Classes
Stream One: Saturday 9am – noon (3 hours, $60)
Understanding Colour – Making Confident Decisions
Suitable for: Any knitter or crocheter
Colour, one of the mysteries of the universe! Some people seem to have a natural colour sense and easily combine colours in ways that work but some of us don’t posses such confidence. This workshop introduces key concepts of colour theory through play and experimentation. Participants are asked to bring a selection yarns from their typical colour palette and to use these to explore combinations that enhance their favourite colours. Using tricks like borrowing from nature, from classical art or from the everyday – the outcome will be a better sense of what works, why it works and how to select effective colour combinations.
Continental Knitting
Suitable for: Any knitter
Continental style sees the working yarn held in your left hand – some knitters finds this faster, easier on their hands, and more intuitive.
In this class you will learn several variations of cast ons, and how to knit and purl in the Continental style. Norwegian purling and ribbing Continental will also be covered.
Talk: Saturday 12:30pm – 1:15pm (45 minutes, free)
Not Your Nana’s Grandpa’s Knitting
Suitable for: Everyone
Society regularly views knitting as “women’s work”. In doing so it also frequently dismisses and derides knitting as a unworthy occupation. The phrase “not your nana’s knitting” is regularly used to suggest that something might be better than the norm.
The vast majority of modern knitters in the western world today are women, but knitting was once considered men’s work too. Indeed, in some portions of history, the commercial knitting realm was dominated by men.
All-male knitting guilds flourished in Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries, knitting skills were honed and valued. Works produced fetched high prices, reflective of the labour and skill involved in their production.
The evolution of manufacturing technology enabled knit fabrics to be wrought without hand-labour, the mass-economic necessity of hand-knitting was struck out and knitting returned to the domestic sphere, predominantly to the hands of women, and to a much lower status.
Today’s knitting community has flourished in the age of technology, visibility has increased and perhaps notions of knitting as a gendered activity can be eroded.
Not Your Nana’s Grandpa’s Knitting will briefly outline the history of knitting and explore the genderisation of the craft.
Stream Two: Saturday 1:30pm – 3:30pm (2 hours, $45)
How To Knit Your Best Sweater Yet
Suitable for: Perfect for new garments knitters, knitters who’ve made a few duds and those who feel like they’re “winging it”.
Helical Stripes – Jogless Joy for Stripes in the Round
Suitable for: Any knitter who is comfortable knitting in the round.
Regular stripes knit in the round have an unsightly “join”, learn how to knit helical stripes and say goodbye to awkward colour changes. No fuss, no bothersome hacks, just smooth, beautiful stripes.
Fantastic for socks, hats, and sweaters. This is a fantastic, fun skill to add to your arsenal.
Stream Three: Saturday 4pm – 4:30pm (30 minutes, $15)
Purlwise Long Tail Cast On
Suitable for: Any knitter (no knowledge of the normal long tail cast on required)
Love the long tail cast on? Ever wanted to turn it around so the first row of stitches are purls? That’s exactly what this technique does. The long tail cast on is a great option as it’s highly flexible and suitable for many projects. It is simple and extremely quick to work, but it also creates a row of knit stitches. This technique puts a twist on the classic long tail cast on to create a starting row of purl stitches for projects where that is more appropriate.
Kihnu Troi Cast On
Suitable for: Intermediate knitters
Have fun playing with colour as you learn this beautiful two-colour braided cast on technique. An Eastern European classic, it allows you to add a special touch to any colour-work project. Kihnu Troi is one of the most technically involved braided cast ons, but the result is absolutely worth the time it takes. If you love gorgeous details this is definitely a technique to add to your tool box of knit skills.
Stream Four: Saturday 5pm – 5:30pm (30 minutes, $15)
German Short Rows – You’ll Never Go Back!
Suitable for: Any knitters.
Never tried short rows? Had a go but frustrated with how they look? German short rows are simple to work, perfect for inserting into any pattern and they’re almost invisible.
By the end of this lesson you’ll be creating curved necklines, clean shoulder drops, hi-lo hems, gorgeous wedges in shawls and bust darts that look a million dollars.
I-cord Bind Off
Suitable for: Any knitters.
An i-cord bind off creates a beautiful, soft finished edge. Perfect for use on necklines, cuffs, pocket openings and shawls. Master this classic finish and use it to elevate your next hand knit project.
Stream Five: Sunday 9am – noon (3 hours, $60)
Bookbinding – All Stitched Up
Suitable for: Everyone
Saddle stitched books are honest and easy to make – the French call them cahier. Attractive and well made cahier are simple to make but do require a little bit of skill and inside knowledge, come and learn the secrets to success. Saddle stitched books can be combined into larger books, aka travellers notebooks, and you’ll learn how to make a combination cover. This class uses a Kitchen table bookbinding approach – a style of bookbinding that makes use of every day household tools to create unique crafted books. In this workshop participants will create two saddle stitched books.
Introduction to Stranded Knitting – Consistency Before Perfection
Suitable for: Knitters who can work in the round using Magic Loop.
This class covers the basic techniques involved in learning to knit stranded knitting patterns using both hands.
We will cover reading (and tips for keeping track of) a stranded chart, the importance of yarn selection, securing floats, and understanding tension.
Stream Six: Sunday 12:30pm – 3:30pm (3 hours, $60)
Colour to Cables – A Creative Twist on a Classic
Suitable for: Any knitter.
When you look at most cable knit patterns they tend to be in only one colour and they look beautiful but have you ever thought what would happen if you tried adding another colour… or two… or more? It’s not a secret… the cables come to life, that’s what happens!
In this class you will experiment by adding colour to both the four stitch and eight stitch varieties of the classic cabled honeycomb pattern. Horizontal colour changes will use the stranded technique and vertical colour changes will use the intarsia technique. There will also be the opportunity to look at how your colour choices can make the same pattern look very different.
Make The Cut – The Art of the Steek
Suitable for: Any knitter.
Take the fear factor out of steeking and learn how easy it is to make the cut! Learn when a steek is the best option, how to prepare and cut a steek, and how a steeked item can be neatly finished. This class is the ideal place to take scissors to your knitting for the first time and gain confidence to do it again and again.
Stream Seven: Sunday 4pm – 4:30pm (30 minutes, $15)
Duplicate Stitch
Suitable for: knitters who know basic techniques (cast on, knit, purl, cast off and have used a yarn needle before e.g. to weave in ends)
Duplicate stitch allows you to create stitches that match stockinette stitch on top of a knitted item with nothing more than a darning needle and yarn. Use a contrast colour to create decorative patterns, or the same colour to invisibly blend into your work. Add a coloured motif to your work without any needing to master stranded colourwork or intarsia. Reinforce and repair an item to extend it’s life. Duplicate stitch is an incredibly versatile and useful skill!
Picking Up Stitches For a Perfect Finish
Suitable for: Any knitter.
Stream Eight: Sunday 5pm – 5:30pm (30 minutes, $15)
Knit In Ends While You Work
Suitable for: Any knitter.
Avoid weaving in what feels like a thousand ends by learning this simple technique. This technique doesn’t change the thickness of yarn or distort stitches at all! Instead, it keeps the ends neatly woven in on the wrong side of the work just like you’d do later with a yarn needle. Spend less time finishing and more time knitting!
Cabling Without a Cable Needle – Just Say No… to the Cable Needle
Suitable for: Any knitter with some cable experience.
Have you ever had the misfortune of losing your cable needle down the side of a chair? Have you ever broken your cable needle while knitting? Have you felt that you didn’t want to get up from your comfy knitting chair to get a cable needle? Fear not because as with all problems there is always a knitting solution! In this class you will learn two techniques that will enable you to cable without a cable needle. One will be used with the four stitch honeycomb pattern and the other will be used on a six stitch standard cable twist.