LOS ANGELES

Welcome to the City of Angels! We are starting the trip off with two full days of seeing the sights of old Hollywood! We’ll return to the time of black-and-white films and silver screen starlets with a trip to the Hollywood Heritage Museum, filled with real items from the old movies and the stars who graced the screen. A trip to the Heritage Museum could only be followed with a trip to Hollywood itself! We can all find our favorite star’s handprints at the historic Chinese Theater, and there will be plenty of time to explore the parts of Hollywood you want to see most! Both nights will include dinner at a classic Hollywood restaurant, where celebrities from all eras have dined in the same seats! 

On Sunday you should be ready for your close up, because we are heading to Warner Bros. Studios for a Turner Classic Movie Studio Tour, where they have fabulous items on display, such as props from Mildred Pierce and Ingrid Bergman’s costume from Casablanca! After we leave the studios with daydreams of Hollywood’s golden age, we get to enjoy a special film screening of a Warner Bros. classic movie along with a lecture about Hollywood and knitting presented by Sydney! Don’t forget to bring your WIP to work on in between bites of popcorn! 

Our hotel for the first two nights is the incredible Garland Hotel, which has been around since the early 1970s and will feel as if you stepped back in time. Enjoy the pool, bar, and cozy chairs and couches in between our fun outings! 

Anchors away! 

Today will be our final day soaking up the bustling city before we board our new accommodation for the remainder of the trip! We will begin our day with a trip to the magical Mood Fabrics, where Sydney and Tasha can help you pick out the perfect fabric for a vintage ensemble! We’ll make a stop at the famous Grove Farmers Market for lunch before it is time to make our way down to Long Beach to set sail! Well… sort of! Get ready to be whisked away to the era of art deco elegance as we board the legendary Queen Mary ocean liner. Perhaps the most famous ocean liner after the Titanic, the Queen Mary made its first voyage in 1936 and remained one of the most glamorous modes of travel for Hollywood celebrities, performers, and even royalty! The ship has a vast history, which we will learn about after we’ve settled into our original first class cabins– most of which have barely changed since the 1930s. After a splendid dinner on board the ship, you can join in for an evening ghost tour, if you dare!  

The Queen Mary / Long Beach 

We have made sure to include plenty of time to enjoy all the special features on board the Queen Mary. Tasha and Sydney will also use the boat as backdrop for two half-day workshops focusing on the magic world of vintage sewing and knitting! Sydney will be taking you through how to properly tailor vintage knitwear and help you create the glamorous knitted ensemble of your dreams. Filled with some of her tried-and-true methods, Tasha’s class will focus on how to work from true vintage sewing patterns, and will teach you how to cut patterned fabrics to match at the seams! Tasha and Sydney will be around in between classes too, so we can all talk about what we learned and can dream up some incredible outfits worthy of the red carpet! 

In between classes, we will have a day trip across the water to downtown Long Beach. Here the day is our oyster! We can stock up on yarn at the local yarn shop, visit the countless vintage shops, and even visit the aquarium! Our last evening on board the ship will be the grand finale of this Hollywood visit: a gala night hosted on board the Queen Mary. Select your best gown for this elegant evening, for we will be hosted in a private art deco room on the ship! The music will transport us back in time as we dine on an original menu that was served on board the ship in the 1940s! This will be an event like no other that will wrap up our time together before we bid farewell on Friday. 

This trip will be full of fashion history, knitting, fabric, old films, inspiration, and plenty of laughter and fun– won’t you join us? 

Sydney is a voracious knitter, designer, and knitwear historian. She has been knitting and studying fashion history for over fifteen years and recently turned her passions into a career at Squid's School of Vintage Knitting, an online school devoted to the education and love of historical knitwear. Her work in the knitting world is also supplemented by her academic background in film history, and she tries to combine the two as often as possible. In collaboration with Rowan Tree Travel, Sydney works to develop tours that have a historical or vintage bent, often with elaborately themed and niche activities! With over ten years of working in the fiber industry, Sydney continues to love meeting other knitters and sharing fiber experiences with them more than anything else. You can find her at patreon.com/squidschool or over on instagram as @squidneyknits. 

 Heather loves designing and leading knitting and fiber tours. She’s fascinated with local traditions, unique yarns, and the modern twist added to both by current designers. Her ever-widening exposure to both has led to a long queue of patterns and a dramatic accumulation of stash!  She’s also been trying her hand at new wooly endeavors like felting and spinning. When not knitting, traveling or planning your next trip, Heather tends her small flock of chickens and ducks, volunteers in her local thrift shop, and spends time with her two dogs, her family, and friends in Dunbarton, NH.