lace knitting workshop

I'll be teaching a class on lace knitting at Heavenly Socks Yarns in Belfast, Maine on June 5th at 12:00. Please click on the link to register.

Originally, I was going to focus on Shetland Lace Knitting for this workshop. However, I gave it some thought and decided to make it a general lace "learning experience". I remember when I first wanted to knit lace and how frustrating it was. The thing that totally turned that around for me was understanding the structure of lace. So, in this workshop, we'll play around with yarn. We'll actually learn WHY lace knitting instructions are the way they are (and how to read them). When we play with the yarn, we'll see what the difference between a K2tog and a SSK is and how it affects the knitting, a few different ways of decreasing more than one stitch at a time and how they look and how to do an invisible cast-on and a cable cast-on. When we're finished, you'll be well prepared to tackle any lace project and, here's the thing, know what to do when you make a mistake. That last one's the kicker, I think. Unless you understand the structure of lace knitting, you're at the mercy of instructions and knitting absolutely perfectly. Check my old blog posts for stories of knitting with clenched teeth.

This sounds complicated, but I guarantee you, it's going to be fun! I wouldn't be doing it if it weren't!

Supplies needed for class: A light colored plain yarn and needles appropriate for its' weight in "regular knitting". For example: size 8 if you bring worsted. Please don't bring lace weight yarn; I want you to be able to easily see what you are doing!

If you don't have any leftovers, here's a recommendation: Silky Wool (which is sold at Heavenly Socks). For lace knitting, it's knit on 8's. For the class, a 6 would probably be better. I also HIGHLY recommend using circular needles if you're not doing so already.