Session
Melissa
Franklin
JC
Leapman
Habit
Briar
Wednesday
Morning
Ha! Fooled You!
Explore interesting stitch patterns that fool the eye. In class,
you'll learn how to create huge
embossed cables that seem to
sit on top of the fabric—with no
cabling involved! Also, learn to
knit beautiful faux fair-isle patterns using (yes) just one color
per row. And, if you've always
wanted to play with mitered
squares but hate the idea of all
those pesky yarn tails, come
and learn an easy way to make
faux ones using simple slip
stitches.
The Knitted Plaid: Color /Pattern
Workshop New in 2014! If the prospect of mixing colors gives you the
fidgets, this class is for you. We'll begin by learning a simple but strikingly
effective method for knitting plaid fabric–a method that can even be used to
recreate family or school tartans. Then
we'll use the framework of the plaid as
the point of departure for a practical,
hands-on lesson in color selection.
You can learn to design your own
color schemes–all it takes is a little
knowledge, a little practice, and a little
playfulness.
Slick Set-in Sleeves Set-in
sleeves give a sweater a crisp,
tailored look—and for easy knitting, you just can’t beat sleeves
knit from the top down. Pick up
stitches from the body, shape the
sleeve cap with short rows, and
you avoid the bulk of a seam and
the fuss of easing a sleeve cap
into an armhole. Learn to adapt
an existing pattern to this approach, or to design according to
your measurements. Skills required: experience knitting
sweaters.
Wednesday
Celtic Cables
Now You See It, Now You Don’t:
Shadow Knitting New in 2014!
Color and texture meet and mingle
with startling results in the subtle, intriguing fabrics created by shadow
(also called “illusion”) knitting. Stripes,
garter stitch, and stockinette combine
to create patterns that appear or vanish depending upon the angle of view–
perfect for hiding secret messages in
your work. We will learn the technique
& also investigate methods for designing shadow patterns, and play with
creating our own charts for custom
projects.
Afternoon
Learn how to use basic cabling
techniques to create Celtic inspired panels and motifs. (Shhhh,
don't tell anyone, but these gorgeous cables are much easier to
knit than they look!)
Beth Brown-Reinsel
Top Down Aran Cardigans
This unusual type of Aran Construction is controversial as to its
historic authenticity. Nevertheless,
it is a fascinating concept, which
results in a stunning garment that
is fun to knit. While knitting a small
sampler sweater from the neck
down, traditional pattern motifs will
be worked, including bobbles, traveling stitches, knit/purl motifs, baby
cables, background stitches and
more! The neckline studied will be
shaped for a comfortable fit by
utilizing increases and casting on
extra stitches. This is a 6 hour, 2
session class for intermediate to
Entrelac Basics. Entrelac fabric advanced knitters.
looks like strips of knitting woven
over and under each other, but
it’s really formed of individuallyknit diamonds. No sewing is required! In this class, you’ll learn
to form the basic units of entrelac: base triangles, side triangles, left- and right-leaning diamonds, and top triangles. You’ll
also pick up tricks like knitting
back backwards, and methods
for sizing and shaping entrelac
fabric.
Session
Thursday
Morning
Thursday
Afternoon
Melissa
Leapman
Franklin
Habit
JC
Briar
Beth Brown-Reinsel
Snip and Zip: Steeks and Zippers.
With this fascinating knitting tech- This empowering class is designed to
nique, both sides of the knitting
guide timid and/or inexperienced knitappear to be stockinette stitch. In ters through two operations–the cutjust a few fun hours, learn how to ting of steeks (slashed openings in
knit—and even design!—these
knit fabric) and the installation of zipbeautiful reversible fabrics.
pers. Pre-requisites: Fluency in the
basics of knitting, including knitting in
the round; and fluency in stranded two
color work (i.e., Fair Isle knitting); and
completion prior to class of a simple
homework assignment. Please note:
This class has an additional perstudent materials charge of $5.
Charts Made Simple.
Look, Ma, No Cable Needle!
Charts Made Essential. Being
able to read charts is only half the
story. Take this class and learn to
write charts: to visualize written instructions, to convert between flat
and in-the-round knitting, and to
plan shaping. Use charts to demystify phrases like “at the same time,”
“reverse shaping,” and “shape in
pattern.”
Gansey Techniques. Students will
learn how to construct a Gansey, a
sweater form prevalent in the last century and early part of this century
among the fishermen of the British
Isles. A small scale sweater will be
knitted using traditional construction
techniques including the classic Channel Island Cast-on, split welts, seam
stitches, traditional knit/purl patterns,
the underarm gusset, shoulder straps
with perpendicular joining, and pickedup sleeves. Alternative methods to
these techniques will also be explored.
Due to the amount of knitting in this
class, it is suggested for students who
can knit quickly. This is a 6 hour, 2
session class for intermediate to advanced knitters. Thursday AM and
PM.
Two-Color Double Knitting
Designing Knitted Tessellations:
Want to knit an Aran pattern lick- Playful and Powerful Patterns An
ety-split? Learn to cross your ca- introduction to tessellation: the creables without a cable needle. After tion of interlocking patterns. Tessellasome hands-on practice in class, tions can be found in the some of the
you’ll wonder why those awkward most ancient examples of human design In this class, we will discuss and
cabling tools were ever even input into practice the basic techniques
vented!
for creating tessellated patterns in
hand-knitted fabric. Participants will
leave with the know-how to begin designing their own interlocking motifs.
Pre-requisites: Knitting basics and
with working from charts. Students
may work in knit/purl texture patterns
or in two color knitting, so those
choosing the latter should be adept at
it. A sense of humor, a reasonable
ability to concentrate, and a taste for
adventure are strongly advised.
The symbols of a chart take the
place of written instructions, telling
you what stitches to work. But a
good chart does so much more,
showing you what the knitted fabric
should look like. In this class, you’ll
learn to read charts, making sense
of their symbols and using them to
keep your knitting on track and to
minimize mistakes.
Session
Melissa
Leapman
Franklin
Habit
JC
Briar
Beth Brown-Reinsel
Friday
Flatter Yourself: FullyFashioned Secrets of the
Pros
In this fun hands-on workshop,
learn how designers use fully
fashioned shaping to create
flattering sweaters. No matter
your shape, use your knitting
prowess to create knockout
pieces that fit and flatter.
Carved in Wool: Bavarian Twisted
Stitch. The intriguing knitting patterns
of southern Germany and northern
Austria are known as “peasant knitting"–but their effect in knitted fabric is
of unsurpassed richness. We will
study and practice the tradition's signature twisted stitch technique to create a galaxy of gorgeous texture patterns so vivid they appear to have
been carved into the wool. We will
also learn how to read the special
charts in which the patterns have most
often been recorded, Pre-requisites:
Fluency in the basic techniques of
knitting, including knitting in the round.
Comfortable working from charted
patterns.
Wedge Shawl Design. Stunning
shawls are often formed of lace
“wedges,” sections that gradually
grow wider as the knitting progresses. Triangular shawls
formed of two wedges are common, but shawls of three or more
wedges are also possible, and
are often easier to wear. Take
this class to learn how to design
a wedge shawl of your own.
Learn to choose & adapt lace
patterns. By the end of class,
you’ll be well on your way to a
new, unique shawl. Skills required: experience knitting lace
and reading charts.
Introduction to Twined Knitting.
Curious about the 400 year-old
Swedish technique of Twined Knitting? In this 3 hour class, knit one
of a pair of wristers while learning a
traditional cast-on, twined knitting,
twined purling, and patterning (the
“O” stitch, the Crook Stitch. Intermediate; you must be comfortable
with double pointed needles or
working with two circular needles.
Stashbuster Magic
Artfully Agitated Stripes: An Introduction to Mosaic Knitting (3 hours).
New in 2014! At first glance, Mosaic
Knitting looks like garden variety
stranded color work–but it's not. Mosaic patterns are really two-row
stripes, joggled here and there with
slipped stitches. The result? Beautiful
designs and intriguing fabrics in
stockinette, garter stitch–and hybrids
thereof. And amazingly–you'll never
knit with more than one color in a row.
Want to find out how it works, and how
to design your own mosaic color patterns? Join us, and bring your imagination. Prerequisites: Fluency in the
basic techniques of knitting.
Disaster Recovery. Mistakes
happen. Fortunately, knitters
have an array of techniques for
dealing with mistakes. Learn
when and how to tink, drop, and
frog. See how duplicate stitch
can cover over goofs in color
work. And pick up tips for avoiding mistakes in the first place.
Latvian Wristers. Using wristers
as a template, learn Latvian techniques which can be applied to
mitten cuffs, sock tops or
sleeves—the scalloped cuff, the
herringbone braid and many subtle
and beautiful variations of the halfbraid. A choice of traditional motifs
is incorporated in the main part of
the wrister, as well as a picot edge
at the end. Additional techniques
include knitting with 2 yarns in the
right hand, two yarns in the left
hand, or a yarn in each hand, as
well as knitting with three colors.
Intermediate; you must be comfortable with double pointed needles.
Morning
Friday
Afternoon
Got yarn? Transform even your
tiniest bits and pieces into a
beautiful, one-of-a-kind jacket!
In this workshop, learn designer secrets for creating and
using a magic ball of yarn while
knitting a mini version of this
one-piece wonder. Best of all,
no one will ever suspect it was
crafted from leftovers! Magic,
indeed. Note: Students must
be quite comfortable working in
the round with dpn’s.