So I’m sure after my last post, you are wondering why I didn’t have as much time to shop and buy all the things (other than my stated plan). With the package we purchased included 3 classes and Mom and I wanted to take full advantage of the awesome ladies who were teaching all weekend.
First up when we got there on Friday, we took a Hand-Dyeing Class taught my Rhonda Fargnoli. She seemed very knowledgeable and very into the yarn business. She gave some great tips for where to buy her natural dyes, but I wish we were given more direct instructions on how to prepare and set up our own dyeing at home. Ce la vie.
We did have a good time dyeing our mini-skeins with a few different dyes. There were 5 different colors and one was indigo and one was cochineal. We spent the afternoon dipping and painting and pouring dye all over our mini skeins. Here is Mom at work.
The room we were in at the Palmer House Hilton had some really, really yellow lighting.
We took them up to the room on styrofoam plates and laid them out to dry.
When we got home, I rinsed them with some white vinegar and hung them up to dry over the sink.
Now, what to make??? I need a scale so I can know how much of each color I have…maybe I can make a magic ball with these for a big fun project?
The next class I took was Getting Your Lace On taught by the lovely Laura Nelkin. Let me start by saying that I have never knit one of Laura’s patterns. Each time that one of her designs have caught my eye, I go and look it up and notice how complicated it is. This is not a bad thing, but up until about 6 months ago, I stuck to simple knits. Nothing too complicated, nothing I have to count…then I did the Follow Your Arrow KAL (on my own time because KAL time restrictions seem to be terrible for me) and the whole “simple only knitting” flew right out the window.
Laura started off the class by sharing many of her samples with us. She passed around so many lovely things, talked about what Lace knitting actually is and isn’t, and had us cast on 10 stitches.
And knit a few rows. We played around with some increases and had a very good discussion on what a “yarnover” actually is and should look like (I guess I had not been paying much attention to my knitting in the past). Fun fact: A yarn0ver should in fact be a piece of yarn over the needle, but the leg riding in front of the needle still needs to be the right leg! Amazing. Next time you do a yarnover, check it out.
We then played around with some decreases. Her instructions were great. She talked about when designers would use each one and which ones were appropriate for double sided lace (eeeeek!). She was incredibly patient and kept us all interested.
We touched on how to read charts for one-sided lace, lace in the round, and two-sided lace. We even hit (quickly) on blocking. The whole 3 hours was jam-packed full of great information. It really made me think about my knitting and gave me the confidence to tackle a few of Laura’s (complicated) designs. She was gracious enough to even do a quick selfie with me after class!!
Sorry that my quality isn’t great 😦 That’s what I get for using the iPhone I guess. I am definitely a Laura fan after such a great experience. I highly recommend you check out her blog and her new book, Knockout Knits, (which is full of info about the techniques used as well as the patterns).
Mom took a class from Amy Detjen about Two-Color Knitting during this time. I will have to get with her about what she thought. I took a class from Amy last year about Cables…also awesome 🙂
PS: I am wearing my Whispers top!
Our next class was in the afternoon. It was Entrelac with Rosemary Drysdale. She is the author the books Entrelac and Entrelac 2. Another note about my experience with Entrelac, I had never done this either! Rosemary is a hoot and reminds me of my parents’ German neighbor who is very matter-of-fact. She had us jump right in to try our hand at Entrelac. Throughout the class, she offered great tips on how to pick up stitches and she showed off several of her beautiful designs. I was so busy knitting, I did not have time to take pictures of my progress. Here is my swatch.
Overall, the classes were definitely worth the time and money we spent at Vogue Knitting Live. Both this year and last, have left me with a great experience. I will say that one thing I will do before taking classes at a big event like this is to do some research about the teacher before hand. Look them up on Ravelry and see what some of their work is like, maybe see if they have been talked about by other knitters who have taken classes from them.
Anyway, definitely something I would do again 🙂 I need to get my needles going so I can cast on something new from Knockout Knits!!!
v’s & bumps,
Jenna
The end of a beautiful year is upon us. In 2014, I had some wonderful adventures. I started a blog! I didn’t realize how awesome it would be to dive into the knitting blogosphere! I’ve read some awesome blogs (hop over to my Blogs I Read page for more…in fact I have a few to add) and had the opportunity to connect with some great people through the internet. I’ve been inspired to tackle all the knits. I’ve been encouraged when things aren’t quite going the way I want. And I’ve felt a huge sense of belonging to such a fantastic group of people. I knit my first garment(s)! Earlier this year, I blindly knit a top as a shop sample for McNeedles. I followed the directions and knit stockinette for miles. My only complaint? I couldn’t try it on because it was the smallest size! 
After I finished that bad boy up, I came across several posts on blogs talking about a “Summer Sweater Knit-Along.” I had to play along! I bought yarn, swatched, and then it hibernated. I was inundated with trying to finish baby blankets and didn’t even cast on the crazy “summer sweater” until August? Not to mention I didn’t finish those million rounds of stockinette until October. But I love my Whispers top and look forward to wearing it more in the spring! 
I moved to an awesome city! St. Louis has been magnificent! We are closer to family and have gotten to go to some awesome Cardinals baseball games and drink some of the tastiest beer. I was blessed with a new niece! 
My brother graduated college! 
And I’ve knitted my fingers off! I think I’ve finished like 35 projects this year! I’ve managed to whittle down my current WIPs to 8 and I’m nearly done with the Array Cowl. 
I can say that I’m incredibly grateful for such an awesome year and I’m definitely looking forward to the new year! I’ve got some fun new things I want to talk about in the upcoming year and maybe a few changes to the look of the blog. So Happy New Year to you and yours!
hardknitlife 