Conference Classes

Week 9 = Knitting Classes
Day 3 = February 28, 2014

L-R: Lily Chin, Alasdair Post-Quinn

and Nancy Shroyer

     Conferences and fairs are a great place to take knitting classes. They can offer access to knitting professionals, specialized classes and international techniques. For example Interweave Knitting Lab has: 

• Professionals
• Lily Chin, who is the epitome of the everywhere designer... she has worked with Vera Wang, Isaac Mizrahi, been cited in media on NBC, CNN, HGTV and more, she is teaching 4 classes
• Alasdair Post-Quinn, whom I consider a leader in his field of double-knitting, he is teaching 6 classes
• Nancy Shroyer... THE NANCY of Nancy's Knit Knacks, she is teaching 4 classes
• Specialized Classes
• Successful Knitting With Handpainted Yarn
• Custom Knit Socks
• Mobius Manipulated
• Knitted Jewelry
• Love Your Lace
• International Techniques
• Swedish Twined Textured Fingerless Mittens
• The Norwegian Purl
• Estonian Cast Ons
• Nordic Color
• Lithuanian Beaded Wristwarmers
• Stitch Library: Portuguese Style

     These are just three examples of the vast benefits of knitting conferences. There are many more benefits that you will just have to learn about yourself by going to a knitting conference. I will also be filling you in on the other benefits of Interweave Knitting Lab in May when I attend the conference.

Question of the day

Which of the above bulleted items are you most interested in?

Knitting International,

Victoria

Knitting Instructors

Week 9 = Knitting Classes
Day 2 = February 27, 2014

The socks I learned to knit at my first Knitting class.

When learning to knit, having a personal instructor is fabulous. The small class sizes that independent instructors can offer is another bonus. My first official knitting class was with KnitOasis last August. I loved learning how to makes socks in her 2-part class.

The benefit of independent instructors classes are:

• variety of projects
• tips and shortcuts abound
• there is no rush to meet a class time limit
• easy and willing contact after the class is over
• casualness
• no second focus, you are it
• one-on-one support available
• small class sizes

You can visit your local yarn shop and ask for information on local knitting instructors. You can also look on Ravelry.com for local knitting groups and see who they suggest for instructors.

As you know, I am working on my Certification and look forward having knitting classes in my local area. I am also planning to see if I can be a guest instructor in Yarn shops in other states when I travel later this spring and summer. So who knows, maybe I will be teaching a class in your area sometime soon.

Question of the day

What's your favorite knitting class that you've taken from an independent instructor?

Independent Knitting,

Victoria

Knitting Classes

Week 9 = Knitting Classes
Day 1 = February 26, 2014

   Wrap that my mother made

 

     Teaching runs in the family, my Grandpa was a teacher for over 35 years.
    
     I love learning new things. Gaining new knowledge and skills is so much fun and builds confidence, especially in the knitting arena.

     I love helping others to understand a new concept. There is a light that you can literally see click on in someone's eyes when they finally grasp something new and then the pride they have when they do it by themselves. It is amazing because when they leave they walk taller and carry themselves with more self respect.

     I thought that it would be fun to go over some of the Internet based knitting classes, local knitting classes and conference knitting classes available out there. There are several online classes that I have purchased over the past few years and this will give me a reason to watch them.

Question of the day

What is your favorite way to learn something new?
 

Knitting Learning,

Victoria

Accessorypalooza

Week 8 = Knitting Accessories
Day 7 = February 25, 2014




     Tonight, I have a compilation of accessories for you. The first is a pair of wooden sock blockers. These are gorgeous just to look at, let alone functional.

     Have you seen the sheet sets in stores that are packaged in cloth bags? Well, they make a perfect project bag, are quite colorful and very roomy.

     Think Peter Pan Honey Roast peanut butter. The container makes a great yarn holder. When I want to knit I just twist of the top and start. This way I do not have to worry about the yarn running away. Be sure to thoroughly wash out the container or you might get some peanuty knitting.

     I found these 2 containers at the local Habitat for Humanity Restore for less than $2. The wood container on the left is short and great for smaller balls of yarn. The tin on the right is a fabulous portable container that I have put my 2-at-a-time magic loop socks with 2 full balls of yarn. I also added 2 binder clips on either side to guide the yarn and to easily keep the yarns apart.  

     Here is a wonderful update. This is some of the fabric from the Indigo Dyeing Workshop I took back on January 29th. I had my friend Claudia make me one of her fabulous project bags. I LOVE IT!!!!!! The second picture is a close up of some of the color striations and unique pattern created during the dyeing process.

     Well, that concludes our week of knitting accessories. I hope you found something new and different to add to your own knitting accessory collection this week.

Question of the day

What is your favorite yarn or project holder?

Knitting with peanut butter containers,

Victoria

Needle Storage

Week 8 = Knitting Accessories
Day 6 = February 24, 2014

     When knitting a project, it sometimes misbehaves by making you drop a stitch, or you get all excited about that project you saw your friend knitting. This means you need more knitting needles... the horror. Now that you have to get more knitting needles, where will you put them when you finish?

     I have 3 examples for you tonight. A Namaste container, a 3-ring binder and a roll-up case.

 

     This name brand knitting needle container is the cream of the crop. It has 30 slots and tabs so that you can easily label the slots.

     The 3-ring binder setup is the genius idea of my friend Claudia. It uses a Staples brand 1" mini binder and Martha Stewart Home Office™ with Avery™ Secure-Top™ Sheet Protectors, 2 Pockets for the smaller needles and 1 Pocket for the bigger needles. This setup can hold as many needles as you have as long as you get more binders and sheet protectors.

 

     This roll-up case is wonderful for double pointed needles. There is a flap that folds over the needles to prevent them from possibly falling out. This case has 14 slots. As you can see above, the slots are narrower on the left and wider on the right to grow with the needle size. I also love the Velcro band that secures it because Velcro means it is adjustable to however many needle sets you have in the case.

Bonus storage/decoration idea!

 

Question of the day

How do you store your knitting needles?

Storage Knitting,

Victoria

Yarn Winding

Week 8 = Knitting Accessories
Day 5 = February 23, 2014


     Ball, Hank, Cake... What do these 3 things have in common? They are all yarn and how it is presented.

• Ball - is your standard center pull yarn that you can find at Joann's, Michaels, A.C. Moore and Wal-Mart, and yarn shops.
• Hank - is yarn that is twisted and looped through itself and needs to be wound into a ball or cake for ease of knitting.
• Cake - is yarn that has been wound on a yarn ball winder. Typically, this is done with a hank of yarn.

     Accessories like a yarn ball winder, yarn swift, yarn meter and scale are extremely helpful when you want to rewind remnant yarn, split a ball of yarn in half for socks, keep track of weight so that you can easily calculate yarn left after a project, and so on.

 KnitPicks Yarn Ball Winder

 Yarn ball winder in action, do not forget to hold the yarn as it

is going through the metal ring to provide a little tension.

 Yarn swift all folded up.

 Yarn swift opened up waiting for a hank of yarn.

Yarn swift with a hank of yarn ready to be connected to the

yarn ball winder and wound into a beautiful yarn cake.

Generation II Yarn Meter from Nancy's Knit Knacks

I DREAM of getting one of these... drool.

Biggest Loser Food scale found at Target.

 

     I love winding yarn with my yarn ball winder. Just a note for when you are winding yarn from a ball. For me, it works best to put the ball of yarn on the floor so that it has a little more tension. A quick spot cleaning of the floor is a good idea because your yarn will move around a bit when being wound.

 

Question of the day

Which of these items is your favorite?

 

Knitting and Winding,

 



Victoria

Blocking Materials

Week 8 = Knitting Accessories
Day 4 = February 22, 2014

     Once you are finished knitting a project, most likely you will not give the item away until you complete one more step... BLOCKING! When you block you allow the hidden beauty of an item to unfold right before your eyes. Blocking opens up your knitting, helps you to shape the item and, for certain fibers, sets up a type of shape memory.

     Just to give you an idea of how blocking looks, I have a set of before and after pictures for a gorgeous shawl that my mother knit and blocked.

 

Triangular shawl pre-blocking

 

Triangular shawl post-blocking

     Have you ever had a shirt with a label that said reshape and dry flat? Well, that is blocking. You are reshaping the knit item.

     When you block a knit item for the first time, you need certain accessories to help you hold the knit item in place until it is thoroughly dry. Some knitters buy blocking kits while others use what they have on hand. I have a little bit of both types. See below:

• Blocking Wires
• Straight 36"
• Straight 18"
• Curved
• Blocking Mats
• Children's foam floor squares with alphabet
• Children's foam floor squares with Disney's Cars 
• Blocking Pins
• T-blocking pins
• Push Pins (although I prefer my mother's quilting pins)
• White Towels
• used to gently press out excess water from the knitting after soaking. DO NOT WRING knitting 
• used under the item being blocked to soak up excess moisture while the blocked item is drying
• Bucket - for soaking your knitting
• Spray Bottle - to help keep your knit item moist while pinning it in place
• Eucalan - a no rinse, delicate wash soap added to the water used for soaking your knitting
• Yard Stick

     Not all knitting requires blocking... but all knitting benefits from being blocked. The trick is patience and persistence.

Question of the day

What was the first item that you ever blocked?

Blocking my Knitting,

Victoria

Knitting Kits

Week 8 = Knitting Accessories
Day 2 = February 21, 2014


     These are my knitting kits. I keep them with my knitting bag along with my knitting project so that I have them wherever my knitting goes. Some knitters use a Ziploc bag, pencil case, make-up bag or others container, as long as it holds all possibly accessories one might need when knitting.

     Here are the items that are in the 2 kits and what I use them for.

  

• Pencil Box
• OttLite - really bright and awesome light, in case there is not enough
• Small Scissors - for cutting yarn
• Calculator - to help figure out measurements,
• Tape Measure - to measure your knitting project
• Nail File - to keep your nails nice and smooth
• Seam Ripper - helps as an alternative scissors
• Dental Floss - life line (picture of gray and blue knit shawl above) used as a row marker to save all you have knitted to that point in case you need to pull out some future rows
• Highlighter Tape - mark your place on a pattern
• Thread - helps with sewing in your ends with ribbon like yarn
• Hand-held Mini Flashlight - cute little flashlight
• Knitting Gauge - helps measure knitting needle sizes and gauge of knitting project
• Name Badge - for knitting events
• Yarn Holder - spare piece of cardboard to wrap yarn around
• Crochet Hook - to help with dropped stitches
• Yarn Label - spare labels occasionally turn up in my knitting kit as I finish projects
• Prescription Bottle - contains the following
• 3 Tapestry Needles with curved tips - for sewing in your ends or threading a lifeline through the stitches on your needle
• 2 Tapestry Needles, regular - for sewing in ends or threading a lifeline through the stitches on your needle
• 1 Locking Stitch Marker - for marking your project
• 8 Toluca Stitch Markers - for marking your project
• 20 Circle Stitch Markers - for marking your project
• Sewing Needle - used to help fix mistakes
• 4 Safety Pins - helps hold 2 pieces together

• Make-Up Case
• Small Notebook - for pattern configuring and contact information of friends
• Post-It Pad - for giving your friends information or notes
• Highlighter Post-It Pad - really cool for marking patterns or the pages of a book with a see-through piece of paper (then you do not have to keep moving it)
• Highlighter - to highlight parts of a pattern or instructions
• 2 Pencils - for writing
• 3 Pens - for writing

     So that is my 'Must Have' list when just casually knitting. Unbelievable that I need so many extras. There are many different little goodies that other knitters have hidden in their knitting kits.

Question of the day

What is the strangest item in your knitting kit?

Knitting with Kits,


Victoria

Stitch Markers

Week 8 = Knitting Accessories
Day 2 = February 20, 2014




     Happy Birthday to my baby girl, Joanna, I can't believe that you're 4 already. I love you so much!




     I had to get that out of my system. OK, onto knitting. Stitch Markers are a glorious thing. They can be used for any of the following and more:

• mark stitches to keep count as you cast on a large number
• mark the right or wrong side of a project
• mark a particular stitch in a pattern
• mark a color change
• mark the edges of a border
• mark the number of rows as you knit
• mark increases and decreases
• mark sections of stitches in a pattern
• catch and hold dropped stitches

     That is a lot of uses for a little ring! You have your standard stitch markers as seen below:

All 4 of these pictures are from Joann.com

   
     Speaking of little rings, have you seen some of the stitch markers for sale on Etsy? Allow me to show you. Each picture is linked to the Etsy page where you can purchase the individual stitch markers.

     Quite the variety, huh! I have some beads that I got and am going to attempt to make my own stitch markers. I will let you know how it goes.

Question of the day

What kind of design would you like to see for a stitch marker?

Marked Knitting,




Victoria

Knitting Accessories

Week 8 = Knitting Accessories
Day 1 = February 19, 2014

 

All 3 pictures are from AOL image search

     If you are not a knitter you would think that knitting is all about those 2 stick things and that fiber stuff. Well, you're in for a treat! Knitting is as much about those 2 stick things called Knitting Needles and that fiber stuff called Yarn, as it is about the accessories that knitters find and create.

 

     When knitting, we use every thing from empty prescription bottles, to pencil case holders, to Post-it notes to get what we need. Just to give you an idea of some of the accessories out there, here are a few that I will be showing you this week.

• Yarn Winder
• Yarn Swift
• Sock Blockers
• Blocking Materials
• Prescription Bottles
• Yarn Bowls
• Yarn Containers
• Project Bags
• Stitch Marker Holders
• Post-it Pads
• Stitch Markers
• Tapestry Needles
• Tape Measure
• Crochet Hook
• Needle Gauge
• Knitting Needle Storage Cases
• and more...

     These are the knitting accessories that I can think of off the top of my head. It is amazing how many ingenious things knitters come up with to improve their knitting experience. I look forward to letting you in on my accessory secrets.

Question of the day

What knitting accessory have you created to help you with your knitting?

Accessorizing and Knitting,


Victoria