Monday, July 27, 2009

TDSS Aran Cardigan in Progress



Here is a photo of the Top-Down Saddle-Shoulder Aran in progress. As you can see I am knitting the sleeve flat rather than in the round. The orange markers on the back show the correct depth of the armhole. Instead of measuring from the center of the saddle, I had measured from the picked-up edge for the armhole depth so the back ended up being 1 1/2” too long! When I return to working the back, I will have to rip back to those markers because I have to pick up along the edge of the body part of the sleeve to make the back the desired width. Live and learn, right? :)



The other orange markers on the sleeve are where the body part of it ends, then where the first decreases are. (I like to count rows so that I can make corresponding parts match.) The green marker in the center of the sleeve is for the measuring the sleeve length.

Sunday, July 26, 2009






Here are photos of the solid-color Earflap Cap.

Preparing for Fall Classes

Currently I am working on samples for fall and winter classes at Spirit Work. The big one is a Top-Down Saddle-Shoulder Aran cardigan. Jeannine and I are again team-teaching an Aran sweater class. While I am making a cardigan for myself, she is making a pullover for her brother. We are also going to put them together differently. Mine will have sewn side seams, and hers will be done seamlessly in the round. Students will choose from two different styles and assembly methods, and make their choices of stitch patterns from menus for the different categories of cables and allover patterns. Jeannine and I will have swatched all of the patterns on the menus, and we are being careful to choose ones that have the same stitch count in every row/round and are rhythmic enough so that they are easy to learn after one repeat or so. The intent is that the knitter shouldn't need to keep checking a chart or written directions all the time so that a conversation can be carried on or TV can be watched! (Let's face it, if something is too involved, how much time can you spend on it?) And oh yes, the patterns will be both charted and written. Students will be getting enough information that they will need looseleafs for the handouts! :)


Other classes that I will be teaching are the Earflap Cap, which is a solid-color version of the colorwork Snowflake Helmet (the sample on the website needs to be updated, but the actual class sample is on display in the shop); the Chipman's Block Mitten; Boot Socks out of Cascade 220 Superwash, which works up beautifully for socks; Introduction to Designing: The Classic Vest (I do tend to make a lot of them!); and an Aran Diamond Vest, for those who might like to make an Aran but don't want to pick out patterns or commit to a sweater with sleeves.


All of my classes use my own designs and include complete handouts. The garment classes start with measuring the figure so that students can knit to fit. (While I may have gotten bigger around over the years, my shoulders have not grown broader, nor my arms longer, so knitting to fit is important to me.)


I will also be teaching a class on Heirloom Christmas Stockings, with 2 different colorwork designs. The stockings are made in Lamb's Pride Bulky so they knit up quickly. Students may make either design or may combine colorwork patterns from both into one stocking. At present only the Stars and Trees design is on display in the shop and on the shop's website, while the North Woods one with a pair of moose is being modified.