It has been quite a few months since I have done any teaching, life (and work!) has been so busy that it just hasn’t been possible to take on any more.  However last week (which was excellent timing) I was almost finished my author review for the book and Cathy from The Crafty Alley invited me to teach a colourwork class.

So if you want to come learn some colourwork with me get in contact Cathy and go book yourself a place in Killarney on the 2nd of April.  You can see some more details about it here.  Don’t be afraid of giving it a try if you’ve never worked with multiple colours before.  Once you can knit then you’ll be able for the class, I intend to start at the beginning with the basics.

If you follow the link through to my class page you might notice a little mention of Knit Nation at the bottom.  I’m very excited to be teaching at Knit Nation in London this July.  The class schedule is yet to be announced but you can sign up for their newsletter here and as soon as the details are you you’ll know about it.  There are so many people I know going to this weekend that it is sure to be an amazing few days, come join us!

Thank you everyone who entered my competition over the last few weeks.  Both of my sons chose random numbers and to select my prize winners and here there are:

First prize (Four Elements pdf and yarn) went to Owlmania, I have your email address so I’ll go and send the booklet pdf immediately to you.

Next price (Four Elements pdf) went to Suzanne Maughan which will go straight out to you!

The discounted booklet price will remain until the 1st of November (the start of our KAL) and I hope to have individual pattern pdfs up for sale also for Talamh, Gaoth and Uisce in the next few weeks.  They’ll be at my usual pattern price of €5.95.

Now for the winner of our Four Season KAL….it was overwhelmingly for Talamh.  I’m delighted about this as it is fun to knit and easy to wear!  Come over to my Stolen Stitches Group in Ravelry for lots of support, happy knitting.

Just a quick reminder that I’m doing a class in Crafty Alley next Saturday the 9th of October.  This class will work though my Captiva Wrap pattern which is a great pattern to learn new techniques from.  It has some basic lace, short rows and the chart comes in both written and charted form so knitters who want to learn how to read a chart can learn with this.

So if you want to come along for the morning get in contact with Cathy, I think there are a few places still left.

(c) Interweave Press

My newest pattern has jut come out in Interweave Weekend 2010 - Briseis pullover.  As you can imagine with the large gauge this is fast to knit!  It is worked from the top down using raglan shoulder shaping. The lace panels break up the heaviness of the chunky yarn nicely..I especially like how the openness worked on the sleeves. This lace panel is worked on both right and wrong side rows so takes a little bit of concentration before you join to work in the round.

The deep v-neck and the waist shaping also create a flattering fit for a heavier gauged yarn.

I think I have finally recovered enough from my week at knitcamp to try and write a blog post.  It is so rare to get away from home for a full week that I took full advantage of it!

I have never taught so many classes one day after another so a full week of teaching was quite an experience in itself.  By Friday I was starting to croak rather than talk but some hot coffee seemed to help!  On top of talking for long classes meals were in a cafeteria so there were always new and interesting people to talk to….as well as every evening!  I had the best time all week with Woolly Wormhead, we had met before but I hadn’t expected to spend so much of the week hanging out together…anyone who gets the chance, she is lots of fun.

Over the course of the week I discovered that I really, really love short rows.  Now, I had known that before… but talking to students every day I realized just how obsessional that was.  I think that every class but 1 I ended up talking about short rows at some point! Half of knit camp may now be as in love with short row set-in sleeve caps as I am.  That’s not a bad thing!  Needless to say the class I had the most fun was (wait for it)..the short row class.  I got to go through tons of different ways of constructing them and everyone found one that suited them.

This wonderful bag (hand quilted!) of gifts was given to me by a group of Portuguese knitters.  They had made gift bags for all their tutors and it was such a kind, thoughtful gesture that it nearly made me cry!  (Hand painted yarn, little Portuguese knitter statue, and pretty cards, pencils and notepads from Porto).

After my week of teaching I am looking forward to my  next few teaching engagements in Ireland.  In Autumn I’ll be at Crafty Alley and a couple more shops.  Anyone down Killarney direction please come along.  If there is particular class you’d like to see let me know, I’m just planning it now.

Now back to Knitcamp.  As well as having a wonderful time in all my classes (the students were superb) I also enjoyed every evening.  First night (Monday) we went to the EZ dinner.  I met Marleen and Nancy Marchant before the meal.  Both live in cities in the Neatherlands that I have relatives living in so I felt right at home!  During the meal Marleen introduced me to Jon and his husband Roy.  Marleen has designed several shawls for Jon and I can see why, his yarn is just delicious with wonderful colors.  On my other side there was a knitter from Alaska and we had some great chats (please forgive me, I don’t remember your name…if you read this please fill me in!).

Tuesday night (I did warn you that we went out every night!) there was the pub quiz.  Woolly Wormhead had arrived by now and we arrived at the quiz late.  I dragged her onto our Team Twilight and let me tell I doubt we would have know how many patterns she had published without her on the team!

Wednesday night was Stitch n’ Bitch night with Debbie Stroller (just in case you don’t know who she is go pull out that Stitch n’ Bitch book from your shelf!).  It was very surreal to have a knitting legend going from group to group introducing herself!  I actually forgot my knitting that evening and ran back up to the dorms to get it.  Just wouldn’t have been right  not to have it with me.  In fact as far as knitting went I did very little all week.  My mind was so in the teaching I didn’t have much extra mental space left for knitting (as well as the fact that most of the work I’m doing right now is secret so not the best for a huge knit camp!)

Thursday we headed off campus to a pub close by and bumped into the gang above.  What a fun night we had, I feel as though I haven’t had such an easygoing relaxed night out since I was a teenager.  It’s nice once in a while to get transported outside your everyday life.  In fact that’s a bit what the whole week felt like.  The first time in 12 years I left all my daily responsibilities behind.

By Friday night we were fading and my friend Sue arrived from Cork and whisked us off for a great Indian meal in Sterling.  Even though for cafeteria food it wasn’t so bad I was in serious need of some variety.  Also the early meal time was more than I could manage, I was so hungry by most mornings that I was retching with hunger (no, I”m not very good at looking after myself!)

Isn’t this just the craziest Briyani you’ve ever seen?  The bread was cooked in a dome over the top of the pot!

We’re nearly at the end of the week now…if you’ve managed to read it to the end of this post you’re now probably almost as tired as I am.  The marketplace was amazing.  I got far more than I had intended, buttons, vintage buttons, shawl pins and a little pretty yarn I couldn’t resist (I didn’t want to add any weight going home!).  The night went on far too long but I did get to meet a personal hero of mine, Norah Gaughan, before the end of the night.  She had been suffering from a cold but was still up for a chat at almost midnight!  I even got to see her Ipad sketches.

And now I need to rest and recover from the week.  It was lovely to get home to the boys but I think they had so much fun with their dad all week that they barely noticed I was gone!  A big thank you to Jo and Doug (as well as the rest of the team) for putting this together and pulling it off.

We’re in the final countdown to UK Knitcamp in Scotland next week and all the finishing touches are being added to the classes.  I wanted to go through material lists for the classes so that everyone would know what they will need.  Please leave a comment if you have any queries.

Tuesday (All Day)- Knitting From The Side

Materials:
7mm/US11 circular needles
7mm/US11 dpns
7mm crochet hook (this size is less critical so close to that size will also work)
Waste yarn
stitch markers

I have some Fyberspates Scrumptious chunky yarn for the class (very gererously donated by Jeni..THANKS!) which will have to be doubled to get gauge (11 sts/18 rows per 4″/10cm).  If you are a fast knitter you may wish to bring your own yarn to ensure you have enough for the full class.

Wednesday (Morning) – Slip Stitch Patterns

We will be working through a series of slip stitch pattern swatches so you will need

2 yarns (dk/aran recommended); suitable needle
size for yarn (straight or circular).

Thursday (All Day) – Shaping Up Traditional Knits

Materials:

Aran weight yarn, 100% wool recommended.
US #8/5mm circular needle, 32-inch/80cm (or longer) for
in the round or straight needles if worked flat.
US #7/4.5mm circular needle, 32-inch/80cm (or longer)
for in the round or straight needles if worked flat.
1 set US #7/4.5mm double pointed needles (dpns)
1 set US #8/5mm double pointed needles (dpns)
Markers (m); Stitch holders; Tapestry needle; Cable needle
Plus: calculator, graph paper, measuring tape.
It is also useful if you measure or bring a well fitting
sweater for yourself.

You may not need the dpns during the class but to finish your sweater they will be needed.

Friday (Morning) – Short Rows

Materials:

Yarn (dk-aran weight would be best); straight or circular
needles suitable for yarn, measuring tape, stitch markers;
safety pins.

Saturday (2 hours, morning) – Magic Loop

This class will work on a toddler sock pattern using DK weight yarn.

Materials:

1 set of 3.5mm circular needles 80-100cm long (Addi
Turbos or Knit Pro are recommended)

DK wool; Stitch marker; Darning needle; Scissors; Measuring Tape.

All the boys are at home this week on their summer holidays which is both lots of fun and frustrating.  Its nice to be off the treadmill of constant schedules and planning ..getting them out of pjs by mid day is a chore!  However finding time for some mental space is pretty hard.  I actually like quiet alone time so summers can get a little overwhelming!

I’ve been busy planning my classes for Knit Camp in Scotland and have some good news for anyone taking my Knitting From the Side class.  Fyberspates have kindly agreed to donate the yarn for this class.  You’ll all get a chance to try out their wonderful Scrumptious yarn.  The Raspberry Layer pattern we will be using in the class uses a chunky yarn that she is no longer producing but the DK weight held double produces the correct gauge so that’s what we’ll be using in the class.  This is a great class for a knitter who is past the basics and wants to learn some new techniques.  The cardigan begins with a provisional cast on at the center of the back, works out each way one at at time and uses short rows to give shape to the cardigan and also uses short rows to produce a little sleeve cap.  I have a pattern coming out shortly that also uses a similar construction technique but looks quite different.

I’ve got several new patterns (2 published elsewhere and 2 self-published) coming out over the summer.  I can’t talk yet about the other patterns but the next self-published pattern uses delicious Sundara Aran Silky Merino.  This was knit and modeled by Sue and I’ll leave you with a tiny little sneak peak….you should be able to see the completed piece in a few weeks!

Cross posted with Knit Camp 2010.
Last week when Jo Watson said that she was setting up a new blog for Knit Camp I though it was a great idea and volunteered to contribute to it.

For anyone who doesn’t know me, I am a knitwear designer living in Ireland and will be one of the tutors at Knit camp in August. I self-publish my work and I have contributed to several magazines and books (Interweave Knits, Twist Collective, Yarn Forward, Knitty, Knotions and the book ‘Knitting in the Sun’). If you’re interested in finding out a little more about me you can visit my blog Stolen Stitches and also see an recent interview I did for a Dublin knitting shop This is Knit.

In this post I though I’d talk a little about one of the classes I’ll be running on Thursday 12th August ‘Shaping up your Traditional Knits‘. This will be an all day class aimed at experienced knitters who are able to knit cables but who what to learn how to modify a traditional pattern to fit them.

The idea for this class came from my own love of traditional cable stitches. I love digging through old patterns to see how different stitch patterns are combined. However the standard square unshaped pieces with drop shoulder construction is unappealing to me. I like waist shaping, fitted shoulders and ideally seamless knits. As a designer I have the experience to modify patterns myself and I wanted this full day class to give experienced knitters the knowledge and confidence to do that also. Please note that this is not a design class, it is to step you through the process of modify the pattern.

How will the class work?
As knitters I think we are practical and hands-on so this class will work around a pattern. I will provide a very basic cabled pattern that we will modify. If you have a pattern that you would like to work on in the class you are welcome to bring your own also.

What will you learn?
I will be focusing on a number of different areas to modify in this class which will include:

1. Seamless Knitting
For all of you knitters out there who love to knit seamless garments I will work with you to help convert a flat pattern to a seamless one.

2. Waist Shaping
If you would rather a little waist shaping in your knits we’ll work out some ways of incorporating waist shaping into your garment. Where is the easiest place to add it? How will it effect the overall garment?
When you are working a more fitted garment gauge is critical, so we’ll be looking at the best way of measuring gauge and calculating size for a heavily patterned garment.

3. Shoulder Shaping
If drop shoulders aren’t really you’re thing we’ll take a look at how they can be converted to a set-in sleeves. I will also work through how to work a set-in sleeve from the top down. You’ll be amazed how easy it is!

Hopefully that will give you an idea of how this unique class will work, if it sounds like something you’ve been waiting for please come and sign up!

I had a wonderful time yesterday in the Lace workshop at This Is Knit.  Lisa and Jacqui are quite possibly the most perfect hosts, welcoming and ultra organised.  Many, many thanks.

Unfortunately I was carrying so much stuff with me yesterday I managed to forget my camera so I don’t have any pictures of the day to post.  What I do have however is a picture of the wonderful stitch markers that Karen of Chocolate Bunni Crafts made just for the workshop.  They are just so cute!  I even got to go for sushi with Karen (and Karen!) afterwards, a rare treat.

I was so impressed with what a great bunch of knitters were there, they all just went flying through the shawls.  Everyone working on the Captiva Wrap got a full pattern repeat finished during the class!

Thank you again everyone.

I’m very excited to announce an upcoming class in This Is Knit at the Powerscourt Centre in Dublin on the 16th of May.

This class will teach you how to knit the Centrique shawl or Captiva Wrap. You get to choose which piece you want to learn how to knit with a copy of the pattern included in the class price.

The Centrique shawl can be worked in either a light 4-ply/fingering weight or a heavier dk weight yarn. This pattern is great as a first shawl project. You will learn how to read your lace and create a triangular shawl. I will also show knitters how to adjust the pattern size if they want to work a smaller or larger shawl.

The Captiva wrap is shaped using short rows to create the gentle curve. Worked in garter stitch this project is a great way to learn how short rows work and is designed to hide the wraps well. I will also show how to adjust and modify the size and length of this wrap to suit your needs.

I’m looking forward to seeing all you knitters in Dublin!