Meet Franklin
Want to Register? Questions? Please contact Lori Horak at lorih@sohopub.com or 212 937 2554
About Franklin
Designer, teacher, author and illustrator Franklin Habit is the author of It Itches: A Stash of Knitting Cartoons (Interweave Press, 2008). His new book, I Dream of Yarn: A Knit and Crochet Coloring Book was brought out by Soho Publishing in May, 2016 and is in its second printing.
He travels constantly to teach knitters at shops and guilds across the country and internationally; and has been a popular member of the faculties of such festivals as Vogue Knitting Live!, STITCHES Events, the Madrona Fiber Arts Winter Retreat, Squam Arts Workshops, Sock Summit, and the Taos Wool Festival.
Franklin’s varied experience in the fiber world includes contributions of writing and design to Vogue Knitting, Yarn Market News, Interweave Knits, Interweave Crochet, PieceWork, Twist Collective; and regular columns and cartoons for Knitty.com, PLY Magazine, Lion Brand Yarns, and his popular “Fridays with Franklin” feature for Skacel Collection. Many of his independently published designs are available via Ravelry.com.
He first became known as the writer of The Panopticon, one of the most popular knitting blogs on the Internet. Readers worldwide continue to drop in for a mix of essays, cartoons, and the adventures of Dolores the Sheep.
Franklin lives in Chicago, Illinois, cohabiting shamelessly with 15,000 books, a Schacht spinning wheel, three looms, and a colony of yarn that multiplies whenever his back is turned.
You can follow him online as @franklinhabit on Twitter, @franklin.habit on Instagram, or through his Facebook page.
What You Will Learn This Weekend From Franklin
The Knitting Exploratorium with Franklin Habit
A curious knitter is a happy knitter. Once you’ve mastered the basics, the best way to keep the excitement going is to try some of this, some of that, and some more of that other thing over there.
With Vogue Knitting favorite Franklin Habit as your guide, come blaze new trails your knitting, from centuries-old proportional patterns handed down orally from knitter to knitter; to shaping to fit anything from a rock to a rock star; to playing with color, embroidery, steeks, embellishments, and more. Come with questions; and be ready to dream, to experiment, to work, and to play.
We will focus a great deal at the beginning on the basics of shaping and proportion in knitting. The opening session will lay the foundations by looking at ways in which pre-literate knitters used simple measures and easy-to-recall formulas to make fitted garments like hats, mittens, and socks.
From there, we will look at the fundamentals of knitting to fit - how to calculate shaping for any object you want to cover in knitting. All through the weekend, we will mix in demonstrations of topics like steeks, embroidery as embellishment, designing new knitted fabrics using game play/randomization, and color. There will also be a basket for students to drop in questions about any knitting topic, and each day some time will be devoted to answering those questions.
Each student will be encouraged to experiment with swatches or projects of their own devising, according to their own interests; and Franklin will offer mentoring, advice, and guidance.
Participants must be fully fluent in the basics of knitting, including knitting, purling, casting on,
binding off, increasing, and decreasing. A willingness to work from charts will be extremely
helpful for some techniques.
Supplies to Bring
Worsted weight yarns in solids/semisolids, at least two balls wound and ready to be knit (but the more yarn, the better...as usual!)
16" circular needles and 24" circular needles in sizes (US 5/6/7) good for worsted weight
Tape measures (very important), scissors, tapestry needles, materials for note-taking, stitch markers
OPTIONAL (but highly encouraged): A teddy bear, doll, or similar small toy with arms and legs, in the region of 8 to 12 inches high, give or take an inch.
