A few months ago Mercedes launched a new Craftsy class, designed as a KAL for her Artemisia sweater. The sweater immediately caught my eye, it’s got great lines and lovely delicate details. When she was looking for stops on her class blog tour I volunteered and asked if she’d write a little bit about her class so here she is:
This summer, Craftsy.com, an online learning platform, asked me to teach a knitalong class with one of my original sweater designs. Craftsy is an online learning community that hosts expert instructors teaching fun, innovative classes. I filmed a series of short videos over the course of 3 days, which were edited into easy-to-access lessons that my students can stream anytime. You can fit in your learning time on your schedule, and once you enroll in the class, you always have access, your enrollment never expires! The site has cool features such as a personal notes section, where you can take notes on the class and your project, and 30 second replay, so you can watch my hands on instruction on repeat until it clicks with you.
I designed a class that would have fun new techniques to try, but not be too overwhelming for a newer knitter. The Seamless Artemisia Sweater class is now going strong, with more than 2,000 students knitting away on their sweater projects. Craftsy is an excellent, cost-effective way to learn new skills and meet other crafters, while getting expert help on your project. Many of you may be familiar with the Craftsy learning platform if you’ve taken Carol’s Celtic Cables or short row classes! I answer students individually several times a week, often every day, helping them as they get stuck, have questions, or want advice. Many times, they just check in to let me know how they’re doing, since the videos are designed to be as thorough as possible.
I love interacting with my students in the class space online. It’s been much more like teaching in a real life classroom than I would have thought! Whenever students have questions while watching the video content, they can bookmark that spot to ask me a question, sort of like getting my attention during a troublesome spot in class. Then I can answer the student’s question individually, and like a real classroom, other students can read the answer, so they can benefit from it, too. If a student has a question about their sweater in progress, I can have them upload a photo to the class space so that I can “diagnose” the trouble, and then advise them how to fix it, or make a change. Once they’ve completed their projects at their own pace, they can post photos to the projects section to show off their great work to the group!
Like Carol, I love to design flattering, feminine sweaters. Artemisia is a relaxed fit sweater, designed with a leaf lace panel, set-in, top-down sleeves, seamless construction and hourglass shaping, and knit-in pockets. Many students are modifying their projects to alter sleeve length and detailing, changing shaping for a custom fit, and modifying the length and pockets. What could seem like an intimidating sweater project is broken down into baby steps with lots of guidance and wiggle room, so my students have been able to approach the sweater one technique at a time. You’ll be able to watch and knit from cast on to finishing, right along with me and your fellow students!
I’d love to see you in The Seamless Artemisia Sweater class! Sign up today for discounted enrollment.
