REGISTRATION IS NOW CLOSED
SEE YOU AT MADRONA
Check the Class Schedule below on this page to see which classes have openings. We will update the class schedule regularly marking classes that are closed.
Go to the Registration Instructions Page to register
- Class Schedule. Classes are listed in alphabetical order by teacher for each day along with class descriptions and level of experience required.
- Sort and Search the Class Schedule. Sort by teacher first name alphabetically, date, morning or afternoon class using the up and down arrows in the schedule header. Refresh your browser to return to the unsorted class listing. Use the small Search Box at the upper right of the schedule to do a search by teacher, date, or class name.
- Teacher Information. For more information about each teacher and links to their websites, click on the teacher’s name on the Class Schedule or go to the Meet the Teachers page.
- Be prepared with second choices. Many classes fill quickly so it is best to choose another class if you want to be sure to have a class in that time slot.
- Don’t over-schedule yourself. Leave time to play, practice new skills and finish projects, watch demos, or drop in on a clinic. There are lots of gathering spots in the Hotel Lobby and the Pavilion Rotunda and a great Marketplace to visit.
- Classes that have openings. Check the class schedule. We will update it regularly after registration opens and mark classes that are closed.
- Supply and Homework lists will be posted on the website in mid-December
- For lots more information visit the Winter Retreat FAQ page.
Repeated Classes: Here is a list of the repeated classes. We have also identified them in the schedule. As you look through the schedule, you will also find some classes on similar topics but taught by different teachers. So if one class is filled that you wanted you may be able to find another similar class to take.
- Amy Detjen: EPS – Elizabeth Zimmermann’s Percentage System Updated (Thursday PM, Saturday PM)
- Franklin Habit: Photographing your Fiber (Thursday AM and PM)
- Franklin Habit: Knitted Tessellations (Friday AM, Sunday AM)
- Stephanie Pearl-McPhee: Knitting with Mawata (Saturday AM and PM)
- Deborah Robson: Publishing Options for Textile Folk (Thursday AM, Saturday PM)
Class Schedule for Madrona Winter Retreat 2012
| TEACHER | DAY | MORNING 9am-12noon | AFTERNOON 1:30-4:30pm |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kris Abshire | February 16: Thursday | Arashi Point of Departure (Two day class: Thursday & Friday) CLOSED Total immersion in color and texture! Exciting explorations into the beautiful old world of Arashi Shibori as a point of departure to accomplish rich, sumptuous textures in this dye-resist art. We'll begin with undyed fabrics and papers, and students will learn to mix and apply a rainbow of brilliant, light and wash fast dyes, learn color theory and create their own palette. Then we will explore its application to garments, wearable accessories and jewelry. Each student will complete at least three projects, silk scarf, art card and wearable accessory. No Limits class for everyone Materials Fee covers all supplies: $55 | Class Continues |
| Sarah Anderson | February 16: Thursday | Simply Irresistible: Raw Fleece (3 hours) With the myriad of luscious fiber choices available, what could possibly be irresistible about unwashed fleece? This class will give students the opportunity to experience raw fleece and all of the hidden delights of processing your own. Sarah will discuss the practical to the exhilarating sense of accomplishment – what to look for when purchasing, cost, how to wash and the unlimited options for processing and spinning your fleece into yarns. Everyone: No spinning involved – Just touching, listening and questions! Materials Fee: $3.50 | No Class Session |
| Beth Brown-Reinsel | February 16: Thursday | Latvian Fingerless Mitts (6 hours) CLOSED Some of the beautiful knitting methods of Latvia will be studied in this class. Knit one of a pair of fingerless mitts to learn the following techniques which can be applied to mitten cuffs, sock tops or sleeves: a scalloped cuff, the herringbone braid and many subtle and beautiful variations of the half-braid. A choice of two-, three-, or four-color traditional motifs is incorporated in the main part of the mitt as well as the gussetless thumb and a picot edge at the end. Additional techniques to be discussed include knitting with two yarns in the right hand, two yarns in the left hand, or a yarn in each hand, as well as knitting with three or four colors. Intermediate Knitters Materials Fee: $1 | Class Continues |
| Amy Detjen | February 16: Thursday | Bavarian and Austrian Twisted Stitches (3 hours) These stitches are lovely and so very organized. This traditional style of knitting has captured the imaginations of knitters for many years. We'll learn several methods of performing Bavarian Twisted Stitches in the round, and we'll discuss reading those wily charts. Advanced Beginners and up who know how to knit in the round. No Materials Fee | EPS – Elizabeth Zimmermann’s Percentage System Updated (3 hours) CLOSED This class is repeated Saturday afternoon. EPS is Elizabeth Zimmermann's method of constructing a custom-fitted garment that has either a seamless yoke style or a Scandinavian dropped shoulder. We will mentally knit our way through one or two sweaters, and Amy will demonstrate techniques as we bump into them. Intermediate Knitters comfortable knitting in the round. No Materials Fee |
| Elise Duvekot | February 16: Thursday | Columns of Color with Knit One Below (3 hours) CLOSED Would you like to learn a completely new stitch pattern? In this introduction to the Knit-One-Below technique, you will knit two colors horizontally, one at a time, and yet you will create vertical stripes on one side and an interesting, very different pattern on the reverse side. Make swatches with differing selvedges for various purposes as well as bind-offs that match your cast-ons. This class will provide you with the skills you need to launch into a myriad of Knit-One-Below projects. Intermediate and up Materials Fee: $4 | No Class Session |
| Jared Flood | February 16: Thursday | No Class Session | A Taste of Lace (3 hours) CLOSED This course is designed to introduce knitters to the basic structures of lace knitting. Topics covered include chart-reading, hard and soft cast-ons and bind-offs, yarn overs and directional decreasing, planning lace projects, lace gauges and fabrics, reading your knitting, knitted-on edgings, and proper blocking techniques. We will begin working a lace sampler with simple motifs to accompany the topics covered in class. Advanced Beginners comfortable with basic knitting stitches and yarn-overs. Some chart reading experience is helpful. Materials Fee: $4 |
| Franklin Habit | February 16: Thursday | Photographing Your Fiber (3 hours) CLOSED This class is repeated in the afternoon. Bring your own camera and a small project or two, and learn the basics of lighting, depth of field, styling and common fiber-photography problems like capturing true color, capturing stitch definition and photographing lace. We will also learn how to make a light box at home, cheap! No prior knowledge of photography necessary. The emphasis will be getting the best possible shots using your camera. Everyone welcome No materials fee | Photographing Your Fiber (3 hours) CLOSED This class is a repeat of the morning class session. Bring your own camera and a small project or two, and learn the basics of lighting, depth of field, styling and common fiber-photography problems like capturing true color, capturing stitch definition and photographing lace. We will also learn how to make a light box at home, cheap! No prior knowledge of photography necessary. The emphasis will be getting the best possible shots using your camera. Everyone welcome No materials fee |
| Betsy Hershberg | February 16: Thursday | No Class Session | Bead Knitting Sampler (3 hours) CLOSED Betsy's incredible beadwork is a testimonial to the beauty of combining beads and knitting. She will guide you through an introduction to all that you need to begin adding beads to your projects and her enthusiasm will be contagious. You'll learn beading techniques while completing a sampler from a pattern Betsy supplies. With your sampler and written materials, you will have a reference for future work. Advanced Beginner and up Materials fee $2 |
| Judith MacKenzie | February 16: Thursday | Spinning Silk: First Steps on the Silk Road (3 hours) Silk is the queen of luxury fibers. It is lustrous, sensuous, expensive and altogether divine. It dyes like a dream, is stronger than stainless steel and can be spun as fine as a spider web. But it can be a bit tricky to spin so if you've had an "off with your head "experience with this queen of fibers, this is the class for you. We'll learn to spin two different types of silk, tussah and bombaxyii and try some of the lovely silk blends that are available in the market place. Ability to spin a continuous thread. Spinning wheel or spindle needed. Materials fee $10 | Spinning Silk 2: Silk Spinning Intensive (3 hours) CLOSED In this class, we'll look at how silk differs from other fibers and how to bring that uniqueness forward when we make yarn. We'll look at how to spin a variety of silks, including silk noil, hankies and rods. We'll look at how to ply silk and how to choose the right silk for our projects. We'll look at different blends, different diameters and some decidedly wild textures. We'll look at degumming and care of silk as well. Must have previous success spinning and plying silk or having taken the morning class. Spinning wheel needed - no spindles. Materials fee $15 |
| Nancy Marchant | February 16: Thursday | Basic Brioche (3 hours) CLOSED Does the brioche stitch still confuse you? In this class, you'll learn to "bark" (brioche knit) and "burp" (brioche purl) this luscious stitch into a world of unending stitch possibilities from the "queen of brioche," Nancy Marchant. She will cover the brioche method of making increases and decreases and explore stitch variations by making a sampler in class. Intermediate Knitter No Materials Fee | Beyond Basic Brioche (3 hours) CLOSED Learn to work plain brioche and brioche-stitch variations with two or more colors. You will make designer increases and decreases and create new patterning by moving the stitch around. There is still so much to explore in this newly introduced technique. You will leave the class inspired and ready to design your own brioche knitted projects. Intermediate Knitters who know how to work basic one color brioche stitch. No Materials Fee |
| Lucy Neatby | February 16: Thursday | Ship Shape Shoulders (3 hours) CLOSED A compendium of shoulder techniques to be worked on swatches. The importance of structure, eliminating doorsteps with short rows (regular or Japanese) and their application to shoulders. Three needle bind-off, internal, external, decorative and through intarsia. Handling cables and mismatch problems. Grafting with and without waste yarn and bound off edges. Afterthought shoulder shaping. Advanced Beginners and up Materials Fee: $4 | Double-Knitting for Socks (3 hours) CLOSED An exploration into a variety of Double-Knitting techniques applicable to the ardent sock knitter including : Tubular cast-on methods for 1 x 1 and 2 x 2 ribs. Two-color DK technique for double layer socks with a quilting technique to allow the soles to be stuffed with fleece if desired. How to create a double sole or a pocket in a single yarn sock. Advanced Knitters Materials Fee: $4 |
| Margaret Radcliffe | February 16: Thursday | Circular Knitting – 5 ways (3 hours) CLOSED An overview of five major approaches to circular knitting: double pointed needles, a single circular needle, two circular needles, magic loop and i-cord. You'll learn to cast on, join the beginning and end of round, work comfortably and bind off all five ways. Along the way, we'll address your individual questions and solve problems like stitches that are too tight or too loose. Advanced Beginner and up No Materials Fee | No Class Session |
| Carol Rhoades | February 16: Thursday | Spinning for Arans (6 hours) CLOSED This class introduces you to the breeds and qualities of wools that are most suitable for handspun Aran garments, particularly sweaters. We'll discuss the types of wool used for traditional Aran sweaters, practice a variety of preparation and spinning methods, and start spinning an Aran sampler by experimenting to match the desired yarn qualities. You'll spin Irish Galway (if available) or Cheviot wool into a thick, yet lofty and smooth, 3-ply yarn that has enough body for well-defined cable and twist stitches, but is not so firm that it feels like body armor. We'll begin knitting the sampler in class so you can see how effective your spun yarn is for the Aran motifs and stitches. Able to spin a continuous thread. Must be at least an advanced beginner knitter. Spinning wheel required. Materials Fee: $10 | Class Continues |
| Deborah Robson | February 16: Thursday | Publishing Options for Textile Folks (3 hours) This class is repeated Saturday afternoon. Today's opportunities for publishing are more varied than ever. That's great in terms of opportunities, but if you want to publish your work, you'll need to decide which path is right for you. This class will give you a map of the territory, a list of the vocabulary and skills you'll need, and an introduction to the tools for success. If you're just curious about the publication process, you'll gain an understanding of what both designers and publishers go through to share their ideas with you. Everyone welcome. Materials Fee: $2 | Introduction to Rare Breeds for Knitters and Spinners (3 hours) CLOSED We'll look at rare-breed wools from both the fiber and the yarn perspective. I'll have locks in class to examine and compare to the commercially spun yarns that we'll use to knit samples. We'll talk about what sheep breeds are rare, why they are rare, and why it matters so much that we vote with our spinning wheels and our yarn choices to keep them alive and growing wool for us. The talk part of the class will cover all the breeds listed as endangered by the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy (ALBC) and the Rare Breeds Survival Trust (RBST). The hands-on part will include several rare-breed wools that are available in the form of both fleece and commercially spun yarns. We'll talk about some creative efforts being implemented to help us obtain both raw wool and ready-to-use yarns. Basic knitting skills Materials Fee: $23 |
| Jane Slicer-Smith | February 16: Thursday | Texture: Purpose, Placement and Pattern (6 hours) Explore textures and their uses beyond the stitch pattern. Learn the stitch construction as well as the design use in shaping and styling. You will work on a swatch to learn the profiles of different stitches, understand stacking stitches to create ribs, explore alternative rib stitches and use the basket stitch for knitted on button bands. Jane will teach you how to raise the surface for bobbles, bells and leaf shapes, transport stitches for cables or traveling stitches for Zig Zag and diamond patterns as well as the function of cables in garment styling. We'll discuss all the many texture elements that combine to create successful garments. Intermediate Knitters Materials Fee: $6 | Class Continues |
| Sarah Swett | February 16: Thursday | Story Telling with Yarn (6 hours) This class is devoted to the exploration of narrative. Using straightforward design exercises, iconic figures, and references to examples of work in knitting, needlework and tapestry, we will discuss and experiment with a variety of story structures, investigating ways to develop your ideas and yarns into personal visual tales. No drawing or writing experience necessary. Everyone welcome Materials Fee: $3 HOMEWORK – no work just thinking and ideas | Class Continues |
| Jean Wong | February 16: Thursday | Tailored Knitting the Japanese Way (2 Day Workshop Thursday and Friday) CLOSED Join Jean Wong, a Nihon Vogue Certified Instructor, to move to the next level to adapt a pattern or create your own pattern for a custom fit. Using Japanese methods, Jean will teach you in class how to draft patterns by calculating stitches and rows to your measurements for a sample round necked sweater with set-in sleeves. This draft pattern you create will be custom fit to your own body measurements by using information from your knitted swatch and a Japanese gauge ruler. By learning these techniques you will be able to add your own personality to your knitting and be proud of the finished product. Intermediate Knitters interested in an introduction to Japanese techniques for creating custom fitted knit garments. It is helpful if you have completed one or two sweaters. Materials $26 and includes the gauge ruler you need for class and further pattern drafting. HOMEWORK | Class Continues |
| Our Traditional Charity Knit-in with Stephanie Pearl-McPhee | February 16: Thursday | Please join Stephanie Pearl-McPhee for a fun and rewarding evening and help support our Charity Partners: Doctors without Borders, Heifer International, and Global Fund for Women. 7:30 PM FREE Donations of knitted items and dollars for our local “Caring for Kids” charity are gladly accepted! |
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| Kris Abshire | February 17: Friday | 2ND Day – Arashi: Point of Departure continues (Two day class: Thursday & Friday) | Class Continues |
| Janine Bajus | February 17: Friday | Color Outside the Lines: The Fair Isle Tam (6 hours) CLOSED Many knitters want to design their own Fair Isle patterns but are hesitant to start from scratch. In this class you will work with a pre-defined colorway (8 colors purchased as a kit) so you can concentrate on learning how color is traditionally arranged in Fair Isle designs while feeling confident that the end result will look great. The tam pattern, which includes classic Fair Isle OXOs, peeries, and corrugated rib, will be colored in step-by-step. During class you will swatch the main pattern and we will walk through how to make all the subsequent color decisions. Must have experience in stranded knitting and knitting in the round. Materials Fee: $41 for kit (yarn and pattern with handout). After you register you will be contacted and can choose from 5 different colorways. | Class Continues |
| Beth Brown-Reinsel | February 17: Friday | No Class Session | Introduction to Twined Knitting (3 hours) CLOSED Curious about the 400 year-old Swedish technique of Twined Knitting? In this three hour class, knit one of a pair of wristers while learning a traditional cast-on, twined knitting, twined purling, and patterning (the "O" stitch, the Crook stitch). Learn how to manage your yarns so that untwisting becomes a cinch! Reading Twined Knitting charts is also included. Intermediate: Must be comfortable with dp needles or working with 2 circulars. Ability to hold yarn in right hand is very helpful but not required. Materials Fee: $1 |
| Carson Demers | February 17: Friday | No Class Session | Ergonomic Consultations for Knitters – small intensive sessions of 6 persons. Sign up for one of three sessions in which you will receive individual feedback from Carson. Session A: 1:30-2:30 Session B: 2:30 -3:30 Session C: 3:30 - 4:30 Ever feel aches or pains after or during knitting? Knitting does contribute to those aches felt throughout the body and there are steps you can take to reduce them. In these hour long small group sessions (limited to 6 persons), Carson will provide individual ergonomic analysis to assist you in knitting more comfortably, happily and healthier. You will further benefit from the small group interaction and the personal work Carson will do with each person. Handouts will be provided. During registration, you will be able to sign up for one of the sessions listed above. The cost of the session is $50. |
| Amy Detjen | February 17: Friday | No Class Session | Introduction to Double Knitting (3 hours) CLOSED Learn the basics of Double Knitting, including casting on, increasing, decreasing, and binding off. We'll practice both Open Edge stitches and Closed Edge stitches, and discuss when to use each. I'll demonstrate both methods of working DK (both sides in one pass, and 2 passes per row). If you don't know what that last sentence means, take the class and learn about your options! Advanced Beginner and up No Materials Fee |
| Elise Duvekot | February 17: Friday | Columns of Cables with Knit One Below (3 hours) CLOSED Do you love cables and want to break new ground? This class will introduce you to the Knit-One-Below technique and show how to incorporate a variety of two-color cables into a background of Knit One Below. These cables can be combined to form traveling stitches in multi-directional patterns that look like nothing you've seen before. Must have experience working cables. Materials Fee: $4 | No Class Session |
| Jared Flood | February 17: Friday | Seamless Sweater Workshop (6 hours) CLOSED Learn the foundations of seamless sweater knitting with Jared. This course will cover construction, percentages, techniques, and yoke variations. We will be exploring some of Elizabeth Zimmermann's sweater models and discussing her percentage system (EPS). You'll come away from this workshop understanding the seamless method of sweater construction and design and have the confidence to formulate original garments, without a pattern, to suit your own tastes – or alter existing patterns into seamless ones. Advanced Beginner plus experience knitting in the round. It is helpful if you have previous sweater knitting experience. Materials Fee: $4 | Class Continues |
| Franklin Habit | February 17: Friday | Knitted Tessellations: Playful and Powerful Patterns in Practice (3 hours) CLOSED This class is repeated Sunday morning. An introduction to the fundamental concepts of tessellation: the creation of interlocking patterns. Tessellations – motifs which lock together without gaps or overlaps – are as old as design itself. They can be found in some of the most ancient examples of human design, and were famously used in the modern era by the artist M.C. Escher. In this class, we will discuss and put into practice the basic techniques for creating tessellated patterns in hand-knitted fabric. Intermediate Knitters and a sense of humor, ability to concentrate and a taste for adventure. No Materials Fee | Working with Antique and Vintage Knitting Patterns (3 hours) CLOSED Don't let the tiny type and archaic language fool you: there's a goldmine of beautiful, functional designs waiting to be rediscovered within the pages of Victorian and Edwardian books and magazines. In this session, we'll discuss the history of patterns; the selection of appropriate yarns and needles; methods for deciphering and troubleshooting arcane recipes; and "reverse engineering" from photographs and extant pieces. You don't need to be a historian or re-enactor to enjoy this class–just a knitter with a curious mind. Being a curious knitter is enough! No Materials Fee |
| Ilisha Helfman | February 17: Friday | Jazzknitting (6 hours) CLOSED Ilisha has developed a new way to use the inherent qualities of hand-dyed yarn in knitting. She will show you how to follow the placement of color on hand painted skeins to form the shapes of our knitting. We will see how the same skein can produce completely different shapes when different colors are isolated and featured. We will also embrace characteristics natural to these knitted yarns (striping, pooling and curling) to make beautiful natural forms. Ilisha will show you her forms and collages which have been shown in galleries on the East and West coast and talk about the flow of ideas and experiments that led her from one shape to another. Unlike freeform knitting this is a considered and structured approach, though a liberating one as there are no patterns, no stitches to count and no mistakes to correct! Ilisha has now published the first book on Jazzknitting and you can see the amazing colorful shapes and examples awaiting your needles to create by going to www.followthethread.com. All knitters who are familiar with the long tail cast-on and knit and purl stitches. No Materials Fee | Class Continues |
| Judith MacKenzie | February 17: Friday | Dyeing with Lichens (6 hours) CLOSED Lichens are one of the most ancient life forms on our planet. Abundant in the Pacific Northwest, they have been used as a food, as medicine, as fiber and as a dye source for over ten thousand years. Come learn about this wonderful life form, learn to identify them, responsibly collect them and use them as dyes. In this day long class, we'll learn how to do a hot water bath, an archil bath and how to use them in conjunction with other nature dyes to produce a wide range of colors. You'll dye enough yarn to make a pair of warm and colorful handwarmers to keep your fingers warm and toasty as you walk through the woods with a new appreciation of these wonderful plants. Everyone Materials Fee: $20 | Class Continues |
| Lucy Neatby | February 17: Friday | Gilding the Lily: Finer Points of Finishing (3 hours) CLOSED Great knitting is a sum of small parts. We will be looking a variety of refinements to the detailing and finish of your pieces. We will use an easy provisional cast-on technique, work a facing, incorporate a selection of turning rows and fuse the facing to the main fabric. Preparation will be made for a seam involving no bulk or fabric loss, make an impeccable double-knit pocket and trim it with a choice of decorative pocket tops. All of this will topped with a modified bind off technique which improves ease, speed and adds elasticity to the bound off edge. Intermediate Knitters and upwards. Must have working knowledge of grafting (Kitchener Stitch) and Mattress Stitch as these will not be covered in detail. Materials Fee: $4 | No Class Session |
| Margaret Radcliffe | February 17: Friday | Fitting your Knitting: Making Sweaters that Really Fit (3 hours) CLOSED Learn to improve sweater fit by adding knitted darts and shoulder shaping. Measurement techniques and short row shaping will be discussed and practiced in depth. Students will have the opportunity to develop their own measurements for sweaters and the skills for shaping them to fit. Intermediate Knitters. Students should have made at least two sweaters. No Materials Fee HOMEWORK | Helix Knitting (3 hours) Knit circular stripes with absolutely no jogs. No one will ever find your beginning and end of round. Use as few as two colors or as many as you like. This technique produces perfect interlocking spirals of each color. Class will cover casting on, shaping, and working on circular needles, magic loop, two circulars and double pointed needles. Intermediate Knitters who are comfortable working small tubes in the round. No Materials Fee HOMEWORK |
| Carol Rhoades | February 17: Friday | Mohair Magic and Cashmere Dreams (6 hours) CLOSED Two of the world's luxury fibers come from goats-Mohair from Angora goats and Cashmere is the soft undercoat from Cashmere-type goats. For each fiber, we will start with a look at fiber characteristics and what to look for when buying these fibers. We'll look at the various forms available to handspinners: raw fiber, roving, and top. As we work with each fiber, we will learn preparation methods, spin a "generic" yarn and then experiment with thick and thin yarns, smooth and fuzzy yarns, and light and dense yarns. We will explore how to spin each so that we can expand the range of yarns possible from each preparation including type of draw, varying amounts of twist and number of plies. Finally we'll discuss the finishing and care of these luxury fibers and yarns and the fabrics made from them. Able to spin a continuous thread. Spinning wheel required. Materials Fee: $10 | Class Continues |
| Deborah Robson | February 17: Friday | Survey of Wool Types for Spinners (6 hours) CLOSED Interested in breed-specific wools but overwhelmed by all the different names and histories? Come learn about wool types! The multiple fleece varieties aren't simple or clearly delineated, but this survey will give you a solid framework for understanding the possibilities. You'll end the day with a far better comprehension of the amazingly diverse and versatile world of wools. We'll have fun exploring wool from six breeds with different characteristics. The sample packs will be generous; participants should be able to continue some of their explorations at home. Ability to comfortably spin singles and make a basic 2-ply yarn. Materials Fee: $30 | Class Continues |
| Gayle Roehm | February 17: Friday | Understanding Japanese Knitting Patterns (6 hours) CLOSED Western knitters aren't familiar with Japanese hand knitting designers, but their creative and often unusual designs can open up another world of knitting for you. Even without knowledge of Japanese, you can knit from Japanese knitting patterns once you become familiar with the charted format. This class focuses on understanding garment patterns. We'll learn how to "read" a schematic, and how to find basic information such as gauge, yarn requirements and needle sizing. We'll also cover the symbols used in stitch charts, which are standard among all Japanese publishers, and we'll swatch several to practice Japanese symbology. Bring any Japanese patterns that you may have questions about. Advanced Knitters - You must be very comfortable knitting from charts. No Materials Fee | Class Continues |
| Jane Slicer-Smith | February 17: Friday | No Class Session | Mitred Knitting (3 hours) CLOSED Mitres are the perfect introduction to knitting with color, simple, colorful and subsequently extremely rewarding. Students will learn the basics of mitre knitting with tips and techniques from picking up without knitting and joining colors to weaving in ends. Jane will take it a step further to create shaping by increasing or decreasing stitch numbers per mitre. Many designers have been having fun with mitres for many years, showing just how versatile and individual looks mitres can create. Confident Advanced Beginner knitter and upwards Materials Fee: $4 HOMEWORK |
| Sarah Swett | February 17: Friday | Motif Development for Knitting (3 hours) Two color knitting and duplicate stitch -- you love them but are not quite satisfied with using other people's designs. Perhaps you want to market a pattern, or highlight a favorite flower. How do you go from a vague idea or photograph to a knittable graph? We will explore these issues, as well as talk about how gauge, value and yarn choices effect the outcome. Advanced Beginner and up Some familiarity with two color knitting and/or duplicate stitch is helpful. Materials Fee: $3 | No Class Session |
| Jean Wong | February 17: Friday | 2ND Day of Tailored Knitting the Japanese Way continues (2 Day Workshop Thursday and Friday) | Class Continues |
| Friday Evening Teacher’s Gallery and Sarah Swett Presentation | February 17: Friday | 7:30 PM Evening gathering to view the Teacher’s Gallery and presentation by Sarah Swett. Sarah is one of the most exciting, versatile and passionate fiber artists working today. Her presentation, The Luminous Ordinary: Visual Tales in Fiber, will give you the opportunity to view her incredible work and know the back story of the richness and expanse of all that Sarah’s fiber art includes. If you are not familiar with Sarah’s tapestries please visit her website at www.sarah-swett.com. As Sarah herself describes “the design worth pursuing is not a design at all but love made manifest in color, texture, image. It is a second captured in cloth, an unfolding story, a small miracle.” Please join Sarah and her work in this luminous presentation! Following Sarah’s presentation you are invited to greet and talk with our teachers as they display their incredible work. |
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| Kris Abshire | February 18: Saturday | Esoteric Cloth: Devoré Burn Technique (3 hours) Who knew you could "burn" fabric into exquisite patterns, color and textures? The French, of course! Devoré comes from the French word "devour" and in this process renders a chemical removal of cellulose fibers. Kris will show you multiple ways to apply this technique from simple to complex from velvet to silk. Students will each have handwoven samples to experiment with, creating their own patterns for personal future reference using this unique technique. Everyone Materials Fee: $30 | Esoteric Cloth: Itajime Fold and Clamp Technique (3 hours) CLOSED Asia to China, Africa to Japan - beautiful resist patterns on cloth and paper have existed in antiquity around the world. You will see global examples of this dye art form and the evolution of contemporary applications. Using the traditional Japanese "fold and clamp" Itajime method, students will create their own personal record of this process in a lovely silk scarf project. Everyone Materials Fee: $20 |
| Beth Brown-Reinsel | February 18: Saturday | Traditional Gansey Techniques (6 hours) Students will learn how to construct a Gansey, a sweater form prevalent in the last century and early part of this century among the fishermen of the British Isles. A small scale sweater will be knitted using traditional construction techniques including the classic Channel Island Cast-on, split welts, seam stitches, traditional knit/purl patterns, the underarm gusset, shoulder straps with perpendicular joining, and picked-up sleeves. Alternative methods to these techniques will also be explored. Intermediate: Must be proficient with dp needles Materials Fee: $1.50 | Class Continues |
| Carson Demers | February 18: Saturday | No Class Session | Knitting Happily Ever After (3 hours) CLOSED Ever know a knitter who hasn't said, "Just one more row?" I'll bet they've also complained of aches and pains while knitting. You'll learn how knitting contributes to those aches and pains throughout the body and how to reduce them. A little knowledge and some simple changes can keep you knitting happily and safely ever after. Students who have taken this class have said that it should be "required learning for all knitters!" For everyone Materials Fee: $5 |
| Amy Detjen | February 18: Saturday | No Class Session | EPS - Elizabeth Zimmermann's Percentage System Updated (3 hours) CLOSED This session is repeated on Thursday afternoon. EPS is Elizabeth Zimmermann's method of constructing a custom-fitted garment that has either a seamless yoke style or a Scandinavian dropped shoulder. We will mentally knit our way through one or two sweaters, and Amy will demonstrate techniques as we bump into them. Intermediate Knitters comfortable knitting in the round. No Materials Fee |
| Jared Flood | February 18: Saturday | Introduction to Shetland Colorwork (3 hours) CLOSED Jared leads you through an introduction into the world of stranded colorwork. He will be discussing the history and techniques behind traditional 2-color knitting including dominant color technique, value and color theory as they pertain to planning projects, blocking & left-handed/right- handed vs. combination style stranding. You'll be working a "Speed Swatch" with 2 colors of fingering-weight Shetland wool and ending the class with a discussion and demonstration of steeking. Advanced beginners and up who are able to knit in the round and have some experience with stranded knitting Materials fee $4 | No Class Session |
| Franklin Habit | February 18: Saturday | Lace Edgings: Before, During and After (3 hours) CLOSED Lace edgings are among the most beautiful, varied and useful patterns in the world of knitting. Applied with care and skill, they can lift an ordinary project into the extraordinary. In this class, we'll practice several techniques for working edgings, including knitted-on, sewn-on, and simultaneous. Students need to be comfortable with basic lace knitting skills including simple chart reading. No materials fee HOMEWORK | Garter Jacquard: Garter Stitch Gone Wild (3 hours) CLOSED Poor, plain garter stitch. So often confined to the edge of the party, so seldom seen in anything but the same old blocks or stripes. But not today! Today garter stitch breaks out into fully-fledged stranded color patterns, courtesy of an intriguing but little-known technique called garter jacquard. We'll work charted garter jacquard patterns both flat and in the round, look at possible applications for it in sock knitting, and perhaps even chart our own patterns to play with. Advanced Beginner and up with basic skills of knitting flat and in the round. No materials fee |
| Betsy Hershberg | February 18: Saturday | Design and Knit your own Bead Knitted Jewelry (6 hours) CLOSED Betsy's knitted jewelry are one-of –a-kind pieces to die for. Check out her website at www.studiobknits.com and know you are learning the elements of this exquisite work from an expert. Betsy introduces all the tools and techniques you need to design and complete your own bead knitted bracelet or necklace. We'll explore color choices, bead placement, rules of bead stringing and chart reading. You'll create your own design and knit it in class! Finishing techniques include a new kind of graft the results in a seamless join for bead-knitted fabric. Intermediate Knitters with a sense of adventure who are comfortable using small needles and chart reading. No beading experience required. Materials fee $15: Betsy supplies all that you will need. | Class Continues |
| Judith MacKenzie | February 18: Saturday | Spinning Paper (3 hours) CLOSED Spinning paper is an old and honorable art; it's also fun and easy to do. It makes beautiful, washable and oh-so-wearable yarn. In this workshop, we'll spin several different types of paper, including mulberry, recycled and handmade. We'll learn how to spin a variety of diameters, produce different surfaces and textures and look at interesting ways to use these wonderful and unusual yarns. Ability to spin a continuous thread. Requires a spinning wheel or spindle. Materials Fee: $5 | Yarns Recycled: Reuse and Reduce (3 hours) CLOSED Got that old sweater you can't bear to part with but just can't wear? Five hundred balls of bits and pieces? Odds and ends of fibers stashed in little baggies? An outgrown silk shirt? This class will have you looking at fiber sources with new eyes and with a new set of tricks and skills to turn old fiber into new. We'll learn how to gather and prepare old sweaters to produce yarn, look at recycling fabric into tweeds and ways to knit and weave with our new found treasures. Ability to spin a continuous thread. Requires a spinning wheel or spindle. Materials Fee: $10 |
| Nancy Marchant | February 18: Saturday | Discovering Brioche Lace (3 hours) CLOSED Interested in a new lace technique? Brioche Lace is new, yet to be explored. Learn to apply brioche knitting to normally knitted lace stitch patterns to create reversible lace with different colors on each side. Lots of samples will be on display and discussed. Intermediate to Advanced – Familiar with knitting lace and reading lace charts as well as two color brioche knitting. No Materials Fee | No Class Session |
| Syne Mitchell | February 18: Saturday | Weaving Light: Electroluminescent Wire as Supplemental Warp (6 hours) Electroluminescent wire (or el-wire) is cool to the touch, flexible, and adds a glowing neon element to your work. We will be using drivers that can be set to either glow or strobe. Soldering el-wire will be demonstrated, but students will be using pre-soldered lengths in their projects. Come learn the tricks for success weaving with this slippery, delicate material, as well as the technique of supplemental warps, which can be applied to any weaving project. Students should be able to successfully complete the warping homework and should be familiar with the operation of their loom. No electronics experience is necessary. Materials Fee: $40, includes two 5-foot strands of el-wire, one driver, all connectors, batteries, and notes. HOMEWORK: Must Warp your loom at home before class. The loom can be rigid heddle, small table loom, or small floor loom like a baby wolf. Warping instructions will be provided. | Class Continues |
| Lucy Neatby | February 18: Saturday | Short Row Wizardry (3 hours) CLOSED A practical look at short rows and their many applications to better tailor your knitting. Try unwrapped, wrapped, yarnover and Japanese short rows and compare their merits. Short rows in Garter stitch and making a mitered corner. Planning to improve fit and finish by planning your own shapings for bulgy bits. Conversion of doostep shoulder directions to short rows. Advanced Beginners and upwards. Materials Fee: $4 | Lucy’s Hot Sock Tips: The little things that make the difference (3 hours) CLOSED A wide ranging selection of Lucy's most important sock tips and tricks, including Modified Conventional Bind-Off (which may revolutionize your life), slipping stitches fast and easy, running yarn markers and wonderful hole-curing sutures. We'll introduce you to the Australian Cousins, play with new-to-you needle configurations, Alternative heel stitch, Scallop holes and other decorative edges and so much more besides. Intermediate Knitters Materials Fee: $4 |
| Stephanie Pearl-McPhee | February 18: Saturday | Knitting with Mawata (3 hours) CLOSED This class is repeated in the afternoon. This class explores the pleasures of knitting with pure silk (silk hankies). We'll talk about how to make silk hankies (each is a stretched cocoon) and how to knit them straight from that form...no spinning at all! Lace, baby things, warm things…try this interesting and inexpensive form of silk. You'll be intrigued. Advanced Beginner Materials Fee: $10 | Knitting with Mawata (3 hours) CLOSED This class is repeat of the morning class. This class explores the pleasures of knitting with pure silk (silk hankies). We'll talk about how to make silk hankies (each is a stretched cocoon) and how to knit them straight from that form...no spinning at all! Lace, baby things, warm things…try this interesting and inexpensive form of silk. You'll be intrigued. Advanced Beginner Materials Fee: $10 |
| Carol Rhoades | February 18: Saturday | Hand Carding with Less Stress and More Fun (3 hours) We'll start with basic carding techniques and practice effective fiber preparation with hand cards of various types. Students will learn how to card gently and efficiently to minimize stress to fibers and to the person carding. Students will learn all about carders from choosing the right ones to us to adjusting techniques for differing fiber lengths, densities, and crimp, as well as for varying yarn diameter and density. There will be lots of hands-on practice, feedback and even a little exploration of yarn design and blending. No experience required Materials Fee: $5 | Blending Natural Color Wool Fibers (3 hours) CLOSED Fiber blends offer endless possibilities for wonderful yarns! In this class, we'll test many combinations of fibers to discover what is important when blending. We'll examine fiber qualities, such as strength, elasticity, and crimp, shrinkage rate, length, diameter, color and texture, as well as fiber cost and condition. Emphasis will be placed on experimentation during most of the class, but we'll finish with a discussion of how to make good and quick choices for desired yarns and finished products. Our base fibers will be Corriedale, Coopworth, and Shetland wools blended with various luxury fibers. Able to spin a continuous thread. Spinning wheel required. Materials Fee: $5 |
| Deborah Robson | February 18: Saturday | Understanding Breed-specific Wool Yarns for Knitters (3 hours) CLOSED What's all the buzz about breed-specific yarns? Why is it happening now, and why should knitters care? We'll look at fleece samples, talk about preparation and spinning techniques, and put a number of yarns on our needles and find out. You'll open windows to knitting ideas you couldn't have imagined without these treasures. Basic knitting skills Materials Fee: $20 | Publishing Options for Textile Folks (3 hours) CLOSED This class is a repeated on Thursday morning. Today's opportunities for publishing are more varied than ever. That's great in terms of opportunities, but if you want to publish your work, you'll need to decide which path is right for you. This class will give you a map of the territory, a list of the vocabulary and skills you'll need, and an introduction to the tools for success. If you're just curious about the publication process, you'll gain an understanding of what both designers and publishers go through to share their ideas with you. Everyone welcome Materials Fee: $2 |
| Gayle Roehm | February 18: Saturday | No Class Session | Challenging Stitches from Japanese Designs (3 hours) CLOSED Many knitters are intrigued by the interesting stitch work found in Japanese hand knitting designs. Such patterns are always charted with standardized symbols, making them accessible to the western knitter. In this class, you'll try out several stitches that will be new to the experienced knitter. Some of the charts are difficult to interpret, and some of the stitches may be difficult to execute, so bring an adventurous attitude. We'll do a quick review of Japanese stitch symbology, then you'll swatch four or five stitch patterns. You should have some familiarity with Japanese designs. Advanced - You must be very comfortable knitting from charts No Materials Fee |
| Jane Slicer-Smith | February 18: Saturday | Color Works: Intarsia Knitting (6 hours) CLOSED Jane will take you from the basics of color work to multi colored cast on edges for the ultimate in vertical stripes. Join yarns, weaving in ends and keep stitches even. Work vertical stripes from a diagram and take the mystery out of 'twisting' at color joins! Then into a colorful adventure with graph work and all the skills to allow you to enjoy Intarsia. You will follow graphs, prepare and place yarns, compare intarsia and Fair Isle techniques and learn the whys and wherefores of using each in your garments. Working with a swatch, you will step through graphs, picking yarns and color, discuss relationships between main colors and highlight colors, tricks to following a graph and marking your progress. Confident and adventurous Advanced Beginners and upwards. Materials Fee: $6 | Class Continues |
| Sarah Swett | February 18: Saturday | The Undercover Sketchbook (6 hours) CLOSED In this workshop we investigate idle thoughts, collect everyday tales and flirt with the mark making possibilities of needle and yarn on fabric. Using nothing but these familiar and intimate textures (and a bit of imagination), you will slide under the covers of a hand-sewn linen sketchbook (you do the sewing), to capture a moment, scribe a landscape, explore a stitch, or highlight swirls of favorite yarn -- then turn a page and begin again. Though neither embroidery nor drawing experience is necessary, the Undercover Sketchbook can be a compelling place for pencil junkie and stitch aficionado alike, not to mention all who are devoted to the exciting place where yarn and stories are one. Everyone Materials Fee: $20 | Class Continues |
| Andrea Wong | February 18: Saturday | Portuguese Style of Knitting: The Basics (3 hours) CLOSED Join Andrea and learn the style of Knitting she learned when she was 7 years old growing up in South America. The Yarn is either wrapped around the neck or looped through a pin attached to the shoulder in order to maintain a tension which is constant. This style is very efficient and easier on your hands and wrists. The advantages are that it is faster than either the American or Continental styles, it requires less hand movement, it maintains constant tension even for beginners and the purl stitch is easier than the knit stitch. Advanced beginners and up Materials Fee: $5 for knitting pin | No Class Session |
| Saturday Evening Banquet (sit down – no buffet) with presentation by Deborah Robson. Registration required. Please see registration page. Dinner is $48. | February 18: Saturday | Doors open at 6:15 PM – Sitdown Dinner (no buffet) Baked Salmon with green salad and veggies, dessert, coffee and tea – vegetarian alternative available on request. Registration Required $48. Deborah Robson, teacher, author, editor, publisher, researcher, knitter and spinner will present A Fiber Odyssey, the behind-the-scenes adventure in search to document fibers both rare and of all sorts. This wild ride, undertaken with her co-author Carol Ekarius, resulted in their fascinating and highly acclaimed Fleece and Fiber Sourcebook. Deb will be documenting their adventures both weird and exhilarating with many pictures during her presentation. You won't want to miss this fun! |
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| Stephanie Pearl McPhee | February 19: Sunday | Knitting with Mawata (3 hours) CLOSED This class is repeat of the Saturday sessions. This class explores the pleasures of knitting with pure silk (silk hankies). We'll talk about how to make silk hankies (each is a stretched cocoon) and how to knit them straight from that form...no spinning at all! Lace, baby things, warm things…try this interesting and inexpensive form of silk. You'll be intrigued. Advanced Beginner Materials Fee: $10 | No Class Session |
| Beth Brown-Reinsel | February 19: Sunday | Stranding Techniques for Color Knitting (6 hours) CLOSED By working on a tiny pillow cover, participants will learn knitting and purling in three styles (all yarns in the right hand, yarns in both hands, and all yarns in the left hand) on the right side and wrong side of the work in two, three, and four colors, as well as corrugated ribbing on the right side and wrong side of the work. The Norwegian Purl and weaving to minimize the size of the floats on the back will be included. Intermediate and up Materials Fee: $1.50 | Class Continues |
| Elise Duvekot | February 19: Sunday | Meandering Mittens with Knit One Stitch Below (6 hours) Learn the Knit-One-Below technique as you make small mittens in two contrasting colors. The first mitten has structured vertical columns with a pattern that looks as if it were cabled but isn't. In the second mitten, the columns will meander across the fabric and you will decide where your stripes are headed. Must have experience with double-pointed needles Materials Fee: $6 | Class Continues |
| Jared Flood | February 19: Sunday | Shetland Shawl Design (6 hours) CLOSED Jared will discuss the basics of lace design and each student will plan and begin their own original Shetland-style shawl. We will be discussing the basics of construction for square & rectangular lace shawls, including choosing stitch patterns, combining lace motifs, directional knitting/shawl geometry and basic math skills needed for calculating designs. Students may bring their own stitch dictionaries to broaden their design resources and are encouraged to follow their own inspiration. Intermediate Knitters who are comfortable reading charts. Materials Fee: $6 HOMEWORK | Class Continues |
| Franklin Habit | February 19: Sunday | Knitted Tessellations: Playful and Powerful Patterns in Practice (3 hours) CLOSED This class is repeated Friday morning. An introduction to the fundamental concepts of tessellation: the creation of interlocking patterns. Tessellations – motifs which lock together without gaps or overlaps – are as old as design itself. They can be found in some of the most ancient examples of human design, and were famously used in the modern era by the artist M.C. Escher. In this class, we will discuss and put into practice the basic techniques for creating tessellated patterns in hand-knitted fabric. Intermediate Knitters and a sense of humor, ability to concentrate and a taste for adventure. No Materials Fee | No Class Session |
| Sivia Harding | February 19: Sunday | Fill a Triangle with Lace (6 hours) CLOSED We examine the structure of the basic top-down triangle shawl and insert our choice of lace patterns to create an original design, with an eye to shaping, esthetics, and flow. Charting pat¬terns, shaping lace in pattern, modulation from one pattern to another, and types of edgings will be discussed. This workshop is a blend of lace skills, inspiration and discovery. Advanced beginner and up. Helpful if you are familiar with charts. Materials Fee: $8 | Class Continues |
| Ilisha Helfman | February 19: Sunday | No Class Session | Butterflies – The Next Step in Jazzknitting (3 hours) In this fun class students will explore the possibilities of knitting butterflies from all directions: top to bottom, bottom to top, even from inside out while using Jazzknitting technique. Each butterfly is an experiment in pooling colors with matching strands working on both ends of a dpn in opposite symmetry. We will find the repeats in yarns that have been re-skeined or balled and will try our hand at reverse cast-ons. All kinds of leftover multicolored sock and lace yarns can be used for these little gems: hand-paints, hand-spuns, commercially dyed and sprayed yarns, even solids in small areas. We will look at different ways to make bodies, heads, eyes, legs and antennae. We will also go over making butterflies as viewed from the side with single fabulous wings. We will talk about ways of highlighting our designs with beads and embroidery. Everyone will knit parts for at least one unique butterfly in class and most likely more, and you'll go home with your mind filled with infinite possibilities. Click here to see a picture of the lovely butterflies you will make! You must be familiar with Jazzknitting and have practiced the technique to take this class. There are a lot of resources for learning between registration and the retreat. We will give you those resources in the supply list. No Materials Fee |
| Betsy Hershberg | February 19: Sunday | Sculptural Knitting: Flat to Fabulous (3 hours) The world isn't flat and your knitting doesn't have to be! Utilizing techniques borrowed from the art of fabric manipulation, this class explores ways to transform plain and bead knitted fabric into three dimensional forms that can be used in jewelry design or a unique embellishments. While the pieces of fabric you'll knit and manipulate are small, their impact is anything but. Open the door to a world of creative possibilities you may never have dreamed of! Advanced Beginner with a spirit of adventure. Materials Fee: $5 | No Class Session |
| Mary Scott Huff | February 19: Sunday | Entrée to Entrelac (6 hours) Mary Scott Huff is back with the Madrona 2012 exclusive pattern and kit! This year, it's a stunning hat and mitten set, with Entrelac details. New to Entrelac? No problem! Mary will take you through all you need to know to make this gorgeous set. Click here to see the fabulous entrelac hat and mitten set that Mary has designed using luscious colors from Abstract Fiber Yarns. Advanced Beginner with some experience with circular knitting on double point needles. Materials Fee: $60 for the full kit of exclusively dyed yarn from Abstract Yarn and Mary's pattern. | Class Continues |
| Judith MacKenzie | February 19: Sunday | Bountiful Sheep: The Joy of Spinning CVM (3 hours) CLOSED These wonderful sheep have fleece like a paint box! California Variegated Mutants, developed in the 1970's, are a handspinner's dream. Wonderfully soft, with amazing crimp, the rich warm colors run both vertical and horizontally making this fleece a delight to prepare and spin. We'll learn how to choose a good fleece, how to wash it and prepare it for spinning. We'll look at a variety of spinning methods to see what suits your project best. Ability to spin a continuous thread. Requires spinning wheel or spindle. Materials Fee: $10 | Spinning the Wild: Bison (3 hours) CLOSED Bison have roamed the vast expanses of the Great Northern Plains for twenty thousand years. The harsh and unforgiving climate of these grasslands has produced an amazing undercoat to help these animals survive. Luxuriously soft, light as a cloud and a true pleasure to spin, bison down is a truly rare fiber, never available in commercial quantities. In our class, we'll learn how to spin and finish these beautiful fibers, creating yarns that will be heavenly for both weaving and knitting. And, we'll also learn a little about these three amazing animals and the cultures that live and depend on them. Ability to spin a continuous thread. Requires spinning wheel or spindle. Materials Fee: $15 |
| Nancy Marchant | February 19: Sunday | Manipulating Brioche Stitches (3 hours) Learn to play with the design possibilities of the brioche stitch in this class. We will experiment with syncopated brioche and create brioche "pods". Then we will move into brioche crossed stitches and cables. You will leave with a sample of entirely new brioche stitch techniques. Intermediate Knitters who know how to work two-color brioche stitch. No Materials Fee | No Class Session |
| Lucy Neatby | February 19: Sunday | Taking the Plunge: Launching into your own Designs (3 hours) CLOSED Let your knitting fill your needs. Working from your intended yarn and / or ideas we will develop a game plan for your design. Exploit all the advantages of designing your own knitting. How to define your 'canvas' and make every stitch count. Develop strategies for handling the intimidating blank piece of paper. Set limits and use the defined parameters to spark off new ideas. Sensitize yourself to design sources and let the yarns speak to you. The importance of swatches and playtime. Creating a yarn palette from your stash. Advanced Beginners and Upwards Materials Fee: $4 | Colors: The More the Merrier (3 hours) Free yourself from the tyranny of dye lots and find uses for your odds and ends. Experiment and play with yarns, learn about yarn storage, handling and preparation of palettes for your projects. Compose your own yarn without spinning and blend your own colors without a dyepot by mixing weights and fibers. We will try a variety of techniques including gradual shading, stranded knitting and intarsia, both controlling colors and using random oddball techniques. Embellishing or removing color 'errors'. Intermediate Knitters and upwards Materials Fee: $4 |
| Margaret Radcliffe | February 19: Sunday | No Class Session | Perfect Your Circular Knitting (3 hours) Unsure how to join your knitting into a circle without twisting it? Do double pointed needles make you feel like you're wrestling with a hedgehog? Wish you understood how to work on two circular needles or magic loop? Unhappy with loose stitches between your double pointed needles? Want to know how to convert patterns from flat to circular and disguise the "jog"? Learn the answers to all these questions and more. Advanced Beginners and up No Materials Fee HOMEWORK - Minor |
| Gayle Roehm | February 19: Sunday | No Class Session | Using Japanese Stitch Dictionaries (3 hours) Knitters are finding that Japanese stitch dictionaries offer a wealth of beautiful stitch patterns, but it can be hard to follow charts for complex patterns. We'll review how to read Japanese charts, and explore the intricacies of some of these stitches by swatching two or three. We'll discuss the available dictionaries, and sources for obtaining them. If there's time, we'll also begin designing a garment with a Japanese chart. Advanced - All stitch patterns are charted, so you must be comfortable knitting from charts. No Materials Fee |
| Jane Slicer-Smith | February 19: Sunday | Fit and Style (6 hours) The essence of style is the fit. Jane will show you some of the simple ingredients and share tricks and techniques she has learned over her years of designing hand knits and made to measure garments. Shaping – hip, bust, armhole – and what should "fit" and where "ease" is essential. Jane has it all. Bring a favorite garment and we'll look at the key ingredients to create a favorite. If you have a yarn you wish to knit bring a tension swatch along to the class too. You will see some garments from Jane's collection and she'll explain how she approaches her designs and sizing options. Simple changes can change a garment's silhouette and, therefore, the wearer's silhouette. These tips and techniques can be applied to many knitting patterns. Confident advanced beginners and up Materials Fee: $6 HOMEWORK | Class Continues |
| Sarah Swett | February 19: Sunday | Introduction to Weft-Faced Fabric: The Tapestry Bag (6 hours) CLOSED Experience the pleasure of weaving and get a taste of tapestry while making a sturdy pouch on a portable, cardboard loom. This class will introduce you to the building blocks of tapestry -- techniques such as shape building with slits and eccentric weft -- with a project that is straightforward, portable and a marvelous place to highlight tiny bits of special yarn. Everyone Materials Fee: $12 | Class Continues |
| Andrea Wong | February 19: Sunday | Two Color Knitting – Portuguese Style (6 hours) CLOSED This workshop will give you a new perspective on two-color knitting! Exploring the purl stitch only (much easier to perform in Portuguese Style) we are going to work on a child hat inside out using two knitting pins attached on the shoulders. You will learn the use of knitting pins in Portuguese Knitting Style and apply it to two-color knitting. Intermediate to Advanced Materials Fee: Optional - You may purchase knitting pins in class for $5 each. | Class Continues |
| Jean Wong | February 19: Sunday | Fine Finishing Techniques (6 hours) Learn the unique Japanese finishing techniques that will give your knitted garments a truly professional look. Jean covers seaming, using short rows for proper shaping of shoulder slope, shoulder joins, appropriate use of ribbing, joining yarns invisibly and how to cast off the rib to give a garment elasticity and fluidity. Advanced Beginner and up. Materials Fee: $10 HOMEWORK | Class Continues |