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)
This is off topic, but I first wish to say that I have been following your blog for a little over a year now. I find your projects and insights interesting and amusing. I have a question that I hope you can help with. My mother raises llamas and alpacas. I was wondering if you know how to clean it to get it ready to spin, do you wash it like sheep wool or do you have to do something special to the fibers? Any help you could give would very helpful. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteLlama fiber isn't greasy like wool, but it can be very dusty and dirty. The fiber prep is pretty much the same. Soak in hot water (with Dawn dish soap) for an hour or so. Spin out, soak again in hot water with soap. Spin out. Soak in clean hot water, spin out. Soak in clean hot water, spin out. Fluff and let it dry. If you want to preserve the lock structure, you can place the fiber in mesh zipper bags and proceed the same way. You can sometimes spin from the locks, or card as usual. Sometimes there are guard hairs that have to be picked out, but that depends on the fleece. Good Luck!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, my mom says she thought that this was how to take care of it, but she wasn't completely sure. She's going to wash some up as soon as she gets a little bit of time. Thank you.
ReplyDelete