Thursday, December 29, 2011

New Year, New Classes: Learn a new skill!

Is it your new year's resolution to improve your knitting skills or learn a new technique? I'm teaching a number of classes that will help you achieve just that!

January is a series of classes all about brushing up and improving the skills you already have to improve all of your knitting!

Jan 4- Measure to Fit
Learn how to measure yourself correctly, and then how to use those measurements and your gauge to make your knitting fit perfectly- whether its a sweater, a hat, mittens, or anything else.

Jan 11- Short Row Shaping
Give clothing that extra perfect fit with short rows- make the back of a collar stand a little higher than the front, or the seat of a sweater a little longer than the front, with this simple technique.

Jan 18- Finishing Skills
Learn to finish your knitting with a professional touch- sew neat and invisible seams, weave your ends in invisibly and securely, and block perfectly.

Jan 25- Anatomy of a Stitch (taught by Eileen)
Get the hang of "reading" your knitting, and learn to recognize and fix many common mistakes including dropped stitches.

February's series of classes are introductions to a variety of techniques and skills to take your knitting in new directions.

Feb 1- Cables
Get an introduction to cabled stitches- learn how they work, and get suggestions to start a cable project.

Feb 8- Lace
Demystify lace knitting by working with worsted weight yarn and big needles, and learn how lace knitting works so that you can translate your new skill into a project.

Feb 15- Colorwork
Do you love the colorful patterns of Norwegian sweaters? Learn about Fair Isle and Intarsia colorwork techniques and you'll be ready to tackle your own colorwork project.

Feb 22- Double Knitting
Learn to make reversible, double thick, colorful fabric that is perfect for scarves, hats, bags, and more.

Feb 29- Knitting with Beads
Want to add a little more sparkle to your knitting? Learn a few different methods of adding beads to your knitting and add something special to your next project.

You can sign up for just one class or a whole series- contact Sheepskate at 549 High St, Dedham, MA by calling 781-320-9276 to sign up.

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Gratuitous Holiday Knitting

Because this week has been vacation for me, I don't want to bore you with shopping or sales- I just want to share some of the adorably creative holiday knitting out there on the internet!

From Mochimochi Land- 


From the Handknit Holidays-along-










From Ravelry- these adorable coasters!




And for the nerdy among you- a snow covered TARDIS.

And lastly, in case you're still rushing around shopping for a knitter (or other stitcher) on your list, the Yarn Harlot has been posting fantastic ideas for gifts all month! 

Thursday, December 8, 2011

On the Needles

While I've been procrastinating on my holiday knitting, I have actually been knitting quite a lot- and so we have an update on four of my projects!

First up, the army of Yoda I hinted at last time- see those? Aren't they cute? I'm actually up to 5 now. Those are destined, along with a bunch of other amigurimi I have yet to make, to be wedding favors. So needless to say, between now and August, I'll be crocheting up a storm!

The other wedding project is also coming along, I'm now halfway through the pattern! And its beautiful, I can't wait to finish it.

I haven't touched my travel socks in awhile, in favor of the addictive hexipuffs, but I did finish the toe before I put them aside. Still exciting to be knitting on my own yarn finally!

Lastly, the hexipuffs, oh, the hexipuffs! I'm up to 21 total now, here are all the new ones since my last update- I've been having a lot of fun with little bits of my handspun yarn and some sock yarns I haven't used before from the mini-skein kits Sheepskate has.

Monday, December 5, 2011

Holiday Knitting

Are you slacking on holiday knitting as much as I am this year?

I gave up on trying to knit for everyone on my list years ago, but this year I still have a couple of small special things in mind- 2 to be precise. And I haven't started either one. I know, I know.

If you're not done with your holiday knitting either, join me this Wednesday night for fun and knitting, wine and snacks, and any help you might need with figuring out your projects! All the fun is at Sheepskate, 549 High St, Dedham, MA Wednesday Dec 7 from 6:30-9. Its a $10 drop in, or call 781-320-9276 ahead to reserve your spot!

So what am I doing instead of knitting my gifts? Well, I have been working on my veil and my hexipuffs, and an army of Yodas (more on all of that later this week). Instead I've been cooking! The last few weeks have been filled with frustrations as I had a series of failures with yeast breads. Yesterday I finally decided to give it another go, and tried a new recipe for pasta dough, and it worked! Rolled out easily, and I made a delicious butternut and ricotta ravioli with a pesto cream sauce. I realize pasta isn't yeasty, but my recent attempts at that have been sticky, too dry, and extremely thick, respectively.

Today, heartened by that success, I decided to give bread another go- and today I made an "American Sandwich Bread" a simple white bread with milk and honey- and it rose (!) and baked (!) and now I'm just waiting for it to cool to give it the real test- eating! There's a grilled cheese sandwich in my near future!