We’re back to Monday morning again, not sure how another week passed by so quickly. I’m finding myself in need every Monday of a blog post, it centers me for the week (perhaps I should just start it with Dear Diary…)
I just saw a blog post this morning from the Dublin crochet designer,Aoibhe Nà Shúilleabháin, that made me wish I could crochet. This wonderful bouquet was for a great knitter I have met in Dublin who’s husband is very ill at the moment. While I didn’t add to the bouquet my thoughts are with them and every finger is crossed that things will improve quickly for them.
The class schedule for Knit Nation has gone up here (long and short version). I’ll be teaching for the 3 days, two full day classes on Friday and Saturday and two half day classes on Sunday. All my classes have ended up being about shaping/fit and cables. I think these are two areas close to my heart. I know that when I started knitting garments for myself I never found either very well explained. Many patterns had a series of numbers to pick your size from but absolutely no guidance as to which size you should choose! I had never come across the concept of ease and knowing what the right amount of ease was for different styles of garment. When you add patterns or cable panels into the mix it becomes even more fun – especially if you’ve only been given the gauge for the st st portion of the garment and not the size of the cable panel.
Friday – Seamless Knitting: Moving Beyond the Raglan
Often when you hear about ‘seamless knitting’ you think straight away about top down raglan. While this is a very useful construction technique it is not the only seamless knitting method. I’ll be talking in this class about different seamless construction methods, bottom up and top down with set-in sleeves (knit after the body or with the body), saddle shoulders and of course raglan!
After the basics of construction are covered everyone can get started on their own design with perfect fitting measurements and shaping.
I’d suggest not being afraid of a calculator to do the class but you don’t need to be a maths genius! Barbara Walkers ‘Knitting from the Top’ and Elizabeth Zimmermann’s ‘Knitter’s Workshop’ (or most of her books) would be useful to have with you if you for the class if you own either of them.
Saturday – Shaping-up Traditional Knits
Many knitters love traditional cable patterns but aren’t quite as fond of the ‘boxy’ construction of traditional knits. This class will help knitters take a favorite pattern and modify it to add waist shaping and rework shoulders from drop to set-in. Gauge is critical for a well-fitted garment and the class will look at calculating this exactly for a project.
Sunday Morning – Short Rows Demystified
This is always my favorite class! I work through different methods of creating short rows and usually by the end of the swatch knitters have very definite favorites! Once the short rows are perfected we then look at how you can use them; bust shaping, short row sleeve caps and heels to name but a few.
Sunday Afternoon – Deconstructing Cables
Knitters are often confused by cables and cable charts. This class will work through reading cable charts, and will show knitters how cables are constructed. This will give you control over your cables, how they work and help you avoid mistakes. Once you understand cable construction you can also learn how to correct cable mistakes. The class will show knitters how to ‘undo’ just the cable stitches and reknit these stitches to avoid reknitting large areas of cable work.