Discovering all the Fiber the World has to offer

Battenkill Textile Tours combines your love for fiber arts with
your yearning to discover the unknown.

New year. New destinations.

Each of our trips is designed with knitters, spinners, and fiber artists in
mind. Our destinations are carefully selected to marry a sense of adventure with a love of learning and hands-on experiences with textiles.

Keep reading to learn more about our plans for 2024.

SEPTEMBER 26 - OCTOBER 4, 2024

Nature. History. Culture. Norway.

REGISTRATION NOW OPEN!

The trip you’ve been waiting for.
Join us Dec. 3-11, 2024 exploring the Christmas Markets in Bavaria.

Experience the best and most famous Christmas Markets in Rothenburg and other Bavarian villages and cities with knitters from across the US. Itinerary also includes day-long Knit-to-Fit workshop with Claudia Eisenkolb, behind the scenes visits and factory store shopping at the Woolmeise and Schoppel yarn mills, and guided tour and workshop with a focus on fabric printing techniques at Augsburg Textile & Industry Museum.

Canadian Maritimes for Knitters and Crafters -
June 13-22, 2024

Our long-requested first trip to Canada is here!
We’ve packed a lot of memorable experiences into this itinerary - knitting workshops including a full day with Lucy Neatby on Tancook Island, a rug hooking class, Anne of Green Cables, historic sites, and free time for shopping and spa appointments. And on top of all of that textile and crafting fun, there’s amazing sight-seeing and local foods.

“In knitting there are ancient possibilities; the earth is enriched with the dust of the millions of knitters who have held wool and needles since the beginning of sheep.”

— Elizabeth Zimmermann

Meet your host

Mary Jeanne Packer, the founder of Battenkill Textile Tours LLC, has been leading groups of knitters and fiber enthusiasts on trips around the world (and around the corner) since 2006 when she put a small ad in the national knitting magazines to see if anyone might want to come and spend a few days knitting at her yarn shop, wine-tasting, and visiting fiber farms in the Finger Lakes; and 20 people signed up! Those first 20 said they would "like to go to Ireland sometime"; and the rest is history.

Mary Jeanne is the founder and co-owner of Battenkill Fibers Carding and Spinning Mill in Greenwich, NY.  Before that, she worked for many years at the US Forest Service and then later as a nature tourism consultant and interpretative planner. Because of Mary Jeanne's background, all Battenkill Textile Tours' experiences focus on the ways in which local nature and history have informed culture and textile arts in a destination.

Previous Textile Destinations

  • Ireland

  • Scotland

  • Shetland

  • Estonia/Latvia

  • Iceland

  • Denmark

  • Seattle

  • New Mexico

10 days in the historic beauty of Latvia and Estonia! Textile highlights included workshops on Lace Scarves, the Roosimine style of in-lay knitting, and Latvian Braids. There was plenty of opportunity for sight seeing, tasting local foods, and relaxation!

Looking back - Baltic Knitting Tour

Baltic Travel Inspiration

Image: Kaupo Kaldeon

What our Travelers are Saying…

  • "I love going on these tours!  Experiencing new places, sharing knitting techniques and projects with no judgements, laughing, eating and celebrating our shared love of textiles."

    Lisa WK., California

  • "These trips are the highlight of my year.  Fiber, friends, food and fun...one skein at a time!"

    Margaret N., North Carolina

  • "I have made lifelong friends while learning about knitting and weaving in beautiful places.  What could be better than that?"

    Laurel Q., Delaware