shall we dance | PDXKnitterati

Just finished a weekend of Vogue’s Virtual Knitting Live. I taught 4 classes and took 2 classes. I loved the back and forth!

My newest class, Sheepy Steeky Coasters, was really fun. The knitting is done as homework, so class is devoted to securing and cutting the steek, and finishing the edges.

Look at all the happy new steekers! You can be one, too. I’m teaching this class again on Saturday February 5 for Twisted Yarn Shop via Zoom; you can register here.

One of the classes I took was called The New Colorwork, by Margaret Holzmann. It’s all garter stitch, working with blocks of color, kind of like log cabin knitting with some extra shaping and construction. The Pythagorean Theorem is our friend.

You can see the progression from the 2 striped pink blocks and small light blue box being connected with the dark blue yarn, and then closing the gap by knitting the dark blue rectangle (actually a rectangle on top of a triangle) between them. This will eventually (if I ever get to it) have 4 more pink blocks, and 3 more dark blue rectangles, to make a larger square with a dark pink diamond crossed by dark blue arms. Cool! Margaret is the designer of the Safe at Home blanket (link to her site) that’s been so popular during the pandemic. Her blankets of geometric block constructions are ingenious.

The other class I took was Keith Leonards’s Pool Party. We played with assigned pooling (center), and planned pooling (on the needles). Keith uses a much simpler, not mathy way to find the Magic Number for planned pooling; it was an epiphany.

It’s much easier than the mathy way I’ve been doing it, so I’ve just updated the instructions for my color-pooling Shall We Dance cowl, and the updated pattern is now available on Ravelry and Payhip. It’s 15% off through February 1, no coupon code needed. (Newsletter subscribers hold tight, a coupon will be in your next newsletter.) Also, I’m teaching a class with this cowl and yarn in 2 color options (Huckleberry Knits Aran 2 Ply BFL that was dyed specifically for this class) with For Yarn’s Sake via Zoom on March 6. (Yarn and pattern included in class fee.) Register here.

So much teaching AND learning! A perfect weekend. How was yours?

I have a couple new classes coming soon!

First up: Shall We Dance. Learn how to tame your skein with planned pooling! Space dyed yarns can be so pretty in the skein, but so jumbly when you knit them. Learn how to tame the color monster with planned color pooling. This Aran weight cowl in your choice of three simple stitch patterns will give you a quick jump start into planned pooling. Make the colors dance by adjusting your tension.

Instructions are given so you can find your magic number to cast on, in order to make the colors pool.

Scarlet Tang of Huckleberry Knits dyed a special 2 Ply BFL Aran for this class at For Yarn’s Sake. We have two colorways, Rock Candy (rainbow) and Legion of Boom (blues and greens, Seahawks colors). The class is this Sunday, May 19; register by phone or on the website. Hope to see you there!

My other new class is Next Steps in Brioche at Northwest Wools. I’ve taught four beginning brioche classes there since the beginning of the year. It’s time to move on to the next thing: increases and decreases! We’re using my Heliotrope Cowl and Heliotrope Hat patterns. Class will cover increases and decreases, and fixing mistakes. (Not that we’ll make any, right?) This class is on Friday, May 31. Call Northwest Wools to register, 503-244-5024.

So glad I finally played with planned pooling, and I’m still deep in a sea of brioche! What new techniques do you want to learn?