Stranded With Mary: Episode 2

There's regular old garden-variety-ain't-it-swell ambition, and then there's the take-no-prisoners, relentless, extreme brand of knitting that my Stranded students are bringing:

Each knitter set progress goals for this meeting, and then we had show and tell.
 

Ready to have your mind blown?  With only one exception, none of these students had ever made stranded colorwork before our first class, three weeks ago.  That's right:  You're looking at the work of beginners.  I'll understand if you need to take a moment...

We are having so much fun together.  And everyone's piece is so unique and personal to them - it's like watching each knitter produce their very own fingerprint.

Tami finished her entire body tube in three weeks.  What a rockstar! 

Everybody is working on sleeves and bodies now, most with the intention to be ready for steeking in 5 weeks.  Think they'll make it?  Me too.
 

Stranded With Mary: Episode 1

As the most blessed and lucky knitter in the world, it is my profound privilege to spend time in groups of knitters, sharing the things I know, and learning from them in ways that never stop surprising me.

My Yorkshire Yarns knitters are certainly no exception.  These intrepid souls have signed on to complete a stranded colorwork adventure together with me:  Each is creating their very own steeked garment, from start to finish, over the course of the next four months.  We're meeting for class four times, and in between we'll be on Ravelry together, and the knitters will be meeting informally at the shop, to share their experiences.

The wonderful thing about a long-term workshop like this is that the knitters and I will really get to bond and become friends over the course of it.  Having "survived" the project together makes for a deep connection that's different than any other community knitting experience.  Here are some highlights from our first workshop session:

Robyn and Bonnie cast on and swatch, respectively.  

We spent time in our first session making decisions about each garment and choosing the cast-on and edge treatments that best support our personal design choices.  We also took the time to work a few swatches together, to make friends with our yarn and needles, and find the knitted fabric we liked best.

Sue (who hates having her picture taken, so I promised I 'd cut off her head) works the fiddly-but-sexy picot edge of her Fleur-D-Zebra interpretation.  Sara, next to her but only partially visible, knocked out most of a 260-st folded hem on size 1's during the course of class.  Deadly Fast Knitter.

Some of these knitters chose to recreate the designer's versions of their patterns exactly.  Some are doing their own variations on a style.  And still others are changing their patterns so much that originals are really just jumping-off places now.  All of them are fearless, and committed to coming away from class with a new understanding, and a finished project.

Jeannie, Lisa, Jeannie and Jackie threw themselves into casting on with determination and enthusiasm.

One of the many delights of leading this workshop is to watch the results of each student's choices unfolding.  Some really delightful and inspired edge treatments have been selected by this group; all but a few being tried out for the very first time.  Another luxury of the long-format workshop is that I have the time to work with each knitter to adjust her pattern for size and fit; something shorter classes don't allow for.

My proud and fiesty knitters hold up their completed cast-ons, while I cheer for them.

Another component of the workshop is goal-setting.  Each knitter sets achievable benchmarks for the next time we meet, which reinforces their determination to meet  them.  Part of the fun for me is seeing what they get done - and it always blows my mind.

Today I'm careening toward my July 1 deadline.  Same thing we do every day: Try to take over world.  One Stitch At A Time.

All Hail Sock Summit!

On the off chance that anyone who has heard of knitting does not yet know about the power and glory that is Sock Summit, allow me to fill you in:

Once Upon A Time, two clever and persistent High Priestesses of Hosiery called Tina and Stephanie, hatched a Cunning Plan.  Overcoming staggering obstacles, they organized a festival - nay - a cabal, of the learned and the learn-ees, the interested and the interesting, all centered around the celebration and the love of the sock.  And lo, the knitters came, and they saw, and called it "Good".

Actually, I was there, and what the knitters really called it was "Ass-Kickin!"  "Big Fun", and "Transformative", among other things.

And though I have to keep pinching myself to believe it, I'm going to be there again this time, not only as a participant, but as a Teacher.  That's right.  I'm gonna be in the same building as the Notable Knitteratti, breathing the same air, and sometimes even in the very same room. 

In celebration of Sock Summit Registration today, I thought I'd share a little about what I'm planning for my students.  Take a gander below, won't you, and see if you'd like join me?

Mary's Sock Summit Offering #1:  "Stranded In Your Socks"

At the end of 2010, I was blessed and lucky enough to have been selected to create the very first stranded colorwork design for Blue Moon Fiber Arts.  The process of creating that design (shown above) taught me oodles about knitted colorwork that is destined for feet.  So much, that I thought it would be fun to share it with other sock knitters, who may or may not have worked socks that use two strands before.  In this class, we will explore what it's like to handle two balls of yarn at the same time, and then apply those skills to sock knitting, using (what else?) an official Mary Scott Huff Sock Summit stranded colorwork chart!  The design is TOP SECRET, natch, but trust me when I say you will love it, and this class is the only place to get it!  Gigantic. Fun.  And to those who harbor doubt, I make this solemn pledge:  No scary homework is required, and no one is going to make you cut your knitting open with scissors.  Yet.

Mary's Sock Summit Offering #2:  "Kilt By Association"

Admit it:  Everybody loves a fella in a kilt.  Highland Games, Prince Charles on honeymoon with Princess Diana at Balmoral (pre-Camilla, pre-hair loss), heck, even Mike Meyers playing his own father; All have a compelling draw.  It's something about a guy in uniform.  Or if my brothers are to be believed, "It's the knees.  Lasses love the knees".  From pipe bands to Utili-Kilts, they all have one thing in common:  Kilt Hose.  Without them, a lad is in danger of blisters and sunburns at best, and wounding ridicule at worst.  Part history, part highland dress overview, and part knitting class, Kilt By Association is all you ever wanted to know about exploring what's under there, but were afraid to ask.  And if all that weren't enough fun, the lovely and talented wee beasties over at Abstract Fiber allowed themselves to be tricked were kind enough to create an outstanding skein of yarn for our class sample, and you can have it too!  Go HERE, and order up a special "kilt skein" (that's a whopping 800 or so yards) of -sitting down? - CASHMERE BLEND "Temptation" yarn.  I can't stand how beautiful this yarn is.  If you ever thought of wearing a kilt (Lassies, too - this is America, after all), this yarn will convince you to take the leap.  Come on over to my tartan lounge for all the dirt.  Everyone is Scottish once they can knit kilt hose.  Ask any piper who's tried begging his granny back home for a handknit pair.  Kilt hose are arguably the most special and rare handknit socks of all.  Oh, and you'll also leave class with a Limited Edition pattern, plus all the smarts you need to customize it for your favorite Brave Heart.

So that's the inside scoop.  Let's face it:  You weren't doing anything better than this, the whole month of July.  Come on over to my hometown of Portland, Oregon, and I promise that we know how to show a knitter a really good time.