Knit One, Explore Two: The World of Adventure Knitting

What do Antarctica, the Galápagos Islands, and Newfoundland have in common? They’re all places where Judy Fawcett has pulled out her knitting needles.

At 78 years old, Judy Fawcett is not your average travel guide. She walks marathons in Mongolia, has been chased by hippos in Botswana, and has spent the last two decades leading some of the most extraordinary expedition-style tours on the planet – all with yarn and needles in hand. She’s one of the pioneers of a growing travel movement called adventure knitting, and if you haven’t heard of it yet, you’re about to want to sign up.

What Is Adventure Knitting?

Adventure knitting is exactly what it sounds like – combining the thrill of outdoor exploration with the meditative, creative joy of knitting. Fawcett, along with her collaborator Lucy Neatby (a former sailor and British Merchant Marine), coined the term to describe the trips they’ve been running since 2005, when they launched their first paddling adventure on the shores of Nova Scotia with 25 participants. The concept took off fast. Waitlists filled up. Couples started joining. “The husbands got jealous,” Fawcett laughs. “Now they just ask to come along!”

More Than a Hobby — It’s a Way of Travel

These aren’t trips where knitting is tucked away for a rainy afternoon. Needles come out on Zodiacs. They come out on ship decks with icebergs drifting past. They come out mid-hike, between wildlife sightings, and during private tours to meet lace-makers for the Moulin Rouge. The knitting and the destination are inseparable – woven together, you might say.

Fawcett’s groups are primarily women, ranging across seven decades of age. Her eldest participant? 93 years old. That alone tells you everything about the spirit of these tours: it’s never too late to go somewhere extraordinary.

Making Headlines

Fawcett and the adventure knitting movement recently earned a feature in AFAR, one of North America’s most respected travel magazines, written by award-winning journalist Jacqueline Kehoe. It’s a beautiful testament to the idea that travel doesn’t have to look one particular way – that the fast and the slow, the wild and the cozy, can share the same itinerary.

So if you’ve ever thought your love of knitting and your love of adventure were two separate parts of your life – Judy Fawcett is living proof that they don’t have to be.

Read the full AFAR article here: Hiking Meets Hygge: Welcome to Adventure Knitting