Our “Fall Semester” knitting classes kick off this month. We’ve done our best to listen to topics suggested by our great customers, and designed a curriculum that deals with at least one basic knitting skill, one or two items that are “hot” with knitters, and something a little different that we hope will be exciting to everyone.
As usual, the classes will be taught as a single, five-hour session on Saturdays using a “workshop-type” format, and each class will be limited to six participants. The workshops will begin at 10:30 am and will last until 3:30. A Great Yarn will provide morning and afternoon snacks and refreshments, and workshop participants will be asked to bring a bag lunch.
September Workshop: We’re going to start our Fall Workshops with a repeat of last winter’s “Learn to Crochet…and Get Hooked on a Feeling” workshop. Why repeat?
Two reasons. First, TOFT’s “Edward’s Menagerie” crocheted animals continue to be enormously popular, and as a result, we continue to receive requests for instruction from knitters whose crocheting skills are either rusty or non-existent. And second, Christmas is coming, and nothing says Merry Christmas like a gift-wrapped Emma the Bunny or Caitlin the Unicorn.
We will conduct two Learn to Crochet workshops, one on Saturday, September 21st, and one on Saturday, September 28th. If there is sufficient interest, we will add additional workshops.
October Workshop: Our second Fall Workshop is entitled “Keeping Things in Organized Disorder with Sequence Knitting.”
The concept of sequence knitting is simple: take a sequence of stitches and repeat them again and again. Depending on how you repeat them, different fabrics can be created. By repeating a certain sequence of knit and purl stitches again and again, you can create gorgeous and often reversible fabric. This is the same concept behind basic ribbing, seed stitch, mistake-rib stitch, and the like—but on steroids.
We will conduct two Sequence Knitting workshops, one on Saturday, October 12th, and one on Saturday, October 19th. If there is sufficient interest, we will add additional workshops.
November Workshop: Our third workshop is entitled: “Mosaic Knitting: Slip-Stitching Your Way to Colorwork Nirvana.”
Most knitters define colorwork as any method that involves using two or more colors of yarn in a single row. The two most common approaches to colorwork knitting are stranded knitting (think Fair Isle) and intarsia knitting. There is a third option, though — mosaic knitting!
Mosaic knitting involves two simple techniques — slipping stitches and changing colors between rows. Mosaic knitting has several important advantages over traditional approaches to colorwork. First, it’s much easier than stranded knitting. Second, the finished fabric maintains most of the stretch that regular stockinette has, unlike stranded knitting. And finally, you don’t have to worry about long, cumbersome floats or maintaining tension throughout your colorwork.
We will conduct two Mosaic Knitting workshops, one on Saturday, November 9th, and one on Saturday, November 16th. If there is sufficient interest, we will add additional workshops.
January Workshop (Due to the holidays, we won’t have any workshops in December): Does this sound familiar: “I’ve made several beautiful sweaters and the parts are in bags because I don’t know how to put them together.” Or how about this: “The scarf I just finished is so-oooooo boring. I wish there was some really cool border I could add on that would make it pop.” Both of these problems fall under the topic of “finishing,” which will be the subject of our fourth and final Fall Workshop, entitled “Finishing Techniques: It Ain’t Over Until It’s Over.”
We will conduct two Finishing workshops, one on Saturday, January 4th, and one on Saturday, January 11th. If there is sufficient interest, we will add additional workshops.
The cost for the October, November and January Workshops will be $75 each, which includes all required materials except for needles and notions. The cost for the September Workshop will be $65, which does not include the cost of a TOFT crochet kit.
If you would like to participate please send us an email at info@agreatyarn.com, or better yet, give us a call at 508-348-5605. Operators are standing by to take your call.
