Start to Finish

As a public service, Gentle Readers, I’m here to announce that it’s not too early to start thinking about the weekend. In fact, my message today is an invitation to begin at the end and work backwards:

If your goal were to create a picture suitable for hanging, what If I challenged you to design your ideal frame first, and then fill in the middle?

If you had a really clear idea of what your completed knitting would specifically be, with all of the design, fit, yarn and finishing decisions made before you even cast on, how might the end result be different from when you’ve worked the other way around?

I have been asked many times to teach a class on finishing. For a long time I couldn’t see why I should, because lots of great classes about specific techniques are already available. It wasn’t until I realized that my design/planning process is very different from that of other designers that I understood what my “finishing” class should look like. And so that’s what I teach now: Planning ahead for Happy Endings.

I have learned that answering a series of questions for myself at the beginning of my knitting serves as a project management tool. It allows me to keep on time and under budget. To stay true to my vision, while remaining open to the possibilities.

Start to Finish is part show-and-tell, part wish list-building, and part project management. We discuss yarn, fit, design, and everything in between, with the stated goal of beautifully finished knitting. The process applies to any project, and all skill levels.

Best of all, there’s nothing to buy and no commitment. It’s a mental exercise that we practice together, and is yours to keep thereafter. The only preparation you need for class is to take yourself on an imaginary shopping trip. Visit your stash, your pattern queue, or your imagination to come up with something you’d like to knit. That’s all. It can be as complicated or as simple as you wish. Just bring your ideas, the pattern if you have it, or a photo. We’ll practice asking ourselves all the right questions to plan the project as if you are really going to make it, and see where the process takes us.

CLICK HERE to sign up for Start to Finish this Saturday, 03-20, 10AM - 1PM PST.