shallow container to a curved bowl shape. With 5 colors in the kit, no two baskets will be alike!
What’s in the Box?
Your MDK Summer Camp 2024 kit, made especially for MDK by Flax & Twine, includes everything you need to make your very own Calliope Basket—or three of them!
You’ll receive:
- Six 50 g bundles of Madagascar raffia
- 2 natural
- 1 MDK Sunny Yellow (exclusive to MDK!)
- 1 Mallard
- 1 Strawberry
- 1 Cinnamon
- Sharp darning needle
- Snips
- Muslin bag
- Printed Calliope Basket instructions and video tutorial by Flax & Twine
- A limited edition souvenir patch for MDK Summer Camp 2024, suitable for affixing to your basket or Girl Scout sash
The camp box includes plenty of materials for experimentation and play. If you stick to the basic dimensions of the sample basket, you can make 3 baskets with this kit. Or, you know: coasters, trivets— you may not be able to stop until you run out of raffia.. External Link. Opens in new window.
Register Now!
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Your registration includes the three-hour virtual class and the kit. Reserve your spot in the craft hut right here.
The 2022 and 2023 editions of MDK Summer Camp sold out quickly, and the feedback we got after each event was off-the-charts positive. We’re knitters—of course we want to try our hand at all of the sister fiber arts!
Spaces are limited by the number of camp boxes we can make, so act now to avoid disappointment.
It’s always better when we’re together—and extra fun to be learning a new skill in good company.
Did we mention there’s a souvenir patch?
Peace, love, and raffia,
Ann and Kay
P.S. We are required by law to test all MDK Summer Camp projects to assure that they meet our exacting standards for fun. Kay was our Calliope Basket tester. This is her very first basket, which she has certified as MAXIMUM FUN/WILL MAKE 10 MORE.
Can you steam-block raffia? Asking for Kay.
I’m in – already reserved my spot! Ready for the newest version of MDK summer camp, love the idea of sister crafts, basket making and the colors are gorgeous!
Registered! May have missed out on Shakerag but at least I can still go to summer camp! This sounds like so much fun! Next, how to keep the Aussie pup out of the raffia….
I was so excited to see this project. Then I checked my calendar and saw I will be away during Summer Camp. Need encouragement to sign up anyway and watch the recording later. Will there be follow up activities in MDK Summer Camp?
Whoosh, I’m ordered and in. Gotta earn my patch! Lemme go find the bug spray and sunscreen, shake out the ole sleeping bag and gather some contraband snacks.
Lovely basket, Kay, and I’m looking forward to camp! I’ve been a big fan of Flax & Twine’s kits for quite a while, but the Calliope basket is one I haven’t made yet. Now where did I put my old Camp Fire Girl sit-upon?
OMgosh, I knit a garter stitch cover for my sit-upon out of Red Heart Mexicana! So 1969.
I still have it somewhere… This will be another great camp, and I cannot wait.
I jumped on this immediately. I have been wanting to learn how to make a baskets for a long time. I have made several crochet versions, but want more skills for different types of basket making. Classes are hard to find. Thank you thank you thank you. Yay MDK!
I would jump at the chance to learn basket weaving as well (hint, hint).
I don’t know if you can steam-block raffia, but Ann and Kermt could investigate whether you can block raffia with a cat using the “If I fits, I sits” principle.
I love this idea of summer camp and creating a basket draws me right in looking forward to joining you all in the gun
For those in the UK can you just pay for the tutorial? International postage would make it quite costly I imagine. But very interested.
I am of like mind regarding Flax and Twine kits. I bought the Sunburst kit at VKL NY as it appeals to my crafty side. MDK Camp is perfectly timed to get me into basket making mode so I can have these raffia bowls and rope/linen baskets to work on this summer. Looking forward to the virtual training by Anne. Signing up!
Yay! Summer camp! I’ve registered and put it on my calendar to look forward to!
Ann sounds like so much fun! What I remember about her is the arm-knitting days. She was quite influential there. I remember watching in fascination as a young college girl sat outside in a Starbucks chair on a busy city street unself-consciously consulting her instructions and arm knitting her first project in the sunlight. All that waving about and no one even batted an eye. I like to think she was consulting a video from Ann or her book. Those baskets – if I were into baskets – would be just my cup of tea. I love their style. And I am still keeping Ann’s arm book in mind as I consider how to dispatch large quantities of mostly acrylic yarn from those early 2004-6 days. (How I miss A.C. Moore. RIP).
Oh, it’s Anne with an “e.” Sorry, Anne!