Workshop Samples

I'll be heading to Hope, NJ in a few weeks, to teach a series of dyeing workshops at the North Country Spinner's Fibre Fallout. This will be my second appearance there, and I'm really looking forward to it.

In addition to teaching my graduated color band class

and the spiral dyeing class

I've added two new workshops. A Watermelon Sock Blank class

and a class on dyeing worsted weight blanks (which I had knitted up specially for the class by my friend Kim Haibeck of Yarnsanity).

It's going to be such fun!

Inspirational Umbria, Todi Italy, May 24-30 2015!!!! IT'S ON!!!!!!

I am about to hyperventilate here- the dates have been set for a week-long knitwear design workshop in Todi, Italy. And I will be teaching! In Italy! In May 2015.

The focus of the in-depth workshop will be on translating landscape and architectural features and details and impressions into charts for stranded and Fair Isle knitting. Every student will go home with an original, and completely unique, pattern of his or her own design. Not only will we use the beautiful town of Todi as inspiration, we'll be taking excursions to Assisi, and surrounding areas. Classes will be in the morning, excursions in the afternoon (including a yarn crawl- there are three yarn stores in Todi, wine tasting, a cooking class, and a Medieval archery demo), and great food in the evening. Friendship and laughter all day, every day. It's going to be fun, lemee tellya.

Prices for the retreat have not been set yet, but here's the flyer:

Feel free to copy and distribute this flyer anywhere you like. I also have a PDF file- e-mail me if you'd like it as well.

As if the above wasn't enough of an incentive- take a gander at the hotel where we'll be staying:

 I was rendered speechless (a rare and wonderful thing) when I went to the Hotel Bramante website. *Amazing* doesn't begin to cover it. Be sure to watch the video.

And if you need a little more incentive, the workshop facilitator Alexandra Hook, sent me this picture of Todi itself:

As the rest of the details are settled, I'll let you all know. Come and join us for the adventure of a lifetime!

Edited to add: I just started a Ravelry group called Inspiring Umbria- come and join us!

Upcoming Travels and Classes

My Work Travel Season is starting earlier this year. Here's where I'll be, and what I'll be teaching, and when. Registration info, materials provided and/or needed, and material fees (if any) as well as class fees are listed on the individual sites and links.

I hope to see some of you there!

Fantasy Fiber Arts Knitting Cruise
sponsored by Friends and Fiberworks, Asheville, NC, July 26-31

Leaving from Charleston, SC on July 26, with day excursions in Nassau and Freeport, The Bahamas!
I'll be teaching:

Mystery Fair Isle Fingerless Mitten- here's a sneak peek of the pattern. Students will be given a choice of lots of yarns for their own two-color combos.

I'll also be teaching a Mystery Lace and Beaded Fingerless Mitten Class (sneak peek to be posted soon), and the EEK! A Steek! class. All materials come with the class fee except knitting needles, large-eye needle, and scissors.


Michigan Fiber Festival (MFF)- Allegan, MI
Festival August 16-18, Workshops August 14-18

Wednesday AM: Writing Patterns for Publication
Wednesday PM: Little Tips and Tricks
Thursday all day: Nordic Christmas Stocking
Friday all day: EEK! A Steek!

North Country Fiber Fair (NCFF), Watertown, SD
Sept. 20-22

Friday: 1-4 pm: Little Tips and Tricks
Sunday: Needlefelted Half-Moon Santa (all materials provided, no prior needlefelting experience needed)

Southeastern Animal Fiber Fair (SAFF), Fletcher, NC, October 25-27

Friday- all day: EEK! a Steek!
Saturday 9am-12pm: Exclusive Fair Isle Fingerless Mitten Design (yarn provided)- sneak peek to be posted soon
Saturday 1-4 pm: Little Tips and Tricks
Sunday 9 am-12 pm: Written Patterns for Publication
Sunday 1-4 pm: Design Your Own Fair Isle Fingerless Mitten

Classes, we gotcher classes

I'm teaching all over the place this fall, and class registration is open for everything (though early-registration prices will end tomorrow for the Michigan Fiber Festival). I hope to see some of you... well... everywhere!

Michigan Fiber Festival, Allegan, MI- August 18-19, Classes August 15-17

I was delighted to be invited back to the Michigan Fiber Festival. Early registration closes tomorrow for the Michigan Fiber Festival, but late signups are allowed. Information on registering is on the website, and here is a description of the classes being offered.  I'm teaching:   Thursday All Day: Nordic Christmas Stocking; Friday All Day Fair Isle Design. I can't find the listing for my Wednesday classes, which makes me think that they're full already.


NCFF North Country Fiber Fair, Watertown SD, September 14-16

Registration for NCFF, which is my local fiber fair, just opened. Here's a listing of all of the classes. On Friday, I'm teaching Mitered Square Cuffs; on Saturday I'm teaching Half-Day Fair Isle Design; and on Sunday it's Little Tips and Knitting Tricks.


North Country Spinners Fiber Fallout, Johnsonburg, NJ, September 28-30

I'm teaching dyeing classes at this cool spinning retreat. This will be my first visit to New Jersey, and I'm really excited about it. On Saturday it's Spiral Dyeing, and Dyeing Sock Blanks, and on Sunday it's Graduated Color Band Dyeing. The link to everything is above.


SAFF- Southeastern Animal Fiber Fair, Fletcher, NC, October 26-28

I'm heading back to SAFF for my 4th time, and I am thrilled. Registration for workshops has just opened for SAFF members. Registration for the public will open on July 15. Here's the class description list.  I'm teaching EEK! A Steek! all day Friday; Fair Isle Fingerless Mittens on Saturday morning; Fair Isle Stocking Design Saturday afternoon; and Little Tips and Tricks twice on Sunday (morning and afternoon), and Writing Patterns for Publication in the between the Tips and Tricks sessions.

It's going to be a busy couple of months!

Registration is open for the Michigan Fiber Festival!

I'll be teaching classes at the Michigan Fiber Festival in August again! I'm thrilled to have been invited back, and am really looking forward to another trip to the beautiful state. I hope to see some of you there. Class registration is open, here are the classes I'll be teaching from Wednesday August 15- Friday August 17:

Wednesday, August 15

Morning

#122 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 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. Q&A time provided at the end of the class. Handouts will be provided.

Class Level: Beginner

Class Limit: 25

Material Fees:  None

Participants should bring with them:  Pen and paper for taking notes.




Afternoon




#133 Little Tips and Knitting Tricks  


           
Spend two/three 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. I will provide handouts, and other small supplies (beads, wire)

Class Level: Beginner ~ Students should be familiar with the knit and purl stitches

Class Limit: 15

Material Fees: None

Participants should bring with them: Worsted and fingering
weight yarns (leftover balls are fine), appropriate straight
needles for both yarn weights, scissors.


 Cast on 10 stitches and
work a few rows of stockinette stitch in both yarn weights
(this can be done during class).



Thursday, August 16- All Day

#202 Nordic Christmas Stocking 


Students will learn yarn wrangling and chart reading while making a 14" long, toe-up, stranded Christmas Stocking, with an afterthought heel. Students knit the toe in advance and in class, will knit past the waste-yarn heel marking, and then knit an afterthought heel. It is not likely that all students will finish their stockings in class, but they should have the tools and information to finish on their own. No previous stranding or sock knitting experience required.

Class Level: Students must be comfortable with knitting in the round. No Fair Isle, or stranded knitting, or sock-knitting experience
needed

Class Limit: 15

Material Fees: None

Participants should bring with them: Size 8 dpns (or long circs if they’re Magic Loopers), and 2- 50gr balls of solid worsted weight yarn highly contrasting colors, several yards of contrasting waste yarn, stitch markers, safety pin, several post-it notes. Homework required

Homework:
Pre-Knit Stocking Toe: With Size 8 needles and dark worsted weight yarn, CO 20 sts. Divide on needles as desired, without twisting
the sts, join. Rnd 1: K; Rnd 2: (K 5, Inc 1), rep around. Rnd 3: K; Rnd 4: (K 6, Inc 1) rep around. Repeat those 2 rnds, working 1 more
st before the inc on each even rnd, until there are 50 sts.
Note: it is possible for late signups to use a provisional cast on, and knit the toe later.



Friday August 17- All Day


#306 Fair Isle Design    
             
Expand on your Fair Isle skills, and design your own Toddler- Size Fair Isle hat in this 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 toddler-size Fair Isle hat, and begin working on the hat by the end of the workshop.Students will finish knitting the hat at home.

Class Level:  Intermediate to Advanced

Class Limit: 15

Material Fees: None

Participants should bring with them: Assorted worsted weight yarns, 100 gr total, in up to 6 colors (leftover yarns and small balls are fine), colored pencils to match the yarns, 16" size 5 circular needle, pencil, eraser, stitch markers, safety pin, several post-it notes. Homework required

Homework:
With the 16"(40 cm) Size 5 (3.75mm)circular needle, or 1 or 2 long circular needles, CO 90 sts with MC. Without twisting the sts,
join, placing the large marker at the beginning of the round.
Rnds 1-8 (hem facing): K
Picot Edge Rnd: *K 2 tog, YO*, rep around
Next Rnd:  K, working each YO as a stitch.
Next Rnd: *K 15, Inc 1*, rep around (6 sts increased- 96 sts)

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.

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!

SAFF Workshops

There is still time to sign up for workshops and classes at SAFF, which will be held at the WNC Ag Center in Fletcher, NC, October 21-23.

I'm scrambling around, getting all of my workshop stuff done (printing handouts, gathering supplies and book giveaways) so I can mail them out early next week. It's too much to pack, and I wouldn't trust the airline to get the bag to Asheville with me (did I ever tell you how I flew to Burbank to tape a couple of HGTV shows, but my clothes went to San Francisco?).

Anyway, this is the entire workshop listing- as always, I wish I had time to take classes too.

Here are the classes I'm teaching at SAFF:

Friday 11:30am-3:30pm: Mitered Square Cuff. Openings available
Learn to knit mitered squares with worsted weight yarn and Size 5 needles. Use your mitered squares to make cuffs for mittens or socks (patterns for both included in the class handout).

Friday 4:00pm-6:00pm: Writing Patterns for Publication. Openings available
Learn about writing patterns, formatting, photography, and submitting your original designs.

 Saturday 8:30am-12:30pm: Fair Isle Design. Class full, but you can get on a waiting list
This is a half-day version of my full-day Fair Isle Design class. Use worksheet exercises to design your own toddler-sized Fair Isle hat which you can knit later.

Saturday 1:30pm-3:30pm: Knitting Tips and Tricks. Class Full
Learn tricks for fixing mistakes in Fair Isle knitting and cable work, put beads in your knitting with wire, knit back backwards and make bobbles, and lots of other great knitting time-savers.

Saturday 3:30pm-5:30pm: Knitting Tips and Tricks (Session 2- same as above). Openings available

Sunday 9:00am-4:00pm Nordic Christmas Stocking. Openings available.

Learn yarn wrangling as you knit a Nordic style Christmas stocking. No Fair Isle or sock knitting experience necessary (this pattern uses an Afterthought Heel- no short-rows). It is not likely that students will finish their stocking in class, but we'll have more than enough time to learn the basics, and knit the heel. There was an error in the homework listing for this class on the SAFF site. That error has been corrected. Students need to bring 2 balls of worsted weight yarn (highly contrasting colors) and Size 8 needles.

The great folks at Taunton have supplied books for class giveaways. I'll have copies of all 3 of my Taunton titles (I Heart Felt, The Big Book of Socks, and Fearless Fair Isle Knitting) to give away, one per class. I hope to see some of you there!

SAFF Workshop Schedule

I am so so so thrilled to be teacing classes again at SAFF, in Fletcher, NC (which is right next to the airport, and minutes from Asheville and the amazing Biltmore Estate). This year, it's being held October 22-24, and I am teaching all three days.

SAFF has a beautiful newly refurbished website, and the workshop schedule has just been posted. There are so many wonderful classes, and I wish I could take some. Go and peruse the list- registration for SAFF members opens July 1, and registration for the general public opens July 15. If you want to become a member and get in on registration early, click here. (I just did- quick and easy).

I'm teaching:

Friday Oct 22: 9am-5pm (with lunch and snack breaks) Fair Isle in a Day-
Students will learn to read a chart, wrangle multiple yarns, and will work on a toddler-size Fair Isle hat. There is a small amount of homework involved (casting on and working the hat hem/facing, instructions will be sent to registered students), and students will need 100gr each of a solid and a variegated worsted weight yarn and size 5 needles (dpns or 16" circular, your preference), and some sticky notes. Students can use 2 solid color yarns as well- in either case, make sure there is a good contrast in your two yarns. No Fair Isle experience necessary, but students should be familiar with knitting in the round. Handouts and pattern/charts provided, including an adult version of the same hat.

Saturday Oct 23- 9am-5pm (with lunch and snack breaks) Design Your Own Fair Isle Hat in a Day- In the morning, we'll talk about Fair Isle design elements, and work on designing original motifs on blank charts. In the afternoon, students will begin work on their original hats. Some Fair Isle experience is nice but not absolutely necessary. A small amount of homework is involved (casting on and working the hat hem/facing- instructions will be sent to registered students). Students will need small amounts of various solid colors of worsted weight yarn (at least 2 colors, but as many as you like) up to 200gr, and size 5- 16" circular or dpn needles, and sticky notes. Students should bring colored pencils in the same colors as the yarns (though I'll have some colored pencils with me too). Handouts, patterns, and blank charts provided, including a chart for an adult size hat.

Sunday Oct 24- 9am-11am Little Tips and Knitting Tricks-
Discussion and demonstration of lots of little cheater knitting tricks that I use every day in my knitting: winding a center pull ball by hand, an easier decrease than SSK, putting beads in your knitting with wire instead of a crochet hook, knitting back backwards for heels and bobbles, and more. I'll provide some beads and wire, students should bring fingering weight yarn and appropriate needles.

Sunday Oct 24- 1pm-3pm Writing Patterns for Publication-
A talk about the percs and pressures of writing for publication, whether students are interested in designing for magazines and books, or in selling their own patterns. We'll talk about manuscript format, copyright, how to approach publishers, and what to do when your design is accepted. Students should bring a pad and pencil for taking notes. There will be time for Q&A at the end. Handouts provided.

Hope to see lots of you there!