text:
STITCHES Midwest 2017 Classes
Back To STITCHES Midwest 2017 Class List
Thursday 9:00 am - 12:00 pm
3141 Easy Big City Knits in a Hot Minute Steven Berg
No rules fun, fast, and furious knit and crochet with StevenBe! Capture this season's hot trends right off the runway and make them this weekend! Explore the use of large circular knitting needles and with uber chunky yarns and combinations of fibers that will blow your mind. You will be inspired by his creative use of both traditional and non-traditional fibers and how to use them in unconventional ways.
This workshop is intended to power up your creative juices and boost your imagination into overdrive. You will become comfortable using unconventional yarns with unconventional gauges and needle sizes and cast on simple knits with unusual techniques and Glitter Knitter flair that capture the concept of relaxing and thoroughly enjoying your knitting. Steven will review current trends and hot projects from his designer collections. This fashion and art presentation is interjected with anecdotes from Steven's past in the world of high fashion and the inspiration he finds in his travels around the world. Break free from the rules of the pattern because there's no such thing as mistakes, only variations!
Thursday 9:00 am - 12:00 pm Thursday 1:30 pm - 4:30 pm
5098 Intermediate Argyle Socks Anne Berk
Argyle Socks are classic and have a timeless appeal especially for men. They have a unique construction, because they are most efficiently knit flat using the intarsia technique, and then joined and knit in the round following the gussets. Mattress stitch is used to invisibly join the leg and the instep seams. This class will have samples, charts and instructions for all sizes, from baby socks to adult male, and will show how to modernize the Argyle using new yarns and fun color combinations. Learn to do intarsia, read a color chart, work duplicate stitch, invisible seaming, how to knit a gusset heel flat, ways to knit and close a toe, and how to weave in ends efficiently.
Thursday 9:00 am - 12:00 pm NEW SOLD OUT
5263 Easy Fun with Fine Yarns Gwen Bortner
Love the beauty of fine weight yarns, but looking for alternatives to socks and shawls? Love the feel of fine yarn, but dread knitting with tiny needles? Gain hands-on experience as you explore a variety of techniques and methods to use fine yarns on not-so-fine needles.
Gain insights on picking yarns and colors to create your own gradients. Use a spinning technique to bulk up your yarn without having to manage multiple balls. Uncover the advantages of using fine yarn even when a heavier yarn is required. Knitting with fine yarn can be fun, even if you don't like knitting with tiny needles.
Thursday 9:00 am - 12:00 pm NEW
9020 Easy Hello Hexies Mug Rug Mickey Depre
Discover the magic of English Paper Piecing Hexagons by hand.
Yes, HEXIES by hand are the perfect go-anywhere project! This popular method of piecing allows you to be creative with fabric and have perfect results—the first time. Learn to build the most traditional of EPP designs—the hexie flower.
Mickey covers the basics of making and joining hexies, then shows you how to complete a 7.5" mug rug. Variations will be discussed so each student will truly make the project their own and go home with ideas for lots more hexies.
Note: Bring a thimble if you use one, but no previous hand-sewing experience is necessary.
Material fee: $7 for Hexagon Papers, thread sample, thimblepad, and fusible Pellon.
Thursday 9:00 am - 12:00 pm
3134 Intermediate Basically Yours: Custom Skirts Candace Eisner Strick
Make yourself a custom-fit skirt that is completely yours. It will fit, it will drape, it will flatter, and it will look good whether you are sitting, standing, or dancing. With just a smidgeon of math and some beautiful yarn, you can enter the zone of skirt knitting. You will plan out a basic A-line skirt to custom fit you. Once you have the basics, a myriad of variations are within your reach, along with some charming hemline special effects. Come in curious; leave skirt obsessed.
Thursday 9:00 am - 12:00 pm NEW SOLD OUT
7114 Easy Intro to Shibori and Indigo Dyeing Karen Grover
Karen introduces you to basic techniques of shibori (traditional Japanese methods for creating design on fabric as it is dyed) and indigo dyeing. You will dye silk scarves or fat quarters of cotton in vats of pre-reduced indigo using arashi, itajime, and stitching for the resist patterning. Participants will have an opportunity to apply one or more of these methods to 2 items during the class.
Note: Wear old clothes or an apron.
Materials fee: $20: Includes use of dyes, all equipment and silk fabric
Thursday 9:00 am - 12:00 pm Thursday 1:30 pm - 4:30 pm
7053 No skills required Learn Rigid-heddle Weaving and Use Up Your Stash Deborah Jarchow
Use up those leftover balls of yarn, this method of weaving is easy, fun, and creative. Learn ways to combine different colors, textures, and fibers as you make a unique and beautiful scarf.
Note: Rigid-heddle looms provided for class use.
Lab fee: $10.00
Thursday 9:00 am - 12:00 pm NEW
3135 Intermediate Customizing Sweater Patterns Patty Lyons
How many times have you thought, "I'd like that sweater but I wish it had ..." Learn the simple math to change basic sweater elements. Using a simple pattern as a base, we will work through changing a crew-neck to a V-neck, changing the sleeve length, adding waist shaping and more. Learn how working a sweater in a different gauge can be to your advantage. Make every sweater pattern your own!
Thursday 9:00 am - 12:00 pm Thursday 1:30 pm - 4:30 pm
3133 Easy Alter It to Fit Shannon & Jason Mullett-Bowlsby
You want to crochet and knit garments that REALLY fit your body. In this class we'll teach you how to do that. Period. Need more than that? Read on...We will show you how to evaluate a pattern then make the necessary adjustments so it actually fits YOU! We'll teach you the basics of fashion, fit, form, and function that we use daily as fashion designers so you can see a pattern and make sure it fits YOUR body before you ever pick up your hooks, needles, and yarn. You will be able to look at a pattern and do a "virtual try on" to KNOW if it's going to work for your body based on how the finished garment will sit on your body and how your body moves around inside that finished garment. When you come to class you'll receive a copy of "The Shibaguyz' FAB Fit System for Altering and Designing Crochet and Knit Patterns", a comprehensive series of easy-to-follow fit worksheets and templates that include the formulas we use every day to go from concept to finished pattern. We'll walk you through this step-by-step process for taking proper measurements and applying them to your pattern. We'll also give you our magic shaping formula that will ensure you can make any alteration to any pattern with ease. We'll even show you how to order the right amount of yarn for your newly personalized project.
By the end of class you will know how to to alter any pattern to fit YOUR body!
Thursday 9:00 am - 12:00 pm
6108 Easy Basic Cable Techniques Sarah Peasley
Do you love those beautiful textures, but think cables are too difficult? Think again! Conquering cable knitting is simply a matter of knitting your stitches in the proper order.
Right leaning or left leaning, back and forth or in the round, with or without a cable needle, Sarah will help you get it all sorted out. And while we're at it, let's demystify those wacky chart symbols, and whip a few mis-crossed cables into shape.
Thursday 9:00 am - 12:00 pm NEW
6221 Intermediate The Beauty of Long Stitches (whiteside) Beth Whiteside
The size of our stitches in width and height is determined largely by the size of the needles we use. But there are some neat tricks we can use to make stitches bigger, to elongate them either across an entire row or in isolation on a stitch-by-stitch basis, and show off the color and texture of the yarn itself. In this class we'll look at several ways of making stitches longer and discuss when you might choose one technique over another. Then we'll look at how these long beautiful stitches can be slipped, twisted, crossed, wrapped and threaded to create fabulous fabric.
Thursday 9:00 am - 12:00 pm SOLD OUT
6064 Advanced Twisted Traveling Stitches Anna Zilboorg
Austrian twisted travelling stitches create patterns in high relief that resemble woodcarvings. They can also provide a wonderful base for embroidery. They require a few special techniques (among them, how to interpret the special charts), careful knitting, and some practice, but are well worth the effort. This class will focus on flat knitting, which is much harder than working these patterns in the round but gives the greatest flexibility for usage. After a few exercises, we'll make a cell-phone cover that could easily turn into cuffs for an elegant sweater.
Thursday 1:30 pm - 4:30 pm
5256 Easy Mix Your Six: A Game of Modifications Steven Berg
You've heard Steven say it, now experience it: a pattern is only a guideline! Pick six things from our playlist to create your custom Mixify Menu and find playful ways to incorporate them into a base pattern from a StevenBe accessory or garment pattern. Free yourself from the traditional boundaries of the pattern by learning to modify the written instructions to make your imagination come to life. Steven will teach you his famous tips and tricks while you learn to let go and knit with wild creative abandon.
Thursday 1:30 pm - 4:30 pm SOLD OUT
4076 Easy Knit a Masterpiece from Leftover Yarns Gwen Bortner
If you knit enough projects, you have leftover yarn...a lot of it! Or maybe you just buy a single skein as a souvenir from each of your travels. But the question remains: What to do with all those bits, pieces, and odd skeins?
Class begins with learning how to organize the yarn for easier use. Next, working with the yarn brought to class, experiment with different fabrics that only require a minimal amount of any given yarn. Finally, discuss options for utilizing the fabrics to create a masterpiece project.
Thursday 1:30 pm - 4:30 pm
6055 Advanced Socktastic Stitch Patterns J C Briar
You can use nearly any stitch pattern for ordinary socks, but for fantastic socks, you need stitch patterns that have enough 'give' for a snug but comfy fit, that allow for easy resizing, and that flow seamlessly into coordinated patterns on the cuff, heel, and toe.
Explore Socktastic patterns, learn what makes a pattern shine in hand-painted yarn, and see how to combine basic building blocks to come up with your own Socktastic creations.
Note: Must be comfortable with reading charts.
Thursday 1:30 pm - 4:30 pm NEW
8084 Intermediate Join-as-You-Go Crochet Lily Chin
Most crocheters avoid seaming like the plague. When working motifs such as granny squares, the sewing seems daunting. Learn how to join as you go for many situations. Join a new piece to the left, to the right, to the top or the bottom of an existing piece.
Command of basic crochet skills is required.
Thursday 1:30 pm - 4:30 pm NEW
5229 Intermediate Thumbs-Up Continental Knitting Candace Eisner Strick
Learn continental knitting and purling the Candace-way that eliminates almost all motion. Two fingers do it all, and one is your thumb! You won't believe how lazy your wrists will become once they stop doing all the exercise! Your knitting and purling will become so smooth and fast that you will be begging to knit a seed stitch full-length coat.
Note: Must be willing to use the non-dominant hand.
Thursday 1:30 pm - 4:30 pm NEW SOLD OUT
3147 Intermediate Mastering Necklines Barry Klein
A lovely sweater ends in a great neck treatment. Or is it the beginning? The collar frames the face letting the wearer shine. Let's approach neck shaping—from turtleneck to open-V and find the best placement, shape, and how to achieve them.
Thursday 1:30 pm - 4:30 pm NEW SOLD OUT
5275 Intermediate Twice the Fun, Half the Work Patty Lyons
Learn the fun and time-saving technique of working a pair of socks, sleeves, or wristers in the round, at once! Getting both pieces done at the same time means you'll never suffer from "second syndrome" again! First, we will go over the basics of working in the round with magic loop and with two circulars. Then we'll move on to the specifics of casting on to work the two items with magic loop or two circulars. We'll also go over professional tips for improving the look of your work made in the round.
Note: Must know long-tail cast-on and how to knit, purl, cast on, bind off. Confident enough with Magic Loop to work it without supervision.
Thursday 1:30 pm - 4:30 pm NEW
4108 Intermediate Old School Cuff-to-toe Socks Sarah Peasley
Plain old vanilla socks may sound boring, but traditional, cuff-down, heel-flap socks are an excellent first-sock project, an ideal choice for on-the-go knitting, and a great way to connect to knitters of yore (although sock yarn is WAY more fun now than it used to be!). Use double-pointed needles to knit a sock from the cuff down. Start with a ribbed cuff, turn a perfect heel (without that pesky hole at the corner!), and finish with a round toe. You'll make a mini sock in class, and you'll leave with the information needed to make your own custom-fit cuff-down socks!
Thursday 1:30 pm - 4:30 pm NEW
9017 Easy Learn to Sew Knit Garments using your Sewing Machine Jennifer Stern-Hasemann
If you're new to sewing clothes for yourself, this class is for you. Work with a variety of fabrics and notions following Jennifer's step-by-step guidance to help you get professional results sewing knit garments.
Knit fabrics are easy to work with because the raw edges do not fray. Built-in stretch makes them easy to fit. We'll start by discussing the best needles and notions to use, then talk about a variety of knits and how to use them. You will leave class with a reference binder full of knit samples that include a variety of seam treatments and finishing techniques. Your reference guide will take the mystery out of working with knits at home.
Note: Sewing machines provided for use in the classroom.
Thursday 1:30 pm - 3:00 pm NEW
9011 No skills required Cotton Chic Katrina Walker
Learn the secret to making chic clothes from quilting cotton! They provide us with a virtually unlimited array of gorgeous prints—many perfect for garments when you make the right choices.
Learn how to interpret cotton broadcloth prints into chic, flattering garments that have unmistakable style and character.
Thursday 1:30 pm - 4:30 pm
6134 Easy Stripes of All Types Beth Whiteside
Stripes: the simplest and one of the oldest types of decorative markings. From tiger stripes to rock strata, Breton T-shirts to pin-striped suits, Dr. Who scarves to Baby Surprise jackets, stripes are all around us. In class we'll look at both design and technique basics: ways to play with proportion, when to cut and when to carry, how to mix stripes with stitch patterns and knitting techniques like short rows. We'll stretch the definition of stripes just a bit to include patterns using only 1 color per row, whether the end result looks like a stripe or not. Take the stripes we practice in our class sampler and apply them to your next self-designed project!
Thursday 1:30 pm - 4:30 pm NEW
4107 Easy Bead Knitted Bag Myra Wood
I'll show you how to add beads to your knitting, the fun and fast way, while making this wonderful little bead knitted bag. You'll learn several methods for adding beads to thread or yarn and how to knit the beads into your stitches. I'll also cover finishing the bags and adding a strap. This is definitely a potato chip project! There's no way you can make just one.
Materials fee: $5 for bag kit including beads, threader, crochet cotton, and pattern.
Thursday 8:30 pm - 9:30 pm
No skills required Follow Your Bunny: The Creative Life from A to Q Franklin Habit
If you're coming to STITCHES Midwest, you already know the joy of creating beautiful and useful things by hand. But is it possible to overdo it? What if your creative well runs dry? What if you find yourself up to your elbows in yarn, utterly bereft of the urge to cast on?
Author, designer, and long-time STITCHES instructor, Franklin Habit, invites you to take a lavishly illustrated, rollicking backstage tour of the creative process, drawing upon on the coffee-and-chocolate-soaked wisdom and tears of folks whose lives depend upon the needle and the hook, the spindle and the loom. Gaze upon wonders seldom exhibited for public view, from the Couch of Despair to the Bathtub of Revelation to the terrifying Deadline That Just Wouldn't Die.
Franklin's stories will help and inspire you to keep your own creativity fresh and vibrant; to throw off the shackles of negativity; and to expand your horizons as a maker without fear or hesitation.
Be forewarned, though…
making pretty things isn't always pretty.
Friday 9:00 am - 12:00 pm
6122 Intermediate Shetland Sky and Sea Denise Bell
The themes of sky and sea are frequently represented in Shetland designs. Would you expect anything less from the beautiful but hard-to-reach islands located where the Atlantic Ocean meets the North Sea?
In this fine-lace class, we'll look at 2 traditional Shetland stitches: the Bird's Eye and the Cockleshell. Both stitches involve patterning on every row and require a bit of concentration, but are well worth the effort!
Note: Students must be able to work standard increases and decreases, be proficient at chart
reading, and have experience with lace-weight yarn.
Friday 9:00 am - 12:00 pm SOLD OUT
5082 Easy Pick Your Knits and Purls: Continental Knitting Introduction Lorilee Beltman
When you learn continental knitting, you minimize your hand motions for a more comfortable, and perhaps a speedier way to knit.
Each finger has a job to do. Understand exactly which motions have a bearing on stitch gauge (it's not what you think!). Learn to even out your knitting by sizing your knits and purls equally. Learn how your choice of tools affects the outcome. Practice the knit stitch, then move on to purl, increases, decreases, and ribbing, practice is where efficiency really pays off.
Friday 9:00 am - 12:00 pm Friday 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm NEW SOLD OUT
6216 Advanced Bohus Knitting Techniques Anne Berk
The Bohus Knitting collective created a unique style in the 1960's using yoke construction, stranded knitting technique, and custom fingering-weight yarn in a merino-angora blend. Original sweaters have become collector's items, and modern knitters seek to emulate the rich colorwork and subtle shading achieved with the fine yarns and use of both knit and purl stitches in the stranded charts.
This class covers how to read and design charts in the Bohus style, how to strand with more than two yarns at a time, the merits of pullovers versus cardigans (to steek or not to steek?), what modern yarns are suitable for Bohus-style knitting, and buttonhole choices for cardigans.
We'll examine sweaters knit from original Bohus patterns and swatch a Bohus-style chart. This is not a history class, but it will give knitters the tools to navigate this challenging style with confidence.
Friday 9:00 am - 12:00 pm
8048 Intermediate Single-crochet Entrelac Marly Bird
Try something different. Crochet a fabric that resembles basket-weave! Entrelac isn't only for knitters.
Get the look of basic entrelac with a crochet hook and single crochet! Amaze your friends with your new-found crochet skill. Create striking blankets, accessories, and garments. And have fun!
Note: Must have a good command of basic crochet skills.
Friday 9:00 am - 12:00 pm
1002 No skills required Intro to Color Laura Bryant
"You don't get WOW by doing the expected." Color brings life and excitement to our work, yet many knitters and crocheters proceed cautiously.
Presented in tangible and visual terms, Laura illustrates why color combinations work or fail. While a basic understanding of the color wheel is useful, this class offers a new way of sorting and building color relationships.
You'll never look at color the same way as you gain confidence and achieve a deeper understanding of color and perception.
Friday 9:00 am - 12:00 pm SOLD OUT
5007 Easy Tips and Tricks with Lily Lily Chin
Learn Lily's secrets to make your knitting life easier: join a cast-on for circular knitting without adding twist, start a new skein of yarn or a new color without losing the first stitch, attach knit pieces as you work, work a circular bind-off on the neck so the beginning and end are imperceptible, and weave in ends that are too short for a darning needle. Leave class with lots of small 'fix-its' and a new eye for knitting details.
Friday 9:00 am - 12:00 pm SOLD OUT
7006 No skills required Knitting Happily Ever After: Ergonomics for Knitters Carson Demers
Ever known a knitter who hasn't said, "Just one more row"? Me neither! I'll bet they've also complained of aches and pains while knitting. In this class, you'll learn how knitting effects the 'fabric that makes the fabric'—your body and see how your knitting technique impacts your efficiency and productivity. By completing a Risk of Injury assessment in class, you'll learn how knitting contributes to those aches and pains throughout your body. But more importantly, you'll learn how to reduce them. A little knowledge and some simple changes can keep you knitting comfortably and safely ever after. Students who've taken this class have said that it should be "required learning for all knitters regardless of experience level and it's as important as the knit and purl stitches!" This class is taught by a passionate knitter who is also a physical therapist.
Note: This class is not an individual knitting assessment.
Friday 9:00 am - 12:00 pm Friday 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm NEW
9007 Intermediate Sew on the go: Handpiecing Workshop Mickey Depre
Let's tackle a block that could cause you to pause at your machine but when hand pieced will become your 'Go-To' choice for de-stressing!
Hand Piecing Rocks! Join me for a slow-stitch workshop covering the tips and tricks of hand piecing the Castle Wall Block. When sewn by hand, this versatile and complicated block becomes a joy to work. Perfect points happen almost automatically!
We will use traditional templates to cut out the shapes with scissors. This entire workshop is about easy, peaceful quilting.
Note: Bring a thimble if you use one, but no previous hand-sewing experience is necessary.
Materials fee: $25 includes templates, thread, needles, pins, and markers
Friday 9:00 am - 12:00 pm
2018 Intermediate Skirts For Every Body Candace Eisner Strick
Most knit skirts use a turned-down waistband with elastic. This creates bulk right where most people don't want it! With Candace's unique method you can banish that bulk. Also learn all the necessary techniques to knit a custom-fit skirt. Sample some fun and flirty design options: from ruffles, to inserts, to handkerchief hemlines.
Friday 9:00 am - 12:00 pm Friday 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm SOLD OUT
6091 Intermediate Knitted Tessellations: Playful and Powerful Patterns in Practice Franklin Habit
A hands-on introduction to the creation of tessellations: motifs that interlock without gaps or overlaps. Tessellations are as old and pervasive as design itself; they can be found in some of the most ancient examples of human craft, and were famously used in the modern era by the artist M.C. Escher.
We will discuss the theories behind tessellating, and put into practice the basic techniques for designing new tessellated patterns in hand-knitted fabrics.
Note: Fluency in the basics of knitting in the round (or, if it is the student's preference, speed-swatching or flat stranded colorwork). Students are offered the choice of working in knit/purl texture patterns or in two-color (stranded) knitting; those choosing the latter should be adept at it. A sense of humor, a taste for adventure, and a reasonable ability to concentrate are strongly advised.
Friday 9:00 am - 12:00 pm NEW SOLD OUT
5230 Intermediate Short-Row Round-Up Michelle Hunter
Do you avoid patterns with short rows? Do you know only one method of working short rows? Are you unhappy with the appearance of your short rows? Join me for a round up of short row techniques that will give you the confidence and expertise to short row like a pro!
In class we will work a multiple of short rows methods, including garter Japanese and German short rows, discovering which one is best suited to your tension and/or project. We will also learn ways to sneak short rows into your knitting with surprising results.
Friday 9:00 am - 12:00 pm Friday 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm NEW
7100 Easy Weaving a Mohair Scarf Deborah Jarchow
While learning to weave, you've probably been advised to stay away from hairy yarns. During this class, you'll learn the secrets of working with beautiful mohair yarn. Although a bit tricky, you can tame the hairy fiber in both warp and weft to create a stunning piece. Learn to add beads or tie decorative knots to tame the fringe. Overcome the challenges and add another skill to your weaving accomplishments!
Note: Rigid-heddle looms provided for class use.
Friday 9:00 am - 12:00 pm Friday 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm NEW
3146 Intermediate From Sewing Pattern to Knitting Pattern Barry Klein
When you begin with a sewing pattern as your template for a sweater or cardigan much of the proportion and silhouette work is done.
We'll break into groups, open up patterns, and discuss the conversation from sewing to knitting –talking about yarn choices, pattern stitch options, swatches, and swatching, and ideas to make it all work. Once swatches are done, we'll talk and work the math to turn the sewing pattern/template into a knitting pattern.
Friday 9:00 am - 12:00 pm NEW
5277 Intermediate HELP! I Took a Wrong Turn: Miraculous Cable Fixes Patty Lyons
Cables are beautiful and intricate, but oh my—do mistakes jump out. No need to live with them anymore. Crossed the wrong way, or on the wrong row, or did you even forget a cable entirely? No problem! If fear of fixing mistakes has kept you from trying out larger cable projects, no need to fear. We will master fixes while your stitches are still on the needle as well as some pretty amazing fixes you can make to your cables after your stitches have been bound off. Go back and fix those past knitting mistakes—help is here!
Friday 9:00 am - 12:00 pm Friday 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm NEW SOLD OUT
7098 No skills required The Ultimate Band: Card Weaving Primer John Mullarkey
Tired of knitting I-cord? Bored with store-bought webbing? Learn the fundamentals of card weaving! This ancient portable weaving technique takes little investment in tools but produces the strongest, most durable, most beautiful bands imaginable for custom camera and guitar straps, belts, and straps for shoulder or carry bags, or facing for a cardigan. We will discuss the basics of reading a draft, warping a loom, and weaving a band. This style of card weaving is straightforward and easy to weave, but allows for very colorful repeating patterns.
Note: No prior weaving experience is necessary. Portable looms will be provided for the students to borrow.
Materials fee: $15 for 20 cards and 1 shuttle.
Friday 9:00 am - 12:00 pm NEW SOLD OUT
7121 No skills required Drop It Like It's Hot: Introduction To Spinning with a Drop Spindle Shannon & Jason Mullett-Bowlsby
Since the very first humans noticed that fluffy animals looked warmer than they did, we've been collecting that fluff to turn it into warm coverings for ourselves. Being the crafty creatures we are, after playing with rocks and sticks, we created the perfect tool for turning fluff into yarn and invented the drop spindle...TA DAAA!!! A lot has changed since the days of sticks and rocks but one thing that has remained the same is how much we LOVE yarn. Right? Right! Now, imagine being able to make your own custom yarn for your crochet, knitting, and weaving projects. Yes, in this class we're gonna grab some fluff, and a drop spindle (a slightly more advanced stick), and make yarn! This class is a hands-on experience for beginners who want to know how to make their own yarn with a simple drop spindle. We'll start with talking about the basics of how to transform fluff into yarn, then we'll dive right in and play with the fuzzy stuff. WOOHOO! Come prepared to learn and have fun! As a beginner it is completely expected that you will drop your spindle, knot your yarn, laugh, and possibly even use a few words those first humans didn't know. But, by the end of class you will have made your very first sample of custom-made yarn. Welcome to the club...
Friday 9:00 am - 10:30 am NEW
5174 Intermediate Graft a Toe Like a Pro! Sarah Peasley
Do you flat out refuse to knit socks from the cuff down because of the dreaded Kitchener Stitch? That eensy weensy little bit of grafting at the very end of the toe, on hardly any stitches? Suck it up, buttercup! Sarah gets you going step by step, then shares some awesome hints that will make you toss your cheat sheet aside and Kitchener like nobody's business. Be the boss of those sock toes, one grafted stitch at a time!
Friday 9:00 am - 12:00 pm Friday 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm NEW
9013 Easy How to use Your Measurements to Draft Your New Favorite Skirt Jennifer Stern-Hasemann
Let's make a skirt pattern that you can sew into a great-fitting straight skirt. If you've never tried pattern drafting, this is the perfect beginning project! You'll pair-up to take a set of body measurements, then use those measurements to draft your own basic straight skirt pattern. After lunch, use your pattern to cut out and sew a custom muslin. You will leave class with your completed personal skirt pattern and perfectly fitting muslin.
The Skirt Draft Workbook includes step-by-step instructions with a variety of waistline treatments, and how to draft them using your front and back skirt pattern pieces. If straight skirts are not your thing—no worries—see how to easily add fullness for an A-line or flared silhouette. Plus, enjoy a trunk show of a variety of skirts designed using my custom straight skirt pattern. You'll be amazed at the many different designs you can create using your new custom-fit straight skirt pattern.
Note: Sewing machines provided for use in classroom.
Materials fee: $25 includes the Skirt Draft Workbook, pattern paper, and muslin
Friday 9:00 am - 12:00 pm NEW
5158 Intermediate Cuff-down Socks Stacey Trock
Socks have a reputation for being scary, but they don't have to be! Learn how to knit a cuff-down sock! How can we do that in 3 hours? Because we'll be knitting a mini-sock!
Learn all of the techniques you need to know: how to work a heel flap, turn a heel, decrease for gusset and toe stitches, and the kitchener stitch. By the time you leave class, you'll have a minature sock and feel confident about casting on a pair of socks for you!
Note: Should feel comfortable using double-point needles.
Friday 9:00 am - 12:00 pm NEW
9006 Easy Garment Sewing Basics Katrina Walker
Let's learn the basics - seams, seam finishes, hems and darts! These skills are the foundation for successful sewn garments. If you'd like to learn, practice or simply refresh these skills - this class is for you! Build a detailed take-home reference notebook with hands-on samples and full written instructions (provided) as you sew your way to success. Taught by the instructor of Craftsy's popular "Sew Smarter". Note: Sewing machines provided for class use.
Friday 9:00 am - 12:00 pm NEW
5281 Intermediate Knitting with Beads, Every Which Way But Loose Myra Wood
Bead Knitting and Beaded Knitting; what's the difference? Find out, along with learning how to add beads to your knitting using different pre-strung bead techniques. Bling up your knitting and make jewelry too. We'll start by learning how to add beads to yarn from pre-strung beads and how to pre-string beads for multi-color patterns. We move on to the logic of knitting with beads – the easiest methods and then build up to more intricate patterning, and how to place it into circular and lace knitting. We'll work on a sampler so you can experiment with the various methods in class and you'll leave with complete directions and a pattern for knitting a scarf with beads.
Friday 9:00 am - 12:00 pm SOLD OUT
2024 Easy Embroider your Knitting Anna Zilboorg
Embroidery has been used always and everywhere to embellish fabric, while knitting has been left bare save for a few lazy daisies and French knots. In this class we'll integrate simple embroidery stitches into simple knit stitches to create many different effects, both new and wonderful. Learn to incorporate back stitch, cable chain, Palestrina knot, cross stitch flower, and others into ribs, cables, and other stitches whether you are right- or left-handed.
Friday 11:00 am - 12:30 pm NEW SOLD OUT
5201 Intermediate Care to Join Me? Sarah Peasley
The end of the skein. Changing to a new color. A knot or a thin spot in the yarn. You can't avoid it—at some point you'll have to join a new strand of yarn to your knitting. What's the best way to do that? How do you avoid join-related issues, like knots, bumps, jogs, or twisted stitches? What works best for stockinette, cables, or Fair Isle? Practice a variety of joins, then compare and contrast the effects and discuss the pros and cons of each. Weaving in ends will be mentioned in passing, but is not the main focus of this class. Join the ranks of smarter, more confident knitters, with Sarah as your guide!
Friday 1:30 pm - 3:00 pm NEW SOLD OUT
2066 Intermediate Loving Your Lace Edgings J C Briar
Adding a lace edging is a sweet way of topping off shawls, scarves, socks – or any other kind of project! In this class, you'll learn where to find edging patterns, and how you can customize them. You'll pick up tips for working tricky stitches – such as yarn overs at the beginning of a row — and for blocking. We'll go over multiple options for attaching edgings, and you'll have the chance to practice on a sample piece.
Friday 1:30 pm - 3:00 pm NEW
7119 Lecture/Demo Choosing your Seat: Fit before you Sit Carson Demers
Crafters, your chair is one of your most important tools because it impacts the posture of your entire body. Its selection should be done mindfully and not left to chance or based on what's available. In this class you'll learn neutral seated postures, why they're important and whether they're possible for your craft. More importantly you'll learn what to do if they aren't! The class will instruct you in what to look for in a chair for doing everything from fiber and fabric work to using your computer. You'll learn how your chair impacts the mechanics of your spine and upper body. Don't risk back pain or other ergonomic discomfort that can result from using the wrong chair.
Friday 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm SOLD OUT
5150 Intermediate Never Look Up the Kitchener Stitch Again! Lorilee Beltman
Do you have to look up instructions for the Kitchener Stitch graft every time you work it? Learn this essential skill, then memorize it by using economized moves and training your eyes and fingers to work together. We'll work it in stockinette stitch first, proceed to garter stitch, and then work one option for grafting ribbing. Imagine being able to take a phone call while grafting. You can do it! Realize this is not a class for grafting in any pattern, but rather it is aimed at an understanding and to memorizing the basics.
Once you have become comfortable with the technique, we'll look at existing patterns for opportunities to refine your knitting. You can plan your way to a more professional, finished look by exchanging one of these grafts for what is called for in the pattern.
Friday 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm Saturday 9:00 am - 12:00 pm
4101 Easy New Perspectives on Unique Garments & Amazing Accessories Steven Berg
Broaden your knitting horizons and change your life with StevenBe. This workshop is designed to be an amazing opportunity to have fun while learning Steven's best tips and tricks. It will set you free from patterns as written and help you feel comfortable making your own modifications and design decisions. Allow StevenBe to help you release the hidden designer within.
Experience the magic of mixology, taking a variety of yarns from different brands, weights, and fiber contents to create magical and unique garments and elaborate accessories (such as the Shawlvest). Start with your own cut-out shape and a base pattern from Steven and learn different methods of creating angles and edges, using modular knitting to add to the shape, adding new colors, and combining fibers in unique ways to customize the pattern and truly make it yours.
Note: This class begins Friday PM and concludes Saturday AM.
Friday 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm SOLD OUT
5252 Intermediate Miter Me This, Miter Me That Marly Bird
Learn how to knit the building blocks of the knitting world. The mitered square has long been a staple in knitting design, and now it can be a staple in your knitter's toolbox. These magical mitered squares are knit in a variety of stitches. Learn how to make one in garter, a mix of garter and stockinette, and plain stockinette as well as centered-decrease options for the center miter. These are joined-as-you-go squares make miters the perfect traveling project.
Friday 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm
6006 Intermediate Entrelac Basics Gwen Bortner
Have you always wanted to learn entrelac but thought it would be too hard? Whether a beginner or advanced knitter, this class is for you. During this class, each student will have the opportunity to knit a small project to gain hands-on experience in the entrelac technique. Participants will learn the seamless entrelac technique and basic entrelac construction. Hints and tips on the fine points of entrelac, a discussion of other project possibilities, and an overview of knitting in both directions will also be included.
Friday 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm NEW
9050 Intermediate Fabrics United Laura Bryant
Combining multi-media fashion is hot! Knit, woven, crochet or felt pieces may pose particular challenges. Join Laura as you learn three techniques to combine fabrics and finish your garments like a pro. The emphasis will be on beautiful joins, and will cover both machine- and hand-sewing although hand-sewing will be done in class.
Materials Fee: $3 for instructor-supplied finishing materials.
Friday 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm NEW SOLD OUT
4103 Intermediate Morphing a Mobius Candace Eisner Strick
A mobius shawl? What the…… ?? It's true; it can be done, and you get the geometric beauty of a mobius framing your face. Factor in the added benefit that it will keep your shawl on your shoulders through a hurricane! In this class we will learn the super-easy cast-on to start your mobius from the spine and work outwards. Learn when and how many stitches to bind-off so you can morph directly into a shawl. The knitting is pleasant and easy to do, and it yields spectacular results.
Note: Must be familiar with circular knitting.
Friday 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm SOLD OUT
8069 Easy Couture Finishing for Knit and Crochet Shannon & Jason Mullett-Bowlsby
Master sewists and finishers work for years to perfect their finishing skills, and they are sought out by couture designers for those skills to give their work the flawless finishes it deserves. Likewise, you've worked hard to make your stitching skills the best they can be so you can produce FAB fabrics for your handmade projects. Now it's time to bring those finishing skills up to the next level.
There is no arguing the point that FAB finishing is the key to producing handmade projects that have that extra little something that makes them stand out from the crowd. In our Couture Finishing class, we will share with you the professional finishing skills we use every day in our design studio to create the Shibaguyz Designz line of crochet and knit garments, accessories, and home decor.
We will break down each step of the finishing process from blocking to weaving in ends to flawless seaming and will take the drudgery out of finishing to help make the finishing process just as much fun as the stitching. Imagine your satisfaction when you stand back and look at the flawless finishing techniques that make your project look like it was made by the hands of a pro! Yup...we're going to share it all...our professional finishing secrets learned from years and years of couture hand sewing will be revealed to YOU! You will be able to use these professional finishing techniques to take your skills from good to great...even FAB!
Goals Understanding and application of professional finishing techniques: * Blocking
* End Cap Finishing Stitch
* Locking Mattress Stitch and Mattress Stitch for sewing invisible seams
* Setting in uneven seams (like sleeve caps!)
* Setting in the perfect zipper and customizing zipper length
Friday 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm NEW
9001 Easy American Pojagi Katrina Walker
Patchwork, piecework – whatever you like to call it – we all love it! Take yours to a whole new dimension by exploring the beautiful world of Korean pojagi—single-layer piecework using alternative seaming methods to create gorgeous, reversible pieces of art. Explore several different techniques while you build a detailed reference notebook. As you create your samples, you will piece using silk, linen, and batiks. If you are looking to add a new dimension to your quilting, or try a new skill – this class is for you! Note: Sewing machines provided for class use.
Friday 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm NEW SOLD OUT
1070 Intermediate Gradient Magic Myra Wood
Gradient yarns are known for their long repeats where the colors change slowly and form bands of color across the fabric as you knit. You can create stunning fabric with little effort–and probably have already–but there are ways to knit them into even more stunning color results.
Myra shares the magic!
Learn how to make the best of these ombre and self-striping yarns by breaking them apart into smaller balls. It will appear like you have many different colors of the same yarn. You will practice different techniques and stitch patterns to see how much power these colorful yarns pack in just a single ball.
Friday 3:30 pm - 5:00 pm NEW SOLD OUT
5278 Easy Tink Drop Frog J C Briar
Experienced knitters know how to recover from mistakes. You, too, can be an experienced knitter. Learn the three essential recovery techniques: tink, drop, and frog. Practice on swatches and in simple situations to gain the confidence needed to tackle bigger disasters, and the ability to judge which technique to use when.
Friday 3:30 pm - 5:00 pm NEW
2062 Intermediate BLOCK PARTY! Sarah Peasley
How do you wash your knitting? How confident are you in your blocking skills? Participate in an eye-opening demo and a practical discussion about options for laundering and blocking your hand knits; including tools, techniques, interpretation of those cryptic laundry symbols, and a basic tutorial on different types of fiber.
Friday 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm
No skills required Fashion Show only
This exciting runway show comes complete with fabulous door prizes!
Friday 6:30 pm - 9:30 pm SOLD OUT
No skills required Fashion Show and Dinner Ticket
This exciting runway show comes complete with fabulous door prizes!
Friday 10:00 pm - 11:59 pm
No skills required Pajama Party
Kick off your shoes, slide on your slippers or sleeper socks, and join us for an energetic after-hours evening of games, prizes, and laughter! Relax with old friends or come and make new ones. Hosted by Marly Bird.
Saturday 9:00 am - 12:00 pm NEW SOLD OUT
6209 Intermediate Get the Skinny on Lace Denise Bell
While it's true that any type of yarn can be used to make lace and that there are many wonderful works made from heavier yarns, there is something special about a lace shawl made from true lace weight yarn. There is no need to be lace-phobic!
If you've admired light-weight shawls that lift with a gentle breeze and weigh next to nothing but felt intimidated by wispy yarn, it's time to get your skinny on. Learn the basics of triangle shawl knitting from a self-acknowledged lace junkie and the confidence to complete it.
Saturday 9:00 am - 12:00 pm NEW
6208 Intermediate Fun Fabrics for Continental Knitters Lorilee Beltman
Any style of knitting is equally valid. One should always knit in the style that pleases them. If you are a continental knitter, I invite you to explore with me some knitting textures and patterns that are, if I may be frank, a bit easier or more swiftly accomplished in the continental style. We're talking about textures that involve lots of needle gymnastics, or lots of bringing the yarn forward and backward.
I've hunted for textures and colorwork that you are unlikely to have tried before. Among them: Tunisian knit stitch, Estonian lace with nupps, and colorwork variations. Come ready to play.
Note: You must be comfortable knitting in continental style.
Saturday 9:00 am - 12:00 pm NEW
5241 No skills required Gauge Master Class Anne Berk
You know the importance of stitch gauge to manage the fit and size of a garment, but do you know how to gain and use that knowledge? This class will give you tips to efficiently knit and measure your gauge swatches to reveal their secrets for successful knitting results. Stitch, row, and yarn gauges will all be covered, using multiple weights of yarn and needles of different sizes. You will knit swatches and compare your results with classmates to see how gauge differs from knitter to knitter. Learn to use gauge to calculate the amount of yarn needed for any section of your project. Gauge mastery is fun, and you will be amazed at how much you will learn in the process of swatching!
Saturday 9:00 am - 12:00 pm NEW
7112 Easy Making Money from Your Hobby Gwen Bortner
So often we dream of getting paid for doing what we love. But can you really make enough money to make it worthwhile. If so, how do you possibly get started in the industry? Get answers to these and many questions along with an overview of the MANY ways you can make money with your knit or crochet skills. Discussion will include the pros and cons of each type of endeavor, the basic skills required to be successful and tips for getting started off on the right foot. You probably won't get rich, but you may be able to pay for your hobby and really enjoy doing it!
Saturday 9:00 am - 12:00 pm NEW SOLD OUT
6210 Easy Beginning Brioche (Briar-retired) J C Briar
Brioche knitting creates cushy fabric suitable for comfy garments and all sorts of cozy accessories. Done in two colors, it creates vertical stripes, even though only one color is used at a time. Take this class to learn all the basics: working brioche rib in one or two colors; maintaining tidy selvedges; fixing mistakes; working pretty increases and decreases; and casting on and binding off effectively. You'll practice by knitting a small sample in class, but take away the skills needed to complete a lovely patterned scarf.
Saturday 9:00 am - 12:00 pm NEW SOLD OUT
1060 Easy Color Gradations Laura Bryant
Join Laura and learn how to control a large group of colors, shading artfully and gradually from one color to another. We'll employ Half Linen Stitch to create small dots of color that allow for optical mixture. Shift from light to dark or from hue to hue or any which way you choose. Laura's tips will have you making your own controlled long-repeat stripes in no time!
Saturday 9:00 am - 12:00 pm Saturday 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm NEW
5231 Intermediate The Savvy Pick-up Lily Chin
Many Knitters have trouble picking up stitches from an existing knit piece. How many stitches do you pick up? Where do you pick up? Learn simple solutions for easing around curves. Make smoother transitions from cast on edges. See how picking up stitches ahead of time can even aid seaming! Even get an idea for creative uses of picking up after the fact within the fabric.
In class we will work a multiple of short rows methods, including garter, Japanese and German short rows, discovering which one is best suited to your tension and/or project. We will also learn ways to sneak short rows into your knitting with surprising results.
Saturday 9:00 am - 12:00 pm NEW
7009 No skills required Applying Ergonomic Techniques to Your Knitting Carson Demers
Learn the basics of knitting's ergonomics and the put them into practice in this unique class. You'll learn everything from neutral postures to optimal tensioning techniques to help you be a comfortable, lifelong knitter. We'll apply various strategies that can improve your productivity, efficiency and comfort. Working in small groups you'll examine your yarn tensioning techniques, and all phases of stitch creation first with simple then more challenging swatches and stitches. We'll also look at ways to add movement to knitting to avoid stiffness and injuries caused by disuse including walking while you knit. Class is appropriate for students who are comfortable with basic knit purl stitches.
Saturday 9:00 am - 12:00 pm Saturday 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm NEW
9008 Easy Pieced Hexie Buffet Mickey Depre
Learn how to take the Hexie to a whole new level with my Pieced Hexies Patterns.
Pieced Hexies magic is wrapping small quilt blocks around your papers to create a hexie that brings endless individual creativity to any English Paper Piecing project. The key is marking the alignment guides so that each Pieced Hexie lines up. Let me show you how.
Together we will create a WHEELIE, JAZZY, and COGS Pieced Hexies. Students will leave class with a new technique, 3 samples, and their imaginations running wild.
Pieced Hexies are a lot like potato chips…you can't stop at just one. Making them keeps your hands busy and out of the chip bowl…so bonus-bonus!
Note: English Paper Piecing experience is helpful but not necessary. Sewing machines provided for class use.
Materials fee: $10 for Hexie papers, hand needle sampler, thread, and thimble pad
Saturday 9:00 am - 12:00 pm SOLD OUT
2035 Intermediate Snip and Zip: Steeks and Zippers Franklin Habit
This empowering class is designed to guide timid and/or inexperienced knitters through two operations: the cutting of steeks (slashed openings in knit fabric) and the installation of zippers. These techniques are famous for causing anxiety in the uninitiated.
Note: Fluency in the basics of knitting, including knitting-in-the-round and stranded 2-color work (Fair Isle Knitting).
Saturday 9:00 am - 12:00 pm SOLD OUT
5128 Easy Navajo Knitting Michelle Hunter
Magically turn lace weight yarn into worsted-weight yarn with Navajo knitting, also known as chain plying. Navajo knitting triple plies yarn from one skein without cutting or dividing the skein. This is a perfect use for that large skein of lace yarn hiding in your stash, or that cone of handspun that is begging to be knit!
Learn the basics of the technique plus how to alternate triple and single plies within a project to create sheer stripes, a big trend in today's fashion. Begin a beautiful scarf using all of the above methods. WARNING: This technique is addicting!
Saturday 9:00 am - 12:00 pm Saturday 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm NEW
7101 Easy Color Blending on the Loom Deborah Jarchow
Learn the secrets for blending the colors in your weaving. Have you looked at some of the gorgeous color packs so many dyers are making and wondered how to best use them in your weaving? By using one of those color packs and the techniques you learn in this class, you can create a piece that blends the colors beautifully! Colors will be mixed in both the warp and the weft so the gradients flow together almost invisibly. This technique can provide the basis for many future exciting projects!
Note: Rigid-heddle looms provided for class use.
Saturday 9:00 am - 12:00 pm NEW SOLD OUT
8070 Easy Tunisian Crochet from Beginning to End Barry Klein
This class will take you through all of the basic techniques of Tunisian Crochet. We'll begin with yarn selection, proceed to changing directions, and explore variations from there. We will look at accessories for the home, wearable garments, and different styles of Tunisian Crochet and how they will fit into your future.
Note: Must have a good command of basic crochet skills.
Saturday 9:00 am - 12:00 pm NEW
6211 Intermediate Let it Go: Drop-stitch Patterns Patty Lyons
Remember when the thought of dropping a stitch made your heart stop? Now learn to let that GO! Discover the beauty of dropping a stitch on purpose! Drop stitch patterns are fun and add a wow factor to anything you knit. In this hands-on knitting class, we will explore a variety of beautiful drop stitch patterns that include manipulated drops and lifted floats. Add a bit of wow to any pattern. Come on, drop a stitch, and let it go!
Saturday 9:00 am - 12:00 pm NEW SOLD OUT
9052 No skills required Quilt-as-you-go Sampler Rick Mondragon
Here is a chance to sample quilting. With the quilt-as-you-go method, you'll piece and quilt your block at the same time. This sew-and-flip process is quick, neat, and fun.
Choose log cabin, square within a square, string piecing, or create your own design with Rick's clever insertion ideas. Your sample can easily become a cushion cover, a placemat, a wall hanging, or the beginning of a new quilt adventure. Rick will show an easy binding method and discuss ways to assemble the blocks into a larger piece as well.
Note: Sewing machines provided for use in the classroom.
Saturday 9:00 am - 12:00 pm
6124-1 Easy Weave the Center, Knit the Edge: The Ligeia Stole Workshop (Part 1) John Mullarkey
The Ligeia Stole brings together two ancient arts—weaving and knitting—to create a finished piece that's both striking and elegant. In this full-day workshop, designers Franklin Habit and John Mullarkey will guide you through all the necessary steps, from weaving and joining the beautifully patterned elements of the pin-woven center; through the knitting-on of the matched lace edging. You won't believe how simple the tools and techniques are, and how quickly your own treasured stole will come together. No previous weaving experience is required!
Note: This is a two part class, you must also sign up for 6124-2 with Franklin Habit on Saturday PM. You cannot take one part without the other.
Saturday 9:00 am - 12:00 pm NEW
8074 Intermediate Creating FAB Crochet Fabrics: Unlocking your Inner Textile Designer Shannon & Jason Mullett-Bowlsby
If you are interested in learning how to create new and exciting stitch patterns that result in FAB fabrics for your projects, you should be in this class.
Whether you are fairly new at wielding a hook or if you are carrying around the experience of a crochet sage, this class will shed new light on how we create custom fabrics for our garments and home décor designs and will give you the knowledge and skills for creating your own custom crochet fabrics.
In this class we'll teach you our evolving stitches method for creating and testing crochet fabric. We will start at the beginning with some strong base stitches that you will probably already know and evolve those stitches step-by-step into fabrics that are as different as tree bark and tapioca. Then, we'll work on some stitches that you might not be so familiar with and apply the same principles to them resulting in unique and FAB custom fabrics made by your own two hands!
By the time we're finished, you will have an understanding of how to create fabrics from the inside out and you will have the tools for experimenting with designing your own beautiful custom crochet fabrics.
Saturday 9:00 am - 12:00 pm SOLD OUT
3145 Intermediate No-Sew Set-in Sleeves Sarah Peasley
Are you tired of trying to figure out how to sew in a set-in sleeve? Have you ever tried to design one from scratch? Those bell curves and ratios can drive you nutty! Learn how to design an armhole to fit YOUR body, then pick up and knit a perfect set-in sleeve from the top down with very little math, and no unsightly seams! Armhole shaping variations, alternative stitch patterns, and sleeve decrease calculations will also be discussed.
Saturday 9:00 am - 12:00 pm NEW
9033 Easy How to Use Your Measurement to Draft Your New Favorite Skirt Jennifer Stern-Hasemann
Let's make a great-fitting straight-skirt pattern that you can use to sew your new favorite skirt. If you've never tried your hand at drafting a pattern, this is the perfect project for you! We'll pair up to take a set of body measurements, use those measurements to draft a basic straight skirt pattern, then use your personal pattern to cut and sew a custom skirt muslin. You will leave class with a completed skirt pattern and muslin that fits perfectly. The Skirt Draft Workbook includes step-by-step instructions for a variety of waistline treatments and how to draft them using your front and back skirt pattern pieces. If straight skirts are not your thing, no worries, see how easy it is to add fullness at the hem to create an A-line or flared silhouette. Plus, enjoy a trunk show of a variety of skirts that I designed using my custom straight skirt! You'll be amazed at the different designs you can create using your new custom-fit straight-skirt pattern.
This class can be combined with 9062 Garment Making 101 for hands-on sewing time.
Saturday 9:00 am - 12:00 pm Saturday 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm NEW
9012 Easy Fit to be Fabulous Katrina Walker
Successful garment sewing requires great fit! Learn the steps to fitting your bodice and identifying required pattern adjustment areas. You will build a reference notebook as you practice making pattern alterations for common fitting challenges, including a full-bust adjustment that really works—no gaposis! Katrina is a Palmer/Pletsch Certified Fit Instructor.
Saturday 9:00 am - 12:00 pm Saturday 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm
3052 Intermediate Creative Knitting: Crazy Quilt Style Myra Wood
Learn how to design and knit in different directions to make a unique fabric based on an overall template rather than a specific pattern. A basic template will be provided to make a pillow or purse, but you'll learn how to make your own clothing templates as well.
Learn to combine triangles, squares, and rectangles to fill your shape like a jigsaw puzzle or traditional crazy quilt. We'll discuss how to knit shapes to exact sizes, ways to join as you go, and finishing and embellishing to complete your wearable work of art. You'll never look at your knitting (or your stash) the same way again!
Saturday 12:30 pm - 1:30 pm NEW
No skills required Finding Your Voice Through Fiber Robbi Joy Eklow
Robbi Joy Eklow is a quilter, who likes to knit.
Robbi claims that she isn't a very good knitter, professing that her skill set leans more toward yarn shopping. Her lovely yarn stash and extensive knitting library are proof. She has completed very few knitting projects due to a very short attention span.
She loves her knitting books because she enjoys looking for color and pattern ideas. When she was exploring Fair Isle designs, it dawned on her that she could use some of those principles in her quilts.
Instead of working knitted rounds, Robbi works concentric fabric circles and creating design rules inspired by Fair Isle. Peeries are replaced with narrow solid-color rings that border larger bands full of colorful repeat patterns. At first, she had planned to change colors a hue at a time, but forgot about it as she became more excited about the process.
Robbi is an award winning quilter. She uses her hand-dyed fabric in her work. She fuses her quilts, so the construction of the tops goes quickly. She then enhances the designs with free-motion quilting.
She'll bring a selection of quilts to view, perhaps one will inspire you to add another fiber technique to your repertoire. Her process may motivate you to new color depths. Her story may challenge you to approach your work differently.
Saturday 1:30 pm - 3:00 pm NEW SOLD OUT
2065 Easy Perfect Edgings: Zippers Anne Berk
Learn a four-step process which will give you a perfectly flat and secure zipped border every time! Knitted and crocheted fabric is flexible and sometimes fragile, and zippers are not. A properly inserted zipper will function beautifully without distorting your fabric. You decide whether it will be a design element or remain invisible.
Saturday 1:30 pm - 3:00 pm NEW
8078 Easy Crochet Charts in 90 Minutes Shannon & Jason Mullett-Bowlsby
Enough of drooling and getting itchy fingers every time you see one of those FAB stitch dictionaries... only to discover it is all in charts... and a language that looks a lot like the charts. All those pretty pictures just taunting you! It's time to laugh in the face of those squiggles and dashes and get your hook moving rather than drooping.
In 90 minutes we WILL unravel the mystery of the crochet stitch chart. You WILL understand how to make a swatch reading only a chart. You WILL be the master of your crochet destiny!!
Saturday 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm NEW
9041 No skills required Wrap Your Head Around Applique Denise Bell
The oldest example of applique—an Egyptian funeral tent—dates to 980 BC and was made of gazelle hides. In the Calaveras class ("Calaveras" means skull, typically sugar skulls) we'll use the practice of contemporary needle turn applique, cotton scraps, embroidery thread, and our wild imaginations to create an appliqued square featuring a sugar skull as typically seen in Mexican celebrations.
Saturday 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm NEW
6207 Intermediate Colorful Cables Three Ways Lorilee Beltman
You don't have to choose between texture and color in your knitting. You can have both. We'll knit 3 swatches, worked flat. In one swatch, we'll work 2-handed-stranded knitting with cables. In another, we'll try our hand at 2-stitch-wide cables offset by the main color. In a third, our colorful cables will travel over a reverse stockinette background. I'll have a fourth option in our handout, if there's time.
Speaking of having it both ways: we'll learn how to make these cables traditionally with a cable needle and be a little radical and learn to make them without!
Note: Students should be able to accomplish simple 2/2 right cross and left cross cables before attending this class.
Saturday 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm NEW
8082 Intermediate Interwoven Crochet Marly Bird
Discover crocheters answer to double knitting-Interwoven Crochet. Learn to work with two different yarns. Marly shares how to layer lacy stitches with other techniques. You'll create reversible fabric, but it's up to you whether both sides match!
Note: Must have a good command of basic crochet skills.
Saturday 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm NEW
5166 Easy The Language of Patterns Gwen Bortner
Knitting patterns use a language all their own, and there is more to it than just understanding the abbreviations. Learn tricks for translating the language of knitting, clues for decoding the 'secret messages,' and hints for making educated guesses when nothing else seems to work. Students will gain experience locating key information and understanding the real intention of actual patterns as the class works through examples written in a variety of styles.
Saturday 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm
5003 Easy Cast-on Cornucopia J C Briar
Dozens of cast-on techniques exist: 1-strand or 2-strand; loose and flowing or elastic and springy; invisible or decorative. Review your options in this class, try variations on old favorites, and discover entirely new options. Best of all, gain the familiarity you need to choose just the right cast-on for your next project.
Saturday 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm SOLD OUT
5014 Intermediate Short Row Savvy Laura Bryant
Short rows, the act of working a partial row and then turning, offer amazing possibilities to both shape knitting and for stunning graphic effects. You will learn the mechanics of the "wrap and turn" necessary to avoid holes that form when work is turned in the center of a row, and also the German method of short rows. We will explore short rows with contrasting colors for visual design elements; to create flounces and ruffles; to place fullness where desired, as in bust darts; and to accommodate a need for longer lengths, such as in backs that tend to hike up.
Optional materials fee: $2 for instructor-supplied yarn
Saturday 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm
7006 No skills required Knitting Happily Ever After: Ergonomics for Knitters Carson Demers
Ever known a knitter who hasn't said, "Just one more row"? Me neither! I'll bet they've also complained of aches and pains while knitting. In this class, you'll learn how knitting effects the 'fabric that makes the fabric'—your body and see how your knitting technique impacts your efficiency and productivity. By completing a Risk of Injury assessment in class, you'll learn how knitting contributes to those aches and pains throughout your body. But more importantly, you'll learn how to reduce them. A little knowledge and some simple changes can keep you knitting comfortably and safely ever after. Students who've taken this class have said that it should be "required learning for all knitters regardless of experience level and it's as important as the knit and purl stitches!" This class is taught by a passionate knitter who is also a physical therapist.
Note: This class is not an individual knitting assessment.
Saturday 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm Sunday 9:00 am - 12:00 pm NEW
4109 Advanced Time For Tams Candace Eisner Strick
It's a clock, it's a hat. Yes, you have read this correctly. If you have always admired Fair Isle sweaters but just don't feel up to tackling such a big project, and if cutting your sweater's steeks gives you anxiety, then think TAM! When you are not wearing it, it can become a clock. Or it can be a clock until you move to Northern New England and find yourself in need of a hat. Learn everything you need to know to knit Fair Isle: where and how to hold your pattern color and your background color, how to strand unused yarn across the backs of stitches (which is rarely needed in most Fair Isle patterns), how to use colors for their maximum effects of showing off the pattern, and how to plug designs into a tam template. By stretching your tam over a styrofoam form and using an inexpensive clock mechanism, you can always find time to knit.
Saturday 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm
6124-2 Easy Weave the Center, Knit the Edge: The Ligeia Stole Workshop (Part 2) Franklin Habit
The Ligeia Stole brings together two ancient arts—weaving and knitting—to create a finished piece that's both striking and elegant. In this full-day workshop, designers Franklin Habit and John Mullarkey will guide you through all the necessary steps, from weaving and joining the beautifully patterned elements of the pin-woven center; through the knitting-on of the matched lace edging. You won't believe how simple the tools and techniques are, and how quickly your own treasured stole will come together. No previous weaving experience is required!
Note: This is a two-part class, you must also sign up for 6124-1 with John Mullarkey on Saturday AM. You cannot take one part without the other.
You must be comfortable knitting from lace charts.
Saturday 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm NEW SOLD OUT
5280 Intermediate Bottoms Up! Toe-up Socks Michelle Hunter
Prepare yourself for a new obsession—toe up socks! By popular demand, the majority of today's sock patterns are written from the bottom up. Toe up socks take the guesswork out of measuring and always leave you with ample yarn. This class will cover all of the skills needed to knit these addicting beauties – cast on, magic loop, short row heel and elastic bind off. I've helped thousands to knit successful socks and I can't wait to count you among them. In class we will make a small demo sock to learn the techniques. Lastly, bring a skein of sock weight yarn and cast on for your very own pair of full size socks (pattern included). Sock yarns are amazing and shopping for it is just half of the fun!
Saturday 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm NEW SOLD OUT
5276 Intermediate Fantastic Cast-ons & Bind-offs Patty Lyons
How you start and end a project is an important decision. There are so many amazing cast-ons and bind-offs, I've gathered some of my favorite and most practical. We will go over great cast-ons and bind-offs for lace, for rib, and more. We will also look at pairing cast-ons and bind-offs that look great together. Let's start and end with a bang!
Note: Must know the long-tail cast-on (in slingshot position) and how to knit and purl.
Saturday 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm NEW
7103 No skills required Ply-split Braided Scarf John Mullarkey
Literally what it sounds like, learn to split the plies of commercial 2-ply or 4-ply yarn to create a colorful braided scarf. Using a grip-fid and commercial yarn, start on a scarf while learning the basics of ply-split braiding, a very old cloth making technique. The interaction between the yarn colors as one yarn splits another is a fascinating and fun effect.
Materials fee: $8 for scarf materials.
Saturday 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm NEW
9009 Easy Easy Fit and Sew Yoga Pants Jennifer Stern-Hasemann
If you have ever wanted to sew for yourself, but felt that you needed a little help along the way, this class is perfect. Using my Easy Fit and Sew One-Piece Yoga Pant Pattern, you'll have the opportunity to try on samples to find your best starting size. Then I'll show you simple adjustments to fine-tune your pattern for a flattering, comfortable fit. Use those pattern pieces to cut out and sew your new favorite yoga pants.
I've taken the guess work out of choosing the right fabric; black 4-way stretch knit is included in your kit. Learn tricks and tips to get professional results to sew knit garments with your sewing machine .
Note: Sewing machines provided for use in the classroom.
Materials fee: $40 includes pattern, tracing paper, black knit fabric, and step-by-step instructions
Saturday 3:30 pm - 5:00 pm NEW
2064 Easy Perfect Edgings: Borders and Buttonholes Anne Berk
Adding an edging to a piece of fabric increases stability, as well as creating an opportunity for embellishment. Learn how to pick up stitches properly, so that the edging is firm, secure, and beautiful. Explore the best stitch patterns for edging a garment, and use I-cord to create both edging and buttonholes.
Saturday 6:30 pm - 9:00 pm SOLD OUT
No skills required Student Banquet & Style Show
Join Rick Mondragon as attendees strut their stuff on the catwalk.
Sunday 9:00 am - 12:00 pm SOLD OUT
4100 Easy Wrapped in Warmth: The Shetland Hap Shawl Denise Bell
Not all Shetland shawls are knit from skinny yarn and can pass through a wedding ring. While we love those that do, the traditional Shetland Hap Shawl is generally knit with jumper-weight (fingering-weight) yarn in the natural colors of true Shetland-bred sheep.
In this class we're going to add a little twist to the traditional everyday Shetland shawl. Bring 3 to 5 solid-colored fingering-weight non-superwash wool yarns to class. While the traditional choices are natural sheep colors, your swatch need not be so. Scraps of 100-200 yards are perfectly fine for our swatch. (There is a time and place for multicolored superwash sock yarns, but this is neither.)
For this class you'll choose one of your colors as your main color and plan the others to coordinate a pleasing palette. We'll discuss traditional techniques and color placement in class and work on a swatch to learn the basics of modern Hap Shawl construction. Finally, we'll discuss how to block/dress a Hap Shawl.
Note: Should have some chart reading experience.
Sunday 9:00 am - 12:00 pm
5082 Easy Pick Your Knits and Purls: Continental Knitting Introduction Lorilee Beltman
When you learn continental knitting, you minimize your hand motions for a more comfortable, and perhaps a speedier way to knit.
Each finger has a job to do. Understand exactly which motions have a bearing on stitch gauge (it's not what you think!). Learn to even out your knitting by sizing your knits and purls equally. Learn how your choice of tools affects the outcome. Practice the knit stitch, then move on to purl, increases, decreases, and ribbing, practice is where efficiency really pays off.
Sunday 9:00 am - 12:00 pm
3149 Intermediate Whip it into Submission: Personalized Pattern Perfection in 5 easy Steps Steven Berg
Found a pattern that's almost perfect but not quite? The shape is right but the stitch pattern is wrong or the yarn is too boring or the fit is just a little off. Everyone's been there. Enter StevenBe, master of the substitution. In this workshop, Steven will guide you through taking your pretty darn good pattern and making it perfect with an artful use of short rows, stitch patterns, gauge modifications, yarn substitutions, and other techniques. You will leave this workshop with the confidence and chutzpah it takes to wrangle any pattern into submission and make it obey your every whim.
Sunday 9:00 am - 12:00 pm NEW
5279 Easy Dual Cables Marly Bird
This is a little fancy knitting with traditional techniques. The Dual Cable class teaches knitters how to work with two colors at the same time while adding cables to the knitting. It is a new adventure in knitting for many and one that you will want to take many times over. On this adventure you learn how to make your very own pair of boot toppers!
Sunday 9:00 am - 12:00 pm
5248 Easy Knitting Hacks with Gwen Gwen Bortner
Necessity is said to be the mother of invention, but I might argue that actually laziness is! As a 'lazy knitter' I have developed a number of tricks and techniques that I use regularly to either speed up my progress, simplify my knitting, or ultimately make it neater with no additional effort. My best hacks do all three!
Join me to learn what I have developed to speed up finishing, minimize mistakes, and keep track of my projects. Some methods may be old, some may be new, but all of them will improve your efficiency.
Sunday 9:00 am - 12:00 pm
5004 Easy Charts Made Simple J C Briar
A chart takes the place of written instructions, telling you which stitches to work. But a good chart does so much more, showing you what the knitted fabric should look like.
Learn to read charts, to make sense of their symbols, and to use them to keep your knitting on track and to minimize mistakes.
Sunday 9:00 am - 12:00 pm SOLD OUT
6032 Intermediate Stitch Strategies for Hand-dyed Yarns Laura Bryant
If you have ever fallen in love with a hand-dyed yarn, only to be disappointed in the finished fabric, this class is for you. We'll explore stitch strategies to avoid the often undesired pooling, patterning, and striping of hand dyed yarns. Learn to read a skein of hand-dyed yarn, the different types of dyeing, and then explore the stitches that will help you coax the inherent beauty from even the most difficult color combinations. Some hands-on swatching during class.
Sunday 9:00 am - 12:00 pm NEW
8083 Intermediate Double-Ended, Circular Tunisian Tapestry Lily Chin
Learn this fascinatingly new technique of creating a moire effect in crochet. Create projects without seams. Make pictures or motifs in two colors without stranding. This is a ground-breaking way of using Tunisian crochet employing a short, double-ended hook.
Command of basic crochet skills is required.
Sunday 9:00 am - 10:30 am NEW
7119 Lecture/Demo Choosing your Seat: Fit before you Sit Carson Demers
Crafters, your chair is one of your most important tools because it impacts the posture of your entire body. Its selection should be done mindfully and not left to chance or based on what's available. In this class you'll learn neutral seated postures, why they're important and whether they're possible for your craft. More importantly you'll learn what to do if they aren't! The class will instruct you in what to look for in a chair for doing everything from fiber and fabric work to using your computer. You'll learn how your chair impacts the mechanics of your spine and upper body. Don't risk back pain or other ergonomic discomfort that can result from using the wrong chair.
Sunday 9:00 am - 12:00 pm NEW
9051 Easy The Quilts of Half-Scrap Quilts: A Taste of Simply Midwest Mickey Depre
This complex-looking quilt is simply made using ONE quilt block for the entire quilt. The block, Village Square, is recolored to make a scrappy traditional checkerboard center setting and then recolored again to make the border.
Strips of fabric are sewn, cut, and sewn again for this fun block. Let me show you how the Easy Angle Ruler will become the tool you can't live without for accurate half-square triangles.
Quilters, from confident beginners to advance, will enjoy this workshop. Now gather up your 2" strips because we have some blocks to make! Whether you go on to make a table runner or the full quilt.
A bonus table runner design using the blocks of this quilt will be provided to each student. Spend time with small amounts of fabric learning all about the Village Square block, tips and tricks of contruction, and the Easy Angle before you tackle a runner or a full-size quilt.
Note: Sewing machines provided for use in the classroom.
Sunday 9:00 am - 12:00 pm Sunday 1:30 pm - 4:30 pm NEW
9024 No skills required Bow Ties are Cool: An Introduction to Hand Sewing Franklin Habit
The word is out: hand sewing can be as relaxing, rewarding, and beautiful as knitting, crochet, and weaving. In this day-long workshop, participants will work on the ideal introductory project–a bow tie–as they learn and practice the fundamentals: cutting, stitching, interfacing, pressing, turning, and more. As you work, Franklin will share fascinating lore and artifacts from the history of hand sewing. Please note that not all students will finish their ties during the class; but all will receive thorough instruction in the required techniques.
Materials fee: $5
Sunday 9:00 am - 12:00 pm NEW SOLD OUT
4104 Intermediate Navajo Intarsia Michelle Hunter
This magical technique combines Navajo Knitting and Intarsia to create opaque motifs on a sheer background. Unlike traditional Intarsia, only one skein is used at a time with no interlocking or ends to weave in. It's fast, fun and easy to learn! Previous experience with Navajo knitting and Intarsia are not required.
All of the basics of Navajo Intarsia will be covered while creating a swatch for the stunning shawl, Spotted Fever. The whimsical wrap features opaque polka dots dancing on a sheer background. Using fingering weight yarn, the pattern is available in two sizes -both perfect for warming the shoulders on a chilly evening. During the session we will be swatching and beginning the shawl - be sure to bring a fabulous yarn to showcase the design!
We will also explore ways to incorporate the technique into an endless array of design possibilities.
Sunday 9:00 am - 12:00 pm
7056 No skills required Beginning Weaving for Knitters Deborah Jarchow
Have you wondered if you'd like to try weaving, but feel confused about it and don't know if you'd like it or not? In this class you will see 3 of the top brands of rigid-heddle looms and find out how they work. You will learn about setting up the looms to prepare for weaving, and then you will weave on them.
This class gives you an overview of how weaving can expand your fiber skills. It's the perfect opportunity to give weaving a try without purchasing the equipment. See just how easy weaving can be!
Note: Rigid-heddle looms provided for class use.
Sunday 9:00 am - 12:00 pm
6014 Intermediate Style with a Twist Barry Klein
Knitting is a combination of yarn and stitch, but the 2 do not always come together well. We will work with classic, textured, and hand-dyed yarns as we make small samples of sweaters and designs that will bring it all together. This class is for knitters who want to be more involved in the design process and use different yarns for their favorite sweaters. See how easy it is to go from average to fantastic.
Materials fee: $5 for yarn assortment.
Sunday 9:00 am - 12:00 pm
5145 No skills required Magic of Perfect Blocking Patty Lyons
Why spend all that time knitting a garment, only to stop short of making it look great! Blocking is an essential part of finishing your garment perfectly. Blocking evens out your stitches, sets your size, and in some cases can even mask your mistakes. In this workshop we will go over the 3 main methods of blocking (wet, steam, and spray) and learn how to use all the tools such as blocking boards and wires. We'll also discuss blocking unusual shapes and special stitch patterns, as well as learn a bit about different fiber properties. Come on, don't stop short of the perfect finish!
Sunday 9:00 am - 12:00 pm Sunday 1:30 pm - 4:30 pm NEW
7102 No skills required Tablet Weaving: Woven Shoe Laces John Mullarkey
Weave your own shoe laces! Using a weaving technique called tablet weaving, and literally using cards as your loom, learn how to weave laces out of crochet cotton. Your fly shoes will only get flyer with laces you've woven for them.
Note: Portable looms will be provided for the students to us in class.
Materials fee: $15 for 20 cards and 1 shuttle.
Sunday 9:00 am - 12:00 pm NEW
8077 Intermediate Crochet Cables 101: Put a Little Twist In Your Stitches! Shannon & Jason Mullett-Bowlsby
We all love the look of those luscious, sumptuous cables on sweaters, afghans, hats, scarves and...well...we just love cables! What's that? You thought cables were only for knitters? Not so! We will learn to wield our hooks to create these wonders of twisted yarn in ways previously reserved for those with pointy sticks (knitters).
We will swirl left- and right-crossing cables then work our way up to wide cables with stabilizing stitches. Finally, you'll put your cables together to create stunning fabrics .
You will leave class with the knowledge and skills necessary to add these useful and stunning design elements to your bag of stitching tricks.
* Understand the concept of cabling and how it works in crochet fabric through the use of post stitches
* Work sample block with different combinations of left twists and right twists to create beautiful cable patterns
Sunday 9:00 am - 12:00 pm
6083 Easy Basic Fair Isle Techniques Sarah Peasley
The Fair Isle technique has been around for centuries, but can be learned in a matter of hours. Learn to read charts like a pro. Practice knitting in the round with 2 colors while trapping those pesky floats. Discover the beauty of corrugated ribbing. Hold your breath while you cut open a steek. There's nothing to it. What are you waiting for?
Sunday 9:00 am - 12:00 pm
5149 Intermediate A Different Angle Myra Wood
Discover triangles! Modular knitting isn't just for squares—triangles offer exciting opportunities, too!
Start with a simple template and formula for equilateral triangles and discover ways to combine them to make creative fabrics. Learn how to combine different stitch patterns, work half triangles, and join them to form one larger piece. Lots of fun, without a lot of counting! And even better, no gauge swatch is required!
Sunday 1:30 pm - 4:30 pm NEW
2059 Easy Totally Tubular Lorilee Beltman
For crisp, professional edges on your knitted ribbing, tubular is the way to go. Students will learn and practice a tubular cast-on for both k1, p1 and k2, p2 ribbing. We will learn the method that requires no waste yarn nor crochet hook. On our swatches, we then learn and practice the tubular bind-off for each, so that our sweater beginnings and endings can look fabulous and match exactly.
The teacher's goal is to have the student understand and practice to the point of no longer needing to look up instructions. Skills learned in class: Judy's Magic Cast-on, Tubular Cast-on, Tubular Bind-off, Kitchener Stitch graft.
Sunday 1:30 pm - 4:30 pm
5141 Easy Four Play: How to Master DPN's Marly Bird
Let Marly show you how to master those double-pointed needles. No more dropped needles, lost stitches, or unsightly runs in your knitting! Learn a unique, never-fail cast-on; how to keep the stitches between each needle join snug; and how a few tips and tricks along the way can help in your future knitting projects.
Sunday 1:30 pm - 4:30 pm
3047 Intermediate Slick Set-in Sleeves J C Briar
Set-in sleeves give a sweater a crisp, tailored look, and for easy knitting, you just can't beat sleeves knit from the top down. When you pick up stitches from the body and shape the sleeve cap with short rows, you avoid the bulk of a seam and the fuss of easing a sleeve cap into an armhole. Learn to adapt an existing pattern to this approach or to design according to your own measurements.
Sunday 1:30 pm - 4:30 pm NEW
3142 Easy Stash Down! Laura Bryant
If you have too much stash but don't know how to use it, this class is for you. Learn a new way of sorting your stash that will allow you to mix colors, weights and textures. Hands-on swatching allows you to experiment with several techniques that are perfect for small amounts of yarn. You will leave brimming with ideas!
Optional Materials Fee: $5.00 for instructor supplied stash.
Sunday 1:30 pm - 4:30 pm NEW
8086 Intermediate Easy, Effective Crochet Edgings Lily Chin
Have problems trimming your projects without puckers or ripples? Want more ideas for some trims? Trims put a "frame" around any project so this finishing touch is that final touch that can take something from home-made to hand-made. Get the skinny on some interesting, new and different ways to dress up all kinds of crochet. There is no need to go through contortions for fancy-schmancy intricacies that can overwhelm a project. There is no need for really large stitch multiples for huge pattern repeats. These are fun and simple, yet accessible.
Sunday 1:30 pm - 4:30 pm NEW
7104 No skills required Stitch & Click: Photographing Fiber Arts Shannon & Jason Mullett-Bowlsby
Nothing is more disappointing than finishing a FAB fiber project and not being able to take an equally FAB photo of it. In Stitch & Click we will show you how to take great photos that show off your stitch and fiber work. Don't have an expensive camera or fancy photography studio equipment? No worries! We will show you simple tips and tricks to use what you have around the house to create photos that will really show off all that hard work you put into your handmade projects. In this class we'll teach you the basics of how all cameras work whether you have a DSLR, or a mobile device. We'll learn where to find the right light for photographing any handmade project, how to create a professional environment for taking your photos, explore a few downloadable apps to assist you in your quest for the perfect photo, and give you one sure-fire tip that is certain to take your photos from drab to FAB. We'll even share our favorite DIY solutions so you can set up great photos at home without breaking the bank! Finally, we'll practice hands-on so you get experience setting up your own stage and lighting for a signature look and receive immediate feed-back from the experts. By the time this course is through you'll have all the information needed to step boldly into basic product and consumer photography and take FAB photos that truly show off your work! Goals • Basic understanding of a good photo • Learn the unique qualities of fiber projects that create special photography issues… and how to overcome each one • Understand how to use any digital camera, point and shoot, and even camera phones to get great results • Learn about DIY camera equipment you already have in your house • Take a GREAT photo… or two…
Sunday 1:30 pm - 4:30 pm
1016 Easy Basic Intarsia Techniques Sarah Peasley
Intarsia knitting creates a single layer of multicolored fabric, as in a Christmas stocking with a jolly Santa motif, argyles, or a vertically striped sweater. Learn a variety of tricks to keep your intarsia knitting on track and (mostly) tangle free, including preparing your materials, reading a chart, weaving in ends, and mastering duplicate stitch.
Sunday 1:30 pm - 4:30 pm NEW
8035 Easy Pattern Reading for Crocheters Stacey Trock
Have you learned to crochet from a friend and feel like you 'know how to crochet,' but feel like you 'don't get' patterns? In this class, you'll learn how to read crochet patterns by tackling more difficult stitch patterns gradually, and you'll end up making a fabulous sampler cowl! We'll also discuss things you need to know to make your crochet project a success—like picking the right hook size and yarn weights.
In no time you'll be crocheting with ease and feel confident picking up a new book to crochet the patterns inside!
Sunday 1:30 pm - 4:30 pm
5095 Easy Round Up! 4 Ways to Knit in the Round Beth Whiteside
There's more than 2 ways to knit round and round! We'll go over the old standbys, circular and double-points, plus try out 2 new ways, 2 circulars and the Magic Loop. We'll get warmed up on a neckwarmer, then test drive our techniques on the small diameter of a fingerless glove.
Classes with a picture icon have images on the class detail page
Crochet-friendly class
No skill required
Basic Know basic stitches (knit, purl or single crochet, double crochet).
Easy You should know the basics, how to increase and decrease, and have made at least one project.
Intermediate You should have worked with a few stitch patterns and should be familiar wtih basic garment shaping.
Advanced You should have made several garments in various stitch patters and should comfortable making minor changes to patterns. Advanced is fun and challenging for thinking knitters.
|Color & Creativity
|Finishing Finesse
|Garment Shaping & Designing
|Projects & More Projects
|Techniques & Tips for Knitters
|Stitch Patters & Textures


text:
BALLSTON, N.Y. >> State police from the Clifton Park, Greenwich, Northway, Saratoga and Wilton statons conducted a sobriety checkpoint in the town of Ballston on Friday night.
The following arrests were made. All driving while intoxicated charges are misdemeanors unless otherwise noted.
• David Pregent, Jr., 36, of Ballston Spa, felony driving while intoxicated. Troopers said he tested at a .10 percent blood alcohol concentration. Pregent will appear in court Nov. 29.
• Denise Benoit, 54, of Saratoga Springs, DWI. Troopers said she tested at a .13 percent blood alcohol concentration. Benoit will appear in court Dec. 6.
• Kyle Tretiak, 23, of Amsterdam, DWI. Troopers said he tested at a .10 percent blood alcohol concentration. Tretiak will appear in court Dec. 14.
• Robert Mathieson, 60, of Glenville, DWI, Troopers said he submitted to a blood test and his blood alcohol concentration is pending toxicology. Mathieson will appear in court Dec. 13.
• Matthew Flynn, 19, of Clifton Park, fifth-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance (cocaine). Flynn was arraigned and sent to the Saratoga County Jail in lieu of $5,000 bail. He will appear in Ballston Town Court Wednesday.
Troopers also issued violation tickets once for driving while ability impaired and twice for unlawful possession of marijuana.
State police said troopers met several professional and volunteer designated drivers during the checkpoint.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Gemstone engagement rings have been rising in popularity the last few years. With growing concerns over conflict diamonds as well as the rising costs of owning a diamond, many are leaning toward alternative engagement rings as an ethical, more budget-friendly option.
Other gems are not only more affordable, they are also uniquely beautiful. Who can forget Kate Middleton's gorgeous heirloom sapphire engagement ring? Even if you're absolutely convinced, don't rush to buy that colored... stone just yet. Before you purchase your gemstone engagement ring, there are a few things you should know.
01 of 08
The Three Best Gemstone Choices
Every gemstone has a different hardness factor. Basically, the hardness of any stone will tell us how resistant that stone is to being scratched.
We rank this hardness on a scale of 1 to 10 known as the Mohs Scale. One of the reasons the term "diamonds are forever" exists is because diamonds are considerably more durable than any other gemstone and rank 10 on the Mohs Scale.
This isn't to say that a diamond can't be broken or chipped, but more that if you rub a nail against the... surface of a diamond, it won't leave a scratch.
The following gemstones rank close enough to a diamond to be considered durable enough for everyday wear.
02 of 08
Mohs Scale: 9.0
Natural ruby is a timeless choice for an engagement ring because it is one of the three precious stones on the market that will look just as beautiful as the day you bought it for many years to come.
03 of 08
Mohs Scale: 9.0
Sapphire has been one of the most popular stones for engagement rings for centuries, even before diamonds became the gem of choice. This is likely due to the stone's incredible scratch resistance and beautiful navy and cornflower coloring.
04 of 08
Mohs Scale: 7.5 - 8
Aquamarine will show scratches on its surface over time if proper care isn't taken. It may even chip if you're not careful. However, this stone is extremely popular because of its unique light aqua coloring.
Some of the lighter varieties of aquamarine can be confused with diamonds. Aquamarine is not quite as hard as blue topaz, but unlike blue topaz, these gems are usually all natural and are much more expensive.Continue to 5 of 8 below.
05 of 08
The Three Worst Gemstone Choices
When choosing a ring that you will be wearing every day, it's important to take the Mohs Scale into consideration. There are also other factors to consider, like how prone the stone is to being chipped.
If you have your heart set on one of the following stones that is ranked poorly, choose a very protective setting. Take extra care while wearing your ring, and make sure your stone isn't scratched or submerged in any liquids for an extended period of time.
06 of 08
Mohs Scale: 2.5 - 4.5
Even though pearl is one of the softest gems available, many people are still drawn to the idea of using a pearl or pearls in their engagement ring. One small imperfection in the nacre or outside layer of the pearl can cause the entire coating to detach and become damaged.
Pearls are also often glued into place which makes them very susceptible to falling out and becoming lost.
07 of 08
Mohs Scale: 7.5 - 8
Even though emeralds are pretty resistant to scratching, they are not recommended for engagement rings because all the inclusions and cavities within the gemstone make the stone extremely susceptible to cracking and chipping.
Some jewelers are reluctant to set expensive emeralds without having the customer sign a waiver due to the risk involved.
08 of 08
Mohs Scale: 5.5 - 6.5
Opal is one of the most beautiful and magical gemstones, though it has long been known by some to be bad luck. Part of this superstition has to do with how soft these stones are.
Surface scratches can often be overlooked and hidden due to the opaque nature of the stone, but the tendency for chipping makes this stone a poor choice.


text:
Pioneering in Vitro Skin Science
Novel research grade skin models and testing services helping to enhance innovative skincare research and development
Living Skin Equivalent
Our highly advanced 3D living skin equivalent model is unique in providing opportunities for research and development with microflora.
Research & Development
Specialists in microbiology
Innovenn – Specialists in microbiology and in vitro skin science, we offer a wide range of research and consultancy services.
Support for your product testing
Our wide range of published work, relevant to R&D activities in the cosmetic, personal care, medical device and pharmaceutical sectors.
Our Team
Multi-Disciplinary Scientists
Innovative research starts with innovative people. Our team come from a variety of scientific backgrounds. Get in touch to know more.
Recent News
New Paper Released0 Comments
Innovenn are pleased to announce that a new paper in the Journal of Proteomics has been released. Written by our... Read More →
Vote for Emily!0 Comments
Emily Lewis, part of the Labskin Research Team has been nominated for her research project developing a wound model using... Read More →


text:
WHAT MAKES YOU BEAUTIFUL A Mother's Day Luncheon
Join us for this inaugural event celebrating women of all ages!
Sunday, May 7, 2017 from 11am-2pm (that's the weekend before Mother's Day)
Holland Marsh Winery
18270 Keele Street, Newmarket, ON L3Y 4V9
We are very happy to announce that our keynote speaker will be Margot L. Denomme, mother, lawyer and author of the book 'Mommy, Am I Pretty?' . "The book was inspired out of concern for the social pressures facing today's youth, including bullying and body image pressures, particularly for young girls that contribute to insecurities and low self-esteem. The story is designed to initiate dialogue with children (of all ages) about finding true beauty from within" says Margot.
Get tickets here … limited tickets available
Keynote Speaker: Margot L. Denomme, mother, lawyer and author of the book 'Mommy, Am I Pretty?'
Musical Guest: Gina Horswood
click on tickets below to order:
Adults: $30
Children (12 and under): $15
Babes in arms: Free
Make a Donation to Send a WCYR Client: $30
This first-time event will be held at the scenic Holland Marsh Wineries located in Newmarket, on Sunday, May 7th, 2017 (and don't worry – that's the weekend prior to Mother's Day!). The event will also showcase a local female musician, Gina Horswood, local vendors, raffles, prizes and our keynote speaker.
We've designed this event to be a multi-generational one, attended by families and in celebration of women! Our focus this year is on women, empowerment, and family communication. Grandmothers, Mother's, Daughter's, Granddaughter's, Aunts and friends will find this a lovely afternoon spent in celebration and support of women in our community (Grandfather's, Father's, Son's, Grandson's, Uncle's and friends are, of course, also welcome to join us!).


text:
Over at the One Little Word blog the challenge word is Lost. When I found this quote I knew exactly what I wanted to create.
I started out with a dark background, because it just seemed to fit with the word lost. I kept adding layers of black, white, grey, tourquiose, and quinacridone nickel azo gold paint until I was happy with the results. After the layers were dry, I went over the entire background with a thin layer of Carbon black paint, let it dry briefly, and wiped it back off in spots.
Next I wrote the quote out onto white cardstock. I wiped a very thin, diluted layer of black paint over the white cardstock with a baby wipe. I cut out the words and then adhered them to my page. Sorry the words are a bit hard to read, it was difficult to get a good clear picture.
A bit of a back story here - Several years ago I bought a copper weather vane for my husband. He always wanted one,but at the time we never got around to putting it up. Skip ahead to today with the building of our new house, we now have a place to put it. He was so very excited to see it up the other day.
Now back to the journal page I digitally altered the photo and transferred it onto my page using matte medium.
I was pretty happy with how the image transferred, but you could really see the edges of the original photo. So I used some more black paint and blended the edges in. The word lost is grungeboard letters painted with acrylic paint.
I was really happy with how this turned out. I think it may be one of my favorite journal pages to date. Not sure if it was how I related to the quote or using a picture of the weather vane or if I was just pleasantly surprised with my work - but in either case I love it and I rarely say that about my work. I might even have to make a canvas out of this someday. I want to thank you for reading all the way down to here and I hope you enjoyed my journal page spread as much as I do. As always thanks for stopping by!