Last full day in Asheville

Oh yeah- five days of teaching in a row... something millions (or at least many many thousands) of teachers do every single week... it was wonderful, seeing the Lightbulb Moment for so many of my students, learning as much from them as I hope they learned from me, laughing and talking, and knitting...but five days... man, I'm tired.

 I wandered the mall for a bit before my last class began this morning. I'm pretty sure that the above is frah-gee-lay.

 As far as I can tell, the palm trees growing inside the mall are real. And in need of a trim.

I feel the need to duck as I say this, but Chick-Fil-A was a disappointment. The sandwiches weren't bad, but they sure weren't exciting. And the nuggets weren't any better than McDonald's.

On the other hand, this is the *light* serving of Salt and Pepper Catfish fillets (with hush puppies, fries, and 1,000 calorie cake, which has a cheesecake filling) from Harbor Inn. Gotta love North Carolina takeout. And just in case you wondered, I was only able to eat about half of the fish, and about 1/3 of the cake.

Remember Michelle from yesterday's Hat Design class? She went home and knitted her hat last night. This was not only her first original design, it was her very first stranded project! Go Michelle!

Michelle took today's Nordic Stocking class today. Didn't she do wonderfully? And don't be fooled by how much Linda got done- she hadn't knitted in the round for years, and had never done any stranded work. By the end of the class, she was knitting on her own, following the chart, and finding and correcting her own mistakes. She was thrilled and I was thrilled for her.

Sandy didn't want her picture taken again, but she got a lot done on her stocking, especially considering that she was working in the shop, and trying to teach her own students, while taking my class. That's some kind of multitasking (I think she deserves a Major Award!).

The stocking on the left is a class sample, the one on the right is the one I knit during class, and the one in the front is the Object Lesson to be more careful in choosing yarns.

I've had an absolutely wonderful week here in Asheville. Lisa Mackey, of Friends and Fiberworks organized an amazing retreat, and has been great and gracious hostess. Vickie Clontz was a super roommate. Kim Gough did everything she could to drum up interest in my classes. Sandy took classes and steered people my way, and Nancie McCraw dropped in to catch up as often as she could. My students were cheerful and willing, and they all were Well Above Average!

I have my suitcases organized and I'm as ready as I can be for a 4AM  wakeup call. I'll be flying out early, and hopefully getting home in the afternoon. I'll check in as I can.

Oh, tomorrow night is the American Idol Season Premiere- I have no idea whether I'll actually be home on time, and if I am, if I'll have the oomph to watch, much less recap. I'll try to record it and get a recap up as soon as I can.

Too pooped to post

Hoo boy, I'm tired. It's a good tired, it's 4 days of teaching excellent students in a town that I love to visit, but still... tired. So tonight's post is going to be mostly pictures...

Pretty red leaves...

Future azaleas (rhododendrons?)

No shots of the Blue Ridge Mountains because I can only sorta see them in the distance from my motel (or on the walk to the mall).

Hat Designer Michelle.

Stocking Designers Kim and Sandy. Sandy kept saying how bad her design was. Sandy needs new glasses.

One more class tomorrow- an all day Nordic Stocking class, and then I pack up for home. It's been a wonderful week (and I'm not kidding about the Genius Students), but I will say that I'm relieved that I won't be teaching 5 straight days again for awhile...

Winter Retreat Sunday (and a little Saturday)

Yesterday, Vickie and I went to Biltmore Village, which is a group of lovely shops and restaurants just across from the entrance to the Biltmore Estate (sadly, I did not go to Biltmore itself). We ate at an amazing Mediterranean restaurant called Rezaz.

This was my lunch: Atlantic Snapper with mussels in tomato salsa, with fresh steamed spinach. It was fantastic! My only regret was that we couldn't try some of the wines (I had to work later...)

We wandered through Bellagio, which is a cross between a gallery and a boutique. Many many beautiful things!

After our leisurely lunch, we came back to the retreat to teach our afternoon classes. I had a couple of exceptionally creative ladies in my Writing Patterns for Publication class. I expect to see their work in print very soon!

Today, I had a six hour steeking class, one that I dusted off after a 5 year hiatus. It went extremely well.

Behold: New Steekists!

After class, I walked over to Papas and Beer for Shrimp Enchilandas Mazatlan and a dark local beer.

I didn't notice, when I ordered, that the plate held enchiladaS (PLURAL). The above could have easily fed 2 people. I would have left the excess, but my server was so sad about abandoning such good food that I brought it back to the motel room. Maybe I'll reheat them for supper tomorrow.

Speaking of tomorrow, it's going to be my longest teaching day: two Fair Isle design classes, one from 10am-2pm, the next from 4pm-8pm. I may not have the oomph to post tomorrow night. If not, I'll check in on Tuesday morning.

Saturday morning change of plans

My morning class was cancelled, but after looking clearly at the time schedule, and seeing that I would only have about 3 hours, I decided to skip Biltmore this time around (the $60 cab fare also factored in the decision). So, I wandered about the mall where the retreat is being held, and explored the booths a bit more.

 This is Friends and Fiberworks- the store that is hosting the retreat. It's huge and wonderful.

 This yarn followed me home. You can't see the sparkle in this shot, but trust me, this is 550 yds of rayon bling. It's going to be a very pretty shawl.

 Though the mall food court isn't exactly exciting, the Cakeball booth certainly makes up for it!

This is the hat that Susan finished in class yesterday. Isn't it gorgeous. She is only the 3rd person ever to complete a hat in a single class. Yay Susan!

I'm going to wander Asheville and shop a bit with my roomie, Vicki Clontz, of Annie's Keepsakes. We'll have lunch (maybe at Tupelo Honey), and see the sights, and then come back for our 4:00 classes (mine is nearly full, so there's no chance of cancellation).

I'll report back tonight.

Oh, it's still chilly (frosty in the morning), but otherwise beautiful. The promised storm did not materialize, for which I am very grateful.

Friends and Fiberworks Winter Retreat Day 2

I woke up this morning to find Asheville in a Winter Storm Watch... just like South Dakota... sigh...
But though it was frosty, and there was snow up in the hills, there were blue skies and white clouds here. It's still cold but not below zero, so it's all good.

 One lovely thing about teaching classes in a small, sort of empty mall, is that I got an entire storefront for my classroom. This is my home for the duration.

 Yep- they expected me.

 Lots of room. So far, class size has been small, but the people are as wonderful as ever.

Susan and I finished our entire hats in class today! Didn't she do a wonderful job?

 The vendors had lots of pretty...

...lots and lots of pretty. And the mall food court has Cakeballs. Can't ask for much more.

So far, no one has signed up for my morning class tomorrow. If that remains the case, I'll find a way to Biltmore, just for a peek before my late afternoon class (which is nearly full).

As I said, it's all good!

Friends and Fiberworks Winter Retreat- Day 1

You know how we've had a warm and dry winter? How the high temps have broken record after record? How we've had  no snow or ice? Well that ended yesterday, which means that this morning's drive to the airport was a bit hairy, what with 43 miles of glare ice and all. Luckily, South Dakota planes have not forgotten how to fly in the cold.

All of my flights were on time, and all of them were smooth until it came time to descend, at which time every airplane bounced all over the sky. None of the landings were the worst I'd ever experienced, but the three of them were the three worst in a row. Happily for me, I do not get airsick (as opposed to the lady across the aisle from me, who filled her shopping bag... several times). And I do not become irritated at growling and barking dogs on planes, though I was definitely surprised to hear Fido behind me.

I did become irritated, however, by a conversation that I could not help but overhear in the Minneapolis airport. A man thanked a soldier in fatigues, who was leaving his family to return to his unit in Kuwait. So far,so good. But the man continued to ask pointed and personal questions, about pay scales, benefits, injuries and death, which was bad enough, but it really became uncomfortable when the questions turned personal- many about the soldier's soldier wife, and the soldier's children (remember that these men were strangers). I nearly turned around and whacked the guy when he asked about how the soldier's soldier wife went about breastfeeding while on duty. Seriously. But the soldier answered, and better yet, deflected, all queries with good humor. Our service people- heroes and gentlefolk, able to deal with life and death situations AND jerks in airports.

I'm going to hunker down and read tonight (I started The Night Circus on the plane- what a fascinating and unusual book). My motel is right across from the retreat venue, and I've already been across to scope out the facilities (verdict? Yarn Heaven). Tonight I rest, tomorrow I go to work. I can't wait! Stay tuned for pictures!

O hai, Winter! We thought you forgot us

You'd think we lived in the tropics or something, given everyone's reaction when we woke up to this:

Of course, we've had the warmest January on record (it was 60 degrees yesterday. That's 60 degrees ABOVE zero), and it's been at least a couple of months since we've had even a hint of snow.

How quickly we forget.

At any rate, we're not supposed to get more snow this week, and so far, the weather looks good for all of my flights tomorrow, which is all I'm (selfishly) worried about. If nothing else, even if Winter kicks in with a vengeance, it won't last too long. I hope.

I may or may not check in before I leave in the morning (I'm taking the early flight as always, which means I'll be on the road around 4:00am). I should be in Asheville by mid-afternoon. There is still room for more students in my classes at the Winter Retreat. I hope to see some of you there on Friday!

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.

Leftover Hat Recipe, and some wonderful knits

 Here's the latest leftover yarn hat. Not very manly, is it? Pretty? Yes. Masculine? No. This is yarn I bought at the '09 Sock Summit, and used as Road Knitting to make socks on the way to the Michigan Fiber Festival last summer (and which were gifted to my niece). I love how the stripes are working out (it's not officially a self-striping yarn).

Elizabeth asked in the comments, for the basic recipe for these leftover hats. It's easy peasy:  Approx 34gr fingering weight sock yarn, 16" size 2.75mm circ and DPNs (or whatever needles will give you 8sts=1"). CO 140 sts, join (without twisting). Work 6 or so rnds of K2P2 ribbing and then K until the hat measures 5" (more or less, depending on who is the recipient). Decrease every other rnd as follows: Rnd 1: *K 12, K 2 tog*, rep around, Rnd 2: K, Rnd 3: *K 11, K 2 tog*, rep around, Rnd 4: K. Continue, working one less st before the decreases on the Odd Rnds, until you K2 tog around. Cut yarn, weave the tail through the remaining loops, tighten and tie off. Weave the ends in, wash and block. This makes a snug beanie. If you use slightly heavier yarn and 3mm or 3.25mm needles, you'll get a looser hat. If you want a smaller hat, CO 10 or 20 fewer sts. As I said, easy peasy.

 Robin knitted these gorgeous Macaroni Socks (from The Big Book of Socks). She adapted the pattern a bit because the yarn she used was finer than what is called for in the pattern (yay for adaptation!). She said that she hasn't even gotten to try them on because her 12 year old daughter has appropriated them (yay for daughters who love handknit socks!). Thanks for sharing!

Susan took my Nordic Christmas Stocking class at NCFF last September, and made this wonderful stocking! It turned out beautifully! It happens that I'm teaching that class at the Winter Retreat in Asheville next weekend, too.

Next weekend? Yikes, I'd better finish getting ready.

Restocking the BT'oKT

Somewhere along the line, I thought I had an extra week before I headed out to Asheville for the Winter Retreat. Imagine my surprise when I actually looked at the calendar and counted those little boxes... It's a good thing that I got all of my workshop materials mailed last week.

One of the things I did notice in December, as I chose hats from the Big Tub 'O Knitted Things, is that I'm obviously not drawn to masculine or neutral colorways. Only one or two of the three thousand hats that I knit last year even came marginally close to being Man Colors (and yes, I know, there's no such thing... but a great many men still do not want to wear pink. It is what it is). So one of my jobs this year is to stock the Tub with some Manly Hats.

 This one comes close. It's all made from teeny little balls of leftover yarns- I used up an entire baggie of them. Woohoo!

I'm pretty sure this one doesn't qualify, but boy is it pretty. It's from some Twisted Fiber Arts bamboo yarn (I don't remember the colorway, but it doesn't matter, EVERY Twisted Fiber Arts colorway is beautiful), and I'm thrilled there was enough to knit a whole hat with the single yarn (and not just because there were no ends to tie in).

The hat I'm working on now is all Neon Pink, Yellow, and Green, so... nope... not Manly, but it's awfully pretty too. But if maybe one out of every five hats or so is sort of neutral, I should have enough for my guys come next Christmas.

Class at Loop & Leaf in Santa Barbara

 I am happy to announce that I'll be teaching my All Day Toddler Fair Isle Hat class at Loop & Leaf in Santa Barbara, CA, on Wednesday Feb. 1, 2012.  Celeste hosted a signing for Fearless Fair Isle Knitting at her lovely shop last February, and I am delighted to be going back.

The class hours haven't been settled yet- I'll announce when the time is firm. In the meantime, I'm excited to ride the Amtrak along the beautiful SoCal Ocean Coast again.

Astute readers will deduce that this means I'll be in SoCal  barely two weeks after going to Asheville, NC for the Friends and Fiberworks Winter Retreat (classes are now fully listed and open for registration). I lead a really interesting life, y'all.

Friends and Fiberworks Winter Retreat- My Class Schedule

I mentioned a few days ago, that I'll be heading back to Asheville, NC, in January, to teach workshops at the Friends and Fiberworks Winter Retreat, which will be held January 13-15, plus I'll be staying a couple of extra days to teach *hangover* classes (no, it's not what you think... I always drink sensibly).

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 hope to see some of you at any (or all) of these:

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.

On the Road Again...

... well not today, but in January. I've been invited to teach classes at the Friends and Fiberworks Winter Retreat in Asheville, NC!

 Astute blog readers will remember that I was just in Asheville, not even a month ago. Those readers will also remember how much I gush about the area, every time I visit. I am thrilled to be going back. I will be teaching workshops all three of the retreat days, but not all of the classes have been posted yet. I'll announce the full schedule as soon as it's up (and you can click on the classes link to see what else is being offered- as always, I wish I could take some classes too). So far, I'll be teaching the All-Day Toddler Fair Isle Hat class on Friday Jan. 13, and the Mitered Square Cuff, and the Little Tips and Tricks class on Saturday Jan. 14. I imagine the rest of the schedule will be posted today (and I'll announce the schedule here). Registration is open for the listed classes.

Woohoo!!!

And speaking of teaching classes in Asheville (or more specifically, Fletcher), Connie travels from Florida to attend SAFF every year, and she's taken several of my classes. This year, she took the Fair Isle Design class. This is the hat she designed and knit after going back home. I love it when students continue using the techniques learned in my classes. Thanks for sharing this adorable at with us, Connie!