Friends and Fiberworks Winter Retreat- Jan 13-15, Asheville, NC

There is still room in all of my classes at the Friends and Fiberworks Winter Retreat, which is being held next weekend in Asheville, NC. I'm teaching all three days of the festival, Jan 13-15, and then staying a couple of extra days to teach more classes at the shop. Registration is still open, and don't tell anyone, but except for the steeking class, the homework for the rest of the workshops can be done afterward (or during the class itself). I hope to see some of you there!

The class schedule has now been posted, and registration is open. Click on the Classes link on the main Retreat page, and then on Knitting. Scroll down to find my class listings (sorry for all the third person references). I'm excited to be teaching some old standards and a couple of new classes:

Friday January 13, 10:am-4:00pm: All Day Fair Isle- Knit a Toddler Size Hat.
Discover, or improve, your Fair Isle skills by knitting a toddler-size Nordic-Style Snowflake hat in this all-day workshop with author, knitter, and designer Kathleen Taylor. This workshop will cover chart-reading (including decreases worked from the chart) and yarn wrangling, as you work on a two-color hat (don’t let the pictures fool you- you’ll only be using one solid color yarn, and one self-striping yarn).


Friday January 13, 5:00pm-7:00pm: Writing Patterns for Publication
Learn tricks and tips for writing up your original pattern for publication, from 30-year pattern-writing veteran, blogger Kathleen Taylor, author of six mysteries, five knitting books, over 500 magazine articles, and many other original sewing and knitting patterns. Whether you plan to submit your design to a magazine, or will publish and sell it yourself, you need to know about pattern format, photography, pattern testing, copyright information, and contacting editors and publishers.

Saturday January 14, 10:00am-4:00pm: Mitered Square Cuffs
Learn to knit easy and beautiful mitered squares. In this class, students will learn the basics of mitered square knitting, and then make cuffs for mittens or socks, with self-striping, worsted weight yarns. 


Saturday January 14, 4:00pm-6:00pm- Little Tips and Knitting Tricks
Spend two hours with author and designer Kathleen Taylor, learning fun techniques that will make your knitting easier: a Substitute for the SSK that is faster and simpler, Knitting Back Backwards (for heels and bobbles), adding beads as you knit, using wire, fixing cable and Fair Isle mistakes, and other time-saving tips. 

Sunday January 15, 12:pm-6:00pm- EEK! A Steek!
Fear Not! You can cut your knitting without fear (or wine, though wine is nice). In this workshop, we will take a pre-knit tube and turn it into a doll sweater, learning techniques that can be used on any project that requires steeks. It’s fun! Really! And not scary at all! I promise.

Monday January 16, 10:00am-2:00pm: Design Your Own Fair Isle Hat
Expand on your Fair Isle skills, and design your own Toddler- Size Fair Isle hat in this half-day workshop with author, knitter, and designer Kathleen Taylor. We’ll discuss color choices, design elements, and motif repeats. We’ll do specific designing exercises, and then combine those motifs to design original Fair Isle hats. 


Monday January 16, 4:00pm-8:00pm: Design Your Own Fair Isle Christmas Stocking
Expand on your Fair Isle skills, and design your own Christmas Stocking in this half-day workshop with author, knitter, and designer Kathleen Taylor. We’ll discuss color choices, design elements, and motif repeats. We’ll do specific designing exercises, and then combine those motifs to design an original Fair Isle Christmas Stocking.

Tuesday January 17, 10:00am-4:00pm: All Day Nordic Christmas Stocking
In this all-day workshop, students will learn yarn wrangling techniques, chart reading, etc. Students will begin work on a 14” long, toe-up, stranded Christmas Stocking, with an afterthought heel.