Tag Archives: teaching

Sheeper than Therapy retreat

Posted on October 9, 2016 | 1 comment

Moving backwards to move forward! Before my meeting with the Boss, I was at St. Anthony’s Retreat Center in Three Rivers, California to teach at the Sheeper Than Therapy Guild’s fall retreat. We had a great time. The weather was perfect.

We played with Log Cabin blocks

Braided Wristlets

And the fun stitches of the Tilt Shift Wrap

We finished up Monday morning with an overview of photography and editing on mobile devices (phone and tablet).

This was a very fun group of knitters to hang out with! Many thanks to Ann for organizing, and to Susan for recommending me. Susan knit my 2014 Rose City Yarn Crawl mystery shawlette, and met me during the crawl.

Want to know more about the weekend? Here’s Renee’s blog post.

While I was knitting there, we noticed something interesting on my yarn label. My fellow Pie Bird Claudia gave me this yarn many years ago. It’s lovely, lovely stuff: 65% Cashmere and 35% silk. So soft, and it knits up into an airy dream.

The name of the yarn is Bollicina, which means bubble in Italian. The label features the treble staff, with two notes, Fa and Re. Why? Google Translate tells me that “fare” means “to make” in Italian. So it’s a big musical pun!

Now I’m home, writing up four new patterns, and planning what happens next. Onward!

1 Comment

Posted in classes, events, travel

Tagged knitting retreats, Sheeper than Therapy, teaching

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

Astoria StitchFest: Check!

Posted on October 19, 2014 | 2 comments

Last weekend’s first ever Astoria StitchFest was a delight. It was a small event, but very nice. The weekend began with a delightful Stitch Feast at the Baked Alaska, right on the river. We had a little show-and-tell fashion show after dinner.

The classes were held in the light and bright rooms above the Liberty Theater, across from the historic Hotel Elliott. Mary Scott Huff and I taught knitting, and Laurinda Reddig taught crochet. I taught Cast On Bind Off, Slip Stitch Cowl Design, and Blocking: It’s Magic. I think everyone went home with new skills.

I had a free afternoon, so I sat in on Mary Scott Huff’s Sassy Selbuvotter class. She is a fabulous teacher, and also fun to hang out with! Here’s the beginning of my mitten.

Classic Selbuvotter (mittens in the traditional style of the town of Selbu, Norway) have a gusset thumb, but these sassy mitts will only have a slot thumb. I was curious about Norwegian mittens, because I had knit these many years ago.

These are the Selbu Mittens from Folk Mittens by Marcia Lewandowski. The have a fake gusset (no increases, just patterning to look like a gusset) and a slot thumb. They’re kind of a mix of thumb techniques. My next Selbuvotter will have a traditional, real thumb gusset, because I like the way they fit!

Astoria sits at the confluence of the Columbia River and the Pacific Ocean. It’s a fun mix of the old and the new. I didn’t have a lot of time to explore, but I popped on down to Coffee Girl for lunch on Saturday because my singing buddy Claudia loves it, and used to sing there.

I didn’t realize that Coffee Girl is right on a pier that houses the West’s oldest cannery building.

I worked at a salmon cannery on Kodiak Island for five summers to pay for college. We even canned for Bumble Bee. This brought back all sorts of memories.

We didn’t look quite like this, but aprons, hair nets, and steel toed rubber boots were the uniform!

Canneries were a big part of Astoria’s history. Even the waste baskets on the streets downtown acknowledge this.

Mary and I had rooms at the Grandview Bed & Breakfast, a very interesting Victorian house. My room was breathtakingly gorgeous, with lace draperies around the bed, and at the entrance to my sitting room

which was a great place to relax.

The sitting room had a view of the Columbia River, and the bridge that crosses to Washington.

Many thanks to Bonnie Lively and LeAnn Meyer, the organizers of Astoria StitchFest. I had a fabulous time, and hope that all the participants did, too. I’d love to do this again next year, and you should come, too!

2 Comments

Posted in events, Knit, travel

Tagged Astoria, Astoria StitchFest, classes, Knit, Laurinda Reddig, Mary Scott Huff, mittens, selbuvotter, teaching

New classes for fall

Posted on September 25, 2014 | 3 comments

I’m teaching several new classes this fall. I’m most excited about this one, because it has the most possibilities: Slip Stitch Cowl Design. It’s an intro to slip stitch knitting, and we explore this fabulous colorwork technique that uses only one color per row/round.

Using only one color per row/round makes it really easy to manage your yarn. We also explore how light and dark colors interact with each other, and why. After the introduction to slip stich techniques, we figure out how to apply this to a simple cowl. A tiny bit of math, and you’re the designer of your own cowl! My ZigZag Lightning Cowls are based on this slip stitch technique. Remember, it’s only one color per row/round!

This class is being offered at the first ever Astoria StitchFest on Sunday, October 12, and at Stash in Corvallis on Saturday October 25.

I’m also teaching an introduction to lace class using my Beanstalk Scarf. It covers basic lace stitches, and working with written instructions and charts. It also includes a fabulous knit-in i-cord edging. This class is offered at Twisted in Portland on Tuesday October 14 and at For Yarn’s Sake in Beaverton on Sunday November 2.

My third new class is an intro to cables class, using my Snowy Woods Cowl pattern. This class covers cabling with and without a cable needle, twisted stitches, and using charts and/or written instructions. It also features the two-ended long tail cast on, which prevents you from running out of tail before you run out of cast on. This 2 session class is offered at Twisted on Sundays November 16 and 23.

I love teaching knitters new techniques, and how to be the boss of their knitting. Come join me and rule the world!

3 Comments

Posted in classes, Knit

Tagged Astoria StitchFest, Beanstalk scarf and mitts, classes, Knit, snowy woods cowl, teaching, zigzag lightning cowls

OFFF 2014 is just around the corner

Posted on August 31, 2014 | 2 comments

Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival is coming right up! September 27-28, and there are workshops on Friday, September 26, too. I’m teaching two classes, Blocking on Friday afternoon and Tink Drop Frog: Fixing Mistakes on Saturday afternoon. These are expanded versions of classes I teach in yarn shops, and we’ll have three hours to go through even more fun and demonstration on both of these topics. I hope you’ll join me.

If you’ve already mastered these knitterly topics, there are a lot more fiber-related classes available; you can see the full list here. Taking classes at OFFF is fun, and encourages the organizers to keep offering them from year to year. If you want more knitting classes, sign up for knitting classes! The same goes for spinning, weaving, felting, livestock management…The early registration deadline requires a postmark by September 5. This is the make or break day; if a class doesn’t have the minimum number of students by the registration deadline, the class won’t be offered. You can sign up for classes at OFFF, but only if they make the minimum by the early deadline, so why wait?

What else is fun at OFFF? Well, there are the adorable animals.

And the vendors! I love shopping the booths at OFFF. I’ve purchased spindles, yarn, fiber, books. There are vendors both outside on the lawn, and in the exhibition halls. (These pictures are from previous years.)

Knitted Wit on the lawn

Sincere Sheep, on the lawn

StitchJones inside

And you can always find people to knit and spin with.

So mark your calendar, and I’ll see you there, either in class, or shopping, or on the lawn spinning or knitting, or?

And here’s a teaser for you: My Snowy Woods Cowl KAL casts on September 1. I’m extending the discount on the Snowy Woods pattern through Thursday September 4; use the discount code FROST when checking out to get $2 off your pattern. Here’s the link to the pattern page on Ravelry. You can join the KAL on my Ravelry page for chatter and support.

Check back tomorrow, September 1, to learn how to avoid running out of tail for your long tail cast on!

2 Comments

Posted in events, Knit, spinning, yarn

Tagged OFFF, Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival, snowy woods kal, teaching

Astoria StitchFest 2014

Posted on July 15, 2014 | 5 comments

Do you love knitting and/or crocheting? Do you love the Oregon Coast? Here’s a winning combo for you: Astoria StitchFest. This is a brand new event October 10-12 in Astoria, Oregon. I’ll be teaching there, along with Sivia Harding, Mary Scott Huff, and Laurinda Reddig.

I’m teaching Cast On/Bind Off, Blocking, Entrelac, and a new class, Slip Stitch Designing. I’m especially stoked about sharing the magic of slip stitch knitting, which results in colorful patterning, but only one color is worked per row. Here’s an example of a slip stitch cowl I designed.

I hope you’ll come join us in Astoria this fall. More details about the classes, the StitchFeast dinner on Friday, and places to stay in Astoria are on the website.

5 Comments

Posted in events, Knit

Tagged Astoria, Astoria StitchFest, classes, crochet, Knit, Oregon, slip stitch knitting, teaching

Claramel! and a whirlwind weekend…

Posted on October 14, 2013 | 2 comments

I had a great weekend, full of knitting and blogging fun. Saturday afternoon I taught Tink Drop Frog at Twisted, a class on how to identify and fix mistakes. I love teaching this class; it’s very empowering for students. We had two knitters who had very different knitting; all the knit stitches were twisted! The fascinating thing was that each had arrived at this look by very different paths. One was knitting all her stitches through the back loop. The other was purling with the yarn running clockwise instead of counterclockwise around the needle; this commonly happens with continental style knitting because it’s easier to pick in that direction. So we talked about ways to keep or change that (Eastern Combined Knitting, anyone?), because ultimately knitting is about how to get the look *you* want. And then we learned about tinking, laddering down, and how to get your knitting back on the needles when you frog. And yes, I’m aware that this paragraph confirms my knitting nerdiness.

After class I headed down to Powell’s Books to hear Clara Parkes read from her new book, The Yarn Whisperer. Clara is smart, charming, and witty. She had a little knitting limerick contest to give away some of her famous Claramels, and I won one! I *think* it was chocolate and espresso; I *know* it was delicious.

I’m looking forward to reading my autographed book!

On to the next event! Local journalist, blogger, all around great guy George Rede has a Voices of August feature on his blog, with guest bloggers all month. This was my second year guest posting on his blog. George has a meet-up for his guest posters, and it is so much fun to meet the other bloggers in person!

That was quite the afternoon/evening. But it was all good. Sunday was a little bit calmer. It was gorgeous out, but I had to take a nap between events, so I missed the sunshine! The day ended with the kids over for wonton soup. (Recipe in the linked post.)

How was your weekend?

2 Comments

Posted in Blogging, events, Knit

Tagged clara parkes, powells books, teaching, Tink Drop Frog, Voices of August, yarn whisperer

Where I’ll be…teaching!

Posted on August 19, 2013 | 4 comments

I’m teaching a little further afield in September. On Saturday, September 21, I’ll be at Stash in Corvallis. We’ll do Tink Drop Frog: How to Fix Mistakes in the morning at 10:30 a.m., and Cast On, Bind Off in the afternoon at 1:30 p.m. Both of these classes are intended for advanced beginners and beyond.

On Sunday, September 29, I’ll be at Oregon Flock & Fiber Festival (OFFF) with an expanded version of Cast On, Bind Off. I hope to see you there! Pre-registration needs to be postmarked by September 6 for all OFFF classes; classes may be cancelled if they don’t have enough students registered by then.

Here’s the scoop on Cast On, Bind Off:
How many cast ons do you know? Why do you use the one that you use? Tired of running out of yarn with your long tail cast on? Come to class and learn some new tricks! We’ll cover long tail, knitting on, cable cast on, crochet provisional cast on, and maybe more depending on time. We’ll also talk about when/why you might choose one over another, and some bind offs that go well with your new cast ons.

And I’m teaching at Twisted here in Portland throughout the fall; contact Twisted to register.
Intro to Circular Knitting (hats): Sept. 23 & 30
Tink, Drop, Frog: Oct. 12
Garland Sideways Lace Shawl: Oct. 26