Out of an abundance of caution due to the COVID-19 coronavirus, we are postponing this event. We are securing new dates and will reopen registration soon. Please check back.
Casapinka has developed this very fun three-hour workshop from her years spent around knitters and in local yarn stores. This workshop is for those who want practical, personal, and simple methods for choosing colors for their knitting projects that require different color combinations. Do you struggle with choosing colors? Then this is your class!
There will be no color wheel, no strict rules, but plenty of laughs and demonstrations. This is more of a collaboration than a class; we all learn from each other and leave with new techniques that can be put into action immediately.
All of us have done it: We fall in love with that gorgeous skein of variegated yarn and then it goes and disappoints us when we knit it. Then we do it again, falling into the same trap! In this three-hour workshop, you will learn how to train your variegated yarn to work for you. You will learn what other yarns will work with your variegated yarn and the best stitches to look for to showcase your beloved yarn. There will be tips and tricks with general color use, and you will come away with confidence for how to use variegated yarns in your favorite knitting patterns.
Feel free to bring in a troublesome skein or two from home if you can’t figure out what to do with it.
Supplies to Bring:
3 to 6 samples of fingering-weight yarn, 20 yards each, 3 neutrals, 3 variegated yarns. (Silver gray, charcoal gray, cream, and sand are all good neutrals for this class.) One US 6/4mm knitting needle (or whatever you usually use for shawls.)
Homework: None!
This class is based on techniques forund in the Marcella shawl, a four-colored, crescent-shaped shawl that has all sorts of fun techniques in it, such as stranded colorwork, “made up” increases, slipped stitches, and a bit of mosaic—all of which we will learn together while having a bunch of fun!
The shawl has 4 colors but you are not required to have this for class (just sample yarn will be used.) We will work up a swatch so you can see how the colors and stitches relate to each other and you can gain confidence in making your Marcella shawl as you bring home your newfound techniques with you.
Supplies to Bring:
4 colors of fingering-weight scrap yarn—4 solids/tonals or 2 solids/tonals and 2 speckled/variegated. One US 6/4mm knitting needle or whatever size you typically use for shawls. A digital download of the pattern will be included with the class.
Homework: None!
Come and learn the techniques of wet-felting. We'll play with color, different fibers, and materials. We'll discuss the interaction of different types of fibers and the effects of layering in felting. This class is not recommended if you are allergic to wool.
Supplies to Bring:
Feltable materials will be supplied to the class at no charge. But if you have any fabric pieces that you would like to incorporate, please bring them.
Homework: Please let us know of any soap allergies. Please wear comfortable, closed-toe shoes and clothing you don't mind getting wet.
Double-knitting is a unique method of making a fabric with no “wrong” side and a built-in reversible colorwork pattern. Significantly different from the standard intarsia and Fair Isle colorwork that are so well known, double-knitting is a somewhat labor-intensive but wholly worthwhile technique to have in your repertoire. In this workshop, you’ll learn Alasdair’s 2-color cast-on for double-knitting, get comfortable with the techniques involved, then move into colorwork. At the end of the workshop, you should have a motif swatch and be confident that you can tackle a larger standard double-knitting pattern.
Supplies to Bring:
2 solid colors (one light, one darker) of plain yarn in the DK- to worsted-weight range and a pair of straight or circular needles in the size you would normally use for your chosen yarn.
Homework: None!
Bored with only two colors in your double-knitting? Add a third (or a fourth)! With more than two colors per row in double-knitting, the rules change a bit. Learn how to choose a color rotation and maintain it throughout a three-color pattern. In this workshop, you’ll get to play with three-color single-pattern as well as two-pattern double-knitting—and open new doors to design possibilities that were previously impossible (or at least improbable). You’ll also learn how to integrate the third color into a foolproof double-knit selvedge, and a bind-off that mirrors the cast-on.
Technique Requirements: You should be comfortable with modern (two colors at once) double-knitting from recent experience. The homework will help to refresh you if you are rusty. You should also be comfortable following knitting charts.
Supplies to Bring:
3 solid colors (one light, one darker, and one accent color) of plain yarn in the DK- to worsted-weight range and a pair of straight or circular needles in the proper size..
Homework:
Before arriving, please download the homework page at http://double-knitting.com/mcdkhw and follow the instructions.
