Workshops

Nadira is a Knitwear & Textile Designer from Brooklyn, New York. Her personal practice fuses traditional craft with modern knitting technology, while her passion for sharing her love of craft led her to begin Chocolate + Yarn, a multidisciplinary crafting experience for yarn crafters. Dira believes that hand-making is a primal act that connects us to our environment, ourselves, and our communities at large and is an act of defiance in our increasingly digital world.

After being inspired by her late grandmother's handknit and crocheted pieces, Nadira decided to take her first knitting class at the age of 18. What started off as a hobby, ultimately led Dira to move to England and earn an MA in Knitwear Design.

Dira trained and worked in the fashion industry in both London and New York, with luxury labels including Donna Karan and JW Anderson (LVMH) and has been featured in The New York Times, Time + Leisure Magazine, American Way, and Knit.1 Magazine. She presently resides and designs in California.

Learn how to think and design like a fashion designer! The objective of the workshop is to help knitters and crocheters to discover and develop their own unique creative voice through their craft. Using drawing, writing, and visualization exercises, students will learn the process of how to transform their unique inspiration into tangible projects, while experimenting with color, texture, and form. The point of the workshop is not for students to leave with a finished object, pattern or to perfect a technique, but rather, to have a series of inspirational swatch samples and material for a new project.

Technique Requirements: knit/purl; cast on/bind off; increase/decrease; chart reading; have knit a few accessories; able to write own patterns; basic finishing techniques; advanced finishing techniques; Intermediate Crochet

Supplies to Bring:

Knitting and/or crochet tools in a few different sizes yarns/notions for experimentation/swatching in class (you are encouraged to not just bring not just new yarn/ but your favorite odds and ends from your stash), pen and notebook for note taking drawing materials of your choice, content for mood board (see "homework").

OPTIONAL: stitch pattern book

Homework:
We will be creating a 'mood (inspiration) board' in class to get your creative juices flowing for your own unique knit or crochet design. Please research and bring in drawings, photographs, color samples, magazine, images of garments or accessories that you love, fabrics, yarn, inspiring quotes, etc. to class for your mood board.

When Shellie Anderson was seven years old, her grandmother taught her to knit. Since that day, knitting has been a true passion for her. Over the years she would put down her knitting needles for a while, only to pick them back up again. A few years ago, Shellie picked up the needles again with the goal of becoming a knitwear designer, and for five years she was lead designer at Shibui Knits. That was an exciting challenge and now she is ready for new things and is excited to share her independent label, Shel Designs, with the knitting community.

This class focuses primarily on the tubular cast-on and bind-off, and you will learn how to calculate and convert stitch counts from a traditional cast-on. The following techniques will be covered:

● Waste yarn tubular cast-on, both flat and in the round
● Tubular bind-off, both flat and in the round
● Crochet provisional Cast-On
● Various other cast-on & bind-off techniques as time allows

Supplies Needed:

● DK or worsted weight yarn to swatch with
● Appropriate size knitting needles and crochet hook
● Waste yarn
● Tapestry needle

Homework:

None

The main focus of this class will be neck and shoulder shaping, as well as seaming and picking up collars neatly. I’ll also present a few of my special “tips & tricks” for knitting garments. The following techniques will be covered:

● Short-row shoulder shaping
● Neck shaping
● 3-Needle Bind-Off
● Picking up stitches for the collar

Supplies to Bring:

● Worsted weight yarn

● Size 8 (5 mm) needles

● Spare size 8 (5 mm) needle for 3-Needle Bind-off

● Size 7 (4.5 mm) 16ʺ circular needle

● Stitch markers

● Stitch holders

● Tapestry needle

Homework

● Make two: With worsted weight yarn, using size 8 needles, CO 52 sts. Work in Stockinette Stitch for 2-3ʺ. Place sts on holder or leave live on needles

Michele Lee Bernstein, PDXKnitterati, loves designing accessories, especially if they use one or two skeins of very special yarn. She's fond of texture (brioche, lace, entrelac, elongated stitches) and how interesting techniques can be used to make small objects sing; her patterns are available through Ravelry.com. She loves teaching knitters to be the boss of their knitting, and does so at local yarn shops in Oregon, fiber festivals, and guild retreats. Find her on Instagram, Facebook, Ravelry, and Twitter as PDXKnitterati.

Brioche knitting is the current “it knit” and you can do it, too! Brioche knitting is easier in the round than flat, and even easier with two colors rather than one. We’ll learn basic brioche rib, and then move on to the increases and decreases in my Brioche Pastiche Hat. We’ll also learn how to fix common mistakes in brioche knitting.

Technique Requirements: Knit/purl; cast on/bind off; working in the round; have knit a few accessories

Supplies to Bring:

One light colored and one dark colored heavy worsted to Aran weight yarn, 100 yards each (example: Malabrigo Worsted), and 16 inch US 6 circular needle (no magic loop or dpns for first time brioching, please), one stitch marker for beginning of round

Homework:
With dark color, loosely cast on 72 (78) sts for 18” (19”) hat using long tail cast on. Join to work in the round, then K 1 round. Bring yarn to front and leave it hanging there.

In this three-session workshop, Julie Weisenberger introduces the Cocoknits Method of sweater knitting, outlined in her book Cocoknits Sweater Workshop. The beginning four sections of the Cocoknits Method will be covered, including instruction on how to use the Cocoknits Sweater Worksheet in coordination with colored stitch markers.

Session 1: In the first class, students will create the beginning of an Emma sweater (corresponding to Section I: Upper Back) with the bulky yarn they’ve swatched. Julie will give an overview of the Cocoknits Method of knitting top-down sweaters while the students are knitting.

Session 2: The second class covers Sections II and III from the Cocoknits Sweater Workshop book. These sections cover creation of the shoulder tab extensions, then knitting stitches all the way around the piece to establish and join all the sections. We will place the colored markers in preparation for using the Cocoknits Worksheet.

Session 3: The third class tackles Section IV: Completing the Seamless Yoke of your Cocoknits Method sweater. This is when the Cocoknits Method Worksheet is explained and filled out. The Worksheet tracks all the increases for each section of the sweater, making it easier to keep track of where and when to increase. Julie will assist students in filling out their worksheets and discuss how to adjust for individualized fit.

After completing the yoke, the students will continue through body and sleeves at home.

Homework
Make a gauge swatch with the bulky yarn. Gauge should measure approximately 3 sts/inch. Make sure you get a fabric you’d like to wear! Julie always knits a bit open for nice drape. In class we can adjust the gauge or the sweater size, but come with at least one swatch that you like the feel of.

Read over the Cocoknits Method section of Julie's website here, or the Knit Tutorials filtered to "Cocoknits Method" here, and take a look at the Emma pattern info here (optional)
Be familiar with Cocoknits Method increases if possible! This will make the knitting go faster during the workshop
Watch technique videos — youtube.com/cocoknitsvideos
Prepare to bring a device in order to watch videos.

Supplies to Bring
Colored stitch markers (1 of each: red, green, blue, yellow, pink, orange)
1 ball of bulky yarn (3 sts/inch). Should you wish to purchase the Colored Ring Stitch Markers from Cocoknits, they can be purchased here.
Circular needles in size 11 (either one 40″ or longer or 3 separate circulars) or size needed to get the gauge
Smaller skinny needle in any size (double pointed or circular)
Yarn snips or scissors
Tape measure or ruler
Blank paper for notes (or use back of your worksheet)
(Optional) Smartphone or tablet for viewing technique videos