Category Archives: classes

Stop me before I steek again!

Posted on October 11, 2015 | 1 comment

Oh, too late.

I had knit this snowflake mug rug, but decided that the other pattern was better for a beginning stranded colorwork knitter. Shorter floats and a short repeat. But I really liked it, so I decided to add it to the Bucket List Coffee Accessories pattern as a bonus.

Of course, it needed its own coffee cozy, too. These would make quick and easy holiday gifts. Pattern has been updated in Ravelry. Have fun! And if you’re local and need steeking support, come join me for steeking class, this Saturday and next, at Twisted.

1 Comment

Posted in classes, Knit, pattern design

Tagged Bucket List, coffee cozy, mug rug, steek

Bucket list knitting: Steeks!

Posted on October 6, 2015 | 11 comments

Is steeking on your knitting bucket list? Say yes!

A steek is a column of extra stitches inserted into your knitting so you can cut them. Why? Because stranded colorwork is so much easier in the round than knit flat. But when you want that circular knitting to be flat, as in a cardigan or a scarf, you need to cut the steek.

It’s not as scary as it sounds, especially if you do it to a small piece of knitting, instead of the cardigan you’ve been knitting for months. To that end, I’ve designed a couple pieces to practice on.

Oh, coffee, I love you so much I knit a sweater for you. And a mug rug.

These are the Bucket List Coffee Accessories. You can use them for your tea, too. I won’t tell anyone. I designed these for a class I’m teaching at Twisted later this month (see end of post for details).

They make sweet gifts, and they’re an opportunity for you to try steeking, even if you can’t come to class. The pattern is available through Ravelry, and it’s on sale for 20% off through October 15 with coupon code EEK. As in steek. Ha!

I wrote a longer tutorial here, in case you like more pictures. Who doesn’t like more pictures?

For this project, I knocked a couple things off *my* bucket list, too. It’s small circular knitting, which I usually do on dpns. I wanted to know how to knit with 2 circulars, and with magic loop. Done. I liked the magic loop. Working with two circulars is like having antennae waving all over the place, too flappy for me. Your mileage may vary.

I’m teaching a steek class with the Bucket List Accessories at Twisted on October 17 and 24 at Twisted. Come join me, and we’ll explore stranded colorwork on dpns, magic loop, and 2 circulars. During the second class we’ll cut these quick pieces with the support of our classmates. There may be bubbly at the end of the second class!

The very first time I saw a steek cut, it wasn’t even colorwork. My cousin and college roomie Kathy had been an AFS exchange student in Norway, and she was knitting a purple sweater in the round. Since it was stockinette, it was all knit, no purl. She steeked the armholes, because that’s how she was taught in Norway. Are you purl averse? Take that idea and run with it!

11 Comments

Posted in classes, Knit, pattern design

Tagged Bucket List, classes, Knit, steek, twisted

OFFF 2015, SuperMoonEclipse

Posted on September 28, 2015 | 8 comments

Well, that was quite the weekend! Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival was wonderful, as always. I taught two classes on Friday: Athena Entrelac Cowl and Fern Lace Shawlette (sideways shawl construction). My students were all great, and they all got it. I’m looking forward to seeing pictures of their lovely finished projects someday.

I went back on Saturday and Sunday for shopping, hanging out, and general mayhem. Here’s a whirlwind tour:

The weather was perfect, sunny and cool enough to show off your favorite knitwear.

Lots of friends to catch up with:

Lorajean Kelley of Knitted Wit

3 M’s: Me, Michelle, and Melissa in the Knitted Wit booth

Leigh Anne in the Carolina Homespun booth, trying to decide whether she should take up spinning

Sari Peterson with her grands at her booth. Her DH makes beautiful spindles. Sari teaches spinning, and I think I may need some lessons! First to refine my spindle technique, and second to try a wheel. Not that I want one. Just curiosity about how they work. Honest. (Heading down the rabbit hole? Over to the Dark Side?)

Christina making lace on the lawn

Laurinda Reddig, crocheter extraordinaire and fellow OFFF teacher

I love it when I see my designs in the wild. This is Cindy with her beaded Fern Lace Shawlette.

Beautiful Turkish spindles in the Jenkins Woodworking booth

Some new things I fell in love with:

Francisco Bautista’s beautiful hand dyed, hand woven rugs. Read more here.

His son was weaving on Sunday.

Jodie McDougall’s beautiful buttons.

I bought this single cowgirl button for a special project (how could I not, since I was wearing my cowgirl boots?). Jodie explained how she makes her buttons, and had samples to show the process. Gorgeous.

There were animals, of course. This is my favorite look.

Good hair day, or bad hair day?

The weekend was capped by the eclipse of the full harvest moon supermoon.

I took these with my point and shoot, which has the best zoom in my limited collection of two cameras. A little blurry, but I was really happy to get any pictures at all. These were taken from the new Tilikum Crossing bridge (I just realized I’ve been spelling it wrong. One L!) My kids and I had a delightful evening chasing the moon.

The weekend was made complete by music and mimosas with friends.

How was your weekend? Did you go to OFFF? See the eclipse? Do tell!

8 Comments

Posted in classes, Pie Birds, Portland area fun

Tagged blood moon, eclipse, harvest moon, mimosas, OFFF 2015, supermoon

Presenting…Kilter!

Posted on September 24, 2015 | 6 comments

Kilter…

Off Kilter?

Both!

Presenting Kilter, a hat with maximum stretch due to the alternating stockinette/reverse stockinette sections. It looks great any way you wear it: centered on your head, pulled down over your ears, or tilted down over one ear, beret style. Knit in sport weight yarn from the bottom up, the top of the hat features a twirly, swirly square, so your hat is always slightly off-kilter! Kilter makes a great chemo cap, or a fun hat at any time.

Kilter is a simple project, great for multi-task knitting. I designed it as a chemo cap, but it’s cute on everyone. It takes less than one 100g skein of sport weight yarn, so choose something delicious!

You can find the pattern for Kilter on Ravelry. To celebrate this pattern launch, I’m offering it at 20% off the normal $6 price through October 1.

Are you going to the Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival this weekend? I’m sure you can find the perfect yarn for your Kilter there! I’m teaching tomorrow (Friday), Athena Entrelac and Fern Lace Shawlette. I’m shopping/playing on Saturday and Sunday! Hope to see you local knitters out and about.

6 Comments

Posted in classes, Knit, pattern design, Portland area fun

Tagged kilter hat, Knit, OFFF 2015

The seamy underside of knitting…

Posted on September 23, 2015 | 2 comments

Shannon Squire had a post recently on Instagram about (not) sewing in ends. We all like to put this off. Sometimes we just tuck the ends in and do the photo shoot without actually doing the finishing work! The dirty little secrets of knit designers…

The other day I was seaming the Tilt Shift Wrap that I knit during my KAL this spring. I finished the knitting, blocked the piece, but set it aside in favor of deadline knitting. In the time between then and now, I lost the leftover ball of yarn! Two searches later, success, and I could do my seaming.

Let’s talk about seaming for a minute. My options on this long stockinette seam were either mattress stitch, or a crocheted slip stitch seam. While I love a good mattress stitch seam, it wasn’t the right choice for this piece for me. The yarn is lovely DK weight Malabrigo Rastita. The weight of the wrap is going to be on that seam on my shoulder, which makes it pull a little bit. When I pulled on the seam, you could see the zigzag of the mattress stitch, which wasn’t attractive.

I opted to use a crochet slip stitch seam for my Tilt Shift Wrap. Very tidy, even with a little pull on it. It disappears into the ditch of the seam on the right side. Perfect.

This is not to say that this is the perfect seam every time. When I seamed my Summertime Blues wrap, I used mattress stitch. That wrap is knit in Knitted Wit’s Shine, a fingering weight yarn, and there isn’t as much weight on the seam. Knitters are thinkers! You are the boss of your knitting; choose what works best for you in each case.

While I’m thinking of it: The pictures above were taken in direct sunlight. Pretty harsh lighting, but I wanted to use the first picture on Instagram, and title it, “We’ll Seam in the Sunshine.” Most of the time I prefer indirect light; it makes pictures prettier.

I’m teaching a class this fall on using your iPhone/iPad for photographing your knits and editing your pictures. It’s not just about knits; the information is good for other photography, too. I’m teaching it at Twisted in Portland and Stash in Corvallis. Click the workshop and classes tab at the top of this page for dates. Come play!

Looking forward to wearing this Tilt Shift soon. Fall is in the air. Bring out your knits!

Hey wait; that’s mine!

2 Comments

Posted in classes, KAL, Knit

Tagged crochet slip stitch, mattress stitch, photography, seaming, tilt shift kal, tilt shift wrap

We’ve got class(es)!

Posted on September 18, 2015 | 3 comments

I love September. For me, it’s the start of a new year. My birthday, anniversary, school, knitting…I’ve been knitting like crazy all summer, but not everyone does. September is the beginning of knitting season for seasonal knitters, and classes pick up at this time, too.

I’m teaching in my usual spots, Twisted in Portland and For Yarn’s Sake in Beaverton. I’m also adding some classes at Wool ‘n’ Wares in West Linn. You can see the list of my local-ish classes here.

I also have some other gigs a little further afield this fall. I’ll be at the Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival on Friday, September 25 to teach the Fern Shawlette and Athena Entrelac Cowl.

Fern: Sideways shawl shaping, knit in i-cord edging and fern lace with optional beads

Athena: Beginning entrelac, and how to knit back backwards without turning your work

I’ll be at the Stitchin’ Post in Sisters on October 5 & 6 (Monday/Tuesday) with a trunk show, and to teach three classes, Thrill of the Thrum, Blocking: It’s Magic! and Athena Entrelac Cowl.

Thrumbelina: Don’t even try to resist the squishy loveliness of thrumming!

Blocking: You worked so hard on your project; why not help it look its best?

Action shot from the student participation portion of blocking class…

I’ll be at Stash in Corvallis to teach Athena and iPhone/iPad Photography, a fun new class. It’s not just for knitting; this class will help you with your photography, all around.

You might wonder why you would want to take a project based class, if you can read the pattern and follow directions. Good question! Classes are for camaraderie, and also for learning tips for better ways to do things that aren’t part of the written pattern. In my last Fern class I showed how to fix mistakes in lace patterning when you discover them one or two rows later, without ripping out the rows. A big time saver, but not something that would be written in your pattern. You also learn when a mistake is dire, and when you can shrug it off. All good things.

I love it when students send me pictures of their FOs!

This is Kristy with her gorgeous Aloha Shawlette, started in class and finished at home.

I love teaching knitters how to be the boss of their knitting. I hope you can come take a class with me this fall!

3 Comments

Posted in classes, Knit

Tagged class, Knit, Oregon Flock, teaching

Slip sliding away: Slip stitch cowl class!

Posted on September 17, 2015 | Comments Off

Just found out that my Slip Stitch Cowl class is a go this Saturday at Twisted, and there is still room for YOU. It’s a long class, 10:30 to 12:30 and 1:30 to 3:30, for an all day fun immersion into the world of slip stitch/mosaic knitting.

We start with learning how to make this fabulous colorwork, using only one color per row/round. Easy peasy!

Then you get to design your own cowl using techniques you’ve learned.

Comments Off on Slip sliding away: Slip stitch cowl class!

Posted in classes, Knit, pattern design

Tagged classes, slip stitch knitting

Aloha shawlette class: modified triangle shawls

Posted on August 16, 2015 | 6 comments

I’m teaching a class at Twisted in Portland on the next two Tuesday evenings, August 18 and 25. You’re invited!

My Aloha shawl and shawlette are the centerpiece of this class, so we’ll talk about basic lace stitches, the very fun shellflower lei stitch, and knit on edgings.

But the class isn’t just a how-to for this particular shawl. We’ll also talk about triangle shawl shaping, with both traditional and extended wingspans, and how to add a center panel to a regular triangle shawl.

Interested? Contact Twisted to sign up. I’d love to see you there in our new expanded classroom space across the street!

6 Comments

Posted in classes, Knit

Tagged Aloha shawl, classes, triangle shawl, twistedpdx

A little game of Yarn Chicken (contest), classes

Posted on July 2, 2015 | 42 comments

Edited to add: Contest closed! See next post for the results and winner.

I’m playing a little game of yarn chicken. Do you think there’s enough yarn left for me to get 1050 stitches? Yes or no. Leave a comment, and I’ll do a random drawing from the correct answers when I find out. Winner gets something fun from my stash!

Yarn chicken is always more fun with wine, yes?

In other news, I’m teaching three classes at Twisted next week: Monday Cast On, Bind Off, Saturday Tink Drop Frog and Blocking. I know it’s summer and you’re not sure you want to be playing with wool, but we have air conditioning! Sign up now and make it happen!

42 Comments

Posted in classes, giveaways, Knit

Tagged classes, contest, twisted, yarn chicken

Blocking: A cautionary tale

Posted on June 17, 2015 | 7 comments

You know I’m a big believer in blocking hand knits. It makes such a difference in the finished piece.

I love blocking my knits outdoors in the summer. Last month, just before TNNA, I finished my second Summertime Blues and took advantage of the very fine weather to block it in the back yard. And for the first time ever, a bird pooped on my knitting. Crap! And I do mean crap. I spot cleaned it, but there was a definite stain. No time to wash and re-block, so I wore it anyway. It was clean, just spotty!

Today I washed and re-blocked, but no luck. I think the sun baked it in. It’s small, not too noticeable (there are some darker dye spots in this semi-solid, but they’re blue, not greenish), and it’s on the back, at least the way I wear it.

So there you have it. Did I block it outdoors today? You betcha! What are the odds that it would happen again? I think I just dodged a bullet there!

Speaking of blocking, I’m teaching Blocking, It’s Magic this summer and fall:
Twisted in Portland, Saturday July 11, 2:30 p.m.
Wool ‘n’ Wares in West Linn, Saturday August 1, 2 p.m.
Twisted in Portland, Monday August 31, 5:30 p.m.

And I’m doing a short presentation on blocking for the Tigard Knitting Guild on August 20, 7 p.m.

Clearly, I’m a blocking evangelist! Do you block your knits?

7 Comments

Posted in classes, Knit

Tagged blocking, knit blocking, summertime blues