Stranded With Mary
“Victoriana” by Mary Scott Huff, a Bazaar Girls exclusive design
Did you know, Gentle Readers, that I offer an intensive workshop called “Stranded With Mary”? Probably not. That’s for a very good reason. You didn’t know about it because up until this year, it’s only been a suitable offering for a very few select venues. The time, space, electricity and everything else required to hold in-person knitting classes is difficult enough to manage for a simple three-hour class. This one is TWENTY hours.
That’s right: Twenty Hours. Now, before you run screaming from the blog (as if that were the scariest thing I’ve ever told you here), let me explain how my pivot from teaching in person to teaching online is allowing me to offer my most in-depth class offering to more of you than ever before…
Stranded With Mary is the only experience of its kind that I know of, and I created it especially for thrill-seeking knitters like me. This is the class I would have signed up for in a heartbeat, had it existed when I needed it. It’s a tour-de-force of stranded colorwork immersion. I guide a limited number of students through the entire process of creating their very own masterpiece, from soup to nuts. I intentionally limit the class size in order to provide more personal attention to each student. There are five different sessions, separated by about a month each. We meet for class, I share what I know, and we learn from each other. Then we set some goals, part ways, and return to our knitting in order to work toward the next session. In the interim, I’m available to students for questions in a dedicated Ravelry group, for as close as I can get to round-the-clock support. Not only am I the dedicated personal coach for the entire time, my students have access to each other in the Ravelry group, which is where even more magic happens. Just as in class, when one student has a question, it’s likely that others do, too, and that’s how I get to take a deep dive with them all. Now, more than ever, we knitters are starved for community. Fortunately, we’ve known for a while how to find each other online, and that skill is serving us well in uncertain times.
Last March, when I taught personally for the Bazaar Girls Yarn Shop in Port Townsend, WA, I recognized the knitting community there as just the sort who might like to get Stranded With Mary. We hatched a cunning plan involving an exclusive design, some very special yarn, and all manner of excitement mounted.
When we realized that in-person classes were not going to be in the cards, the Bazaar Girls and I put on our handknit thinking caps and sorted out a way to make it happen anyway. Which brings us to today, Gentle Readers, when I am pleased to announce that the exclusive nature of my workshop is no longer subject to the constraints of physical teaching.
While the Port Townsend gang has mostly taken up the limited number of spaces in the upcoming workshop, I’m happy to report that three available slots remain.
Before I give you the rest of the details, I’m going to tell you my favorite part of these shenanigans: Students will be working with the Victoriana design, which will only be available to participants. It is without a doubt my most ambitious project as a designer, not because it’s more technically difficult (don’t worry; it isn’t), but because the students will choose from kits which I have designed in not one, but FOUR colorways:
Included in each package are a custom-sized yarn kit in the color of your choice, the Victoriana pattern, and an exclusive class workbook which contains information not published anywhere else in my work. Due to the limited class size, I’m able to work with each student to personalize all of the sizing and design elements. Prefer a different neckline? Easy. Want short, long, or no sleeves? No problem. Have your own ideas about closures, edge treatments and other finishing elements? Bring ‘em. My goal is for every participant complete the experience with exactly the version of my design that they want, with help at each point in their decision-making and execution. This is my idea of Concierge Teaching, Gentle Readers.
But why, you may ask, would I go to all the trouble of posting such dreamy stuff about a super-fabulous knitting event if only three spaces remain? That’s not even nice, Mary Scott Huff! Nope, it’s downright unfair, which is why I’m happy to tell you that I’ve convinced the Bazaar Girls to create a waitlist for A SECOND WORKSHOP SESSION. Yep. I hear and obey, Gentle Readers. Just one more service I provide.
CLICK HERE for all the details. I can’t wait to share this with you!