Mohonk Mountain House in New Paltz, N.Y., looks a bit like an amateur’s knitting project, with its buildings dating back to Victorian times seamed together in a line like a lumpy scarf. When I visited in March, the rocking chairs on the porches and balconies were empty because winter still hadn’t shuffled off. But you could imagine them filled with the swaying bodies of people who know their way around an argyle sock.

And in fact, I had gone there to knit — one of 105 participants in Mohonk’s Knit in Style weekend. Four years ago, Tavy and Assaf Ronen, sibling owners of the Yarn Company, an Upper West Side shop, joined the wide world of knitting tourism by organizing this annual retreat. The program included classes, lectures and displays of artisanal yarns for sale, with names like Flower Child and Atomic Skunk.

I showed up on a Friday with the beginnings of a lavender Fair Isle sweater in my bag. I had come to learn how to prevent my handiwork from looking like the property of a teething orangutan, as my previous sweaters did. I also wanted to find out why people pay serious money (starting next year at $293 per person per night for two nights’ double occupancy; including meals and most hotel activities but not taxes and service fees) to go to a place with 85 miles of hiking trails simply to knit.

After all, what is more homey than knitting?

To be fair, the hotel did have many domestic comforts: It was vast yet cozy, with soft, floral carpets and walls hung with vernacular mountain landscapes. My room had a lake view and a wood-burning fireplace (logs and incendiary materials were provided). Much of the knitting action took place in a large second-floor parlor and nearby antechamber with comfortable sofas and armchairs.