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Fall Knitting Classes

28 Aug

Hey Friend!

I’ve been getting quite a few questions about my fall knitting classes, so here we go. All of these classes are offered at the Vernon Community Arts Centre, located in beautiful Polson Park. Word to the wise, classes there fill quickly, so if you wanna hang out and learn to knit, sign up sooner than later. All of the materials lists are on their website and I’ve added links so that you can register if you see one you like!

Hope you see you at the Arts Centre this fall. With love from the Maker’s House,

Sylvia

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Knotty Knits

Thursdays, October 4-November 1, 6:00 – 8:00pm
Don’t get yer knickers in a knot! Skip the frustration and sign up. You’ll learn all the basic stitches to get started with needles and yarn. Discover how to decipher those cryptic knitting patterns, too! Learn the skills in several small projects including a stitch sampler and a knitted ornament so that you’ll be knitting on your own in no time! Please note that the Oct. 18th class will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 17th. Members $70 Non Members $80 Register here.

Stark Raving Knitters

Thursdays, November 15-December 13, 6:00-8:00pm
You already know the basics and you want to get more out of your yarn and needles. This class covers intermediate techniques like: knitting with more than two needles, colourwork, basic openwork, shaping garments and more! Solidify your written-and chart-pattern reading skills, too! Members $70 Non Members $80 Register here.

Knitty Clinic: Thrummed Mittens

Tuesdays, December 4 & 11, 6:00-8:00pm
Thrummed mittens are a Canadian classic. Hailing from northern Newfoundland and Labrador, their warm, fleecy insides will keep your fingers warm on the coldest of winter days. This clinic covers the construction and techniques that go into includes a free thrummed mitt pattern by Sylvia V. Students must be fluent in basic knitting and have some experience knitting in the round on double pointed needles. Members $ 35 Non Members $ 45 Register here.

Knitty Clinic: Socks for the Way You Walk!

Tuesdays, November 13 & 20, 6:00-8:00pm
Got cold feet? Make some socks! If you know the basic knitty skills and are ready to go beyond the realm of scarves, this clinic is for you. Learn from a custom pattern designed by the instructor with the new-sock-knitter in mind. Members $35 Non Members $45 Register here.

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Colourway: Meiji Jingu & the SuperNova Sock

14 Jun

Hey Friend,

Though I was in Tokyo more than a decade ago, what I remember most about the city was my visit to Meiji Jingu; a Shinto shrine and veritable oasis of nature in the middle of the metropolis of Japan. The day I visited, there was a wedding and the bride held an umbrella of the most vibrant fuchsia red. She was surrounded by the green trees and she stood for photos with the groom and wedding party on the bright paving path.

This colourway is inspired by that day; the green and the grey and the magenta of that umbrella. It’s shown here on a skein of Sheepish Feet BFL and knitted up in a sock for me and a sock for my baby niece. Because that baby girl is so amazing and so brave, here’s the pattern for this itty bitty sock. Make a pair for the bravest baby you know, or donate a pair to the NICU at your children’s hospital to keep the toesies of those babies warm when they can’t be snuggling with their mommies and daddies.

SuperNova Sock

A tiny sock for the bravest baby I know!
scrap amount of Sheepish Feet BFL
set of 4 2.5mm dpns
to fit 3-6 months
 
co 30 sts
work 1 inch in k2 p1 ribbing
work 1 inch in St st
divide for heel:
15 sts onto each of 2 needles
work 14 rows in St st, creating a selvedge by slipping the 1st st of every row
turn heel:
k9, SKP, turn
sl1, p3, p2tog, turn
k3, SKP, turn
p3, p2tog, turn
cont. decreases until 5 sts remain (WS)
(RS) k5, pu 7 sts along selvedge edge
k15 across next needle
pu 7 sts along selvedge edge, k3 from heel needle to divide heel sts between 2 needles
k 1 rnd, tbl of picked up sts (34 sts)
centre of heel is beg of rnd
decrease gusset:
1st needle: k to last 3 sts, k2tog
2nd needle: k
3rd needle: k1, SSK, k to end
work 2 rows even
work 1 more decrease rnd (30 sts)
k for 1 inch
decrease for toe:
1st needle: k to last 3 sts, k2tog
2nd needle: k1, SSK, k to last 3 sts, k2tog
3rd needle: k 1, SSK, k to end
work 2 rows even
work 1 decrease row
alt even and decrease rows until 12 sts rem
divide between 2 needles & graft toe sts closed
weave in ends
make two

With love from the Maker’s House,

Sylvia

 

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Candlelight Lace Cowl Pattern

1 May Lace detail

Hey friend,

It’s been a long time coming, but here it is. The Candlelight Lace Cowl pattern I’ve been promising for aeons. Download it free here!I hope you enjoy it. It’s a simple little ditty of a knit, fun to make, more fun to wear and cozy!

In other news, I’m working on a pattern for a cable knit sweater for Swimmy and with any luck, it should be up in a few weeks time. And guess what arrived at my door this morning! That’s a box filled with 50 skeins of yarn waiting to be dyed into pretty, pretty colours. It’s lace, sock and DK weights in a variety of fibres and blends. More on that later though. Expect that to be my next post.

With love from the Maker’s House,

Sylvia

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Knitting Tip: Ugly Cables?

30 Apr

Hey friend,

A few weeks ago, my friend Chantal (of Cheeky Cosmetics) and I were discussing the problem we had both noticed with gaping cables in our knitting. I’ve come up with a solution to unsightly, and even downright UGLY, cables. I’m sure I’m not the first to figure this out, but I haven’t seen it anywhere else. When I googled it, I didn’t find a plethora of tips that didn’t simply refer to pulling stitches tight.

What I’ve written below out seems to work very well when used to treat gaping cables constructed using right-handed, English style knitting and though I haven’t tested it on left-handed English style or continental style or any of the other methods out there, it stands to reason it should work, but may need some adaptation. I’ll explain how I came to my conclusions first as a way to explain the mechanics of why this works.

I noticed some time ago that when I work 1×1 rib stitch, the ribbing is loose and unappealing to my eye. Then I learned about the wonders of twisted rib stitch and I’ve hardly worked a plain 1×1 rib since – I almost always go for the twisted method. If you’re unfamiliar with it, it’s simply working through the back loops, thus creating a twist which pulls the stitches together and creates more structured columns of knits and purls. The image at left shows plain 1×1 rib at bottom and twisted 1×1 rib at top.

The other important thing with respect to working cables is that the gaping always comes on the left-hand side of the cable  while the right-hand side is firm and shapely. This means that the problem comes (read: the gaping is created) when the transition is made from working knit to purl, rather than from purl to knit. Therefore, the goal is to create a left-hand side to the cable that is as attractive as the right-hand side. The image at right shows a column of cable worked with no special technique and identifies the gaping, baggy stitches to the left of the cable with a tiny black arrow.

So having identified this key feature of twisted ribbing, and having identified the source of the gaping, I thought there must be a way to apply twists to keep cables from gaping and after some trial and error, this is what I’ve come up with. These individual steps work together to create an even and firm left-hand side to the cable, but most importantly, I’ve determined through experimentation that these steps must all be worked together to get the desired effect.

General steps to follow on all rows:

  • (RS) The final knitted stitch of the cable must be worked through the back loop.

  • (RS) The first purl stitch of the section following the cable must be worked through the back loop.

  • (WS) The final knitted stitch of the section preceding the cable must be worked through the back loop.

  • (WS) The first purl stitch of the cable must be worked through the back loop.

Finally, the most important part. In the cable row, there are three stitches that must be worked through the back loop.

Stitch 1: The stitch which had previously been adjacent to the purl section and had, on prior rows, been worked through the back loop. This stitch transfers to the centre of the cable during the cabling process.

Stitch 2: The stitch which now takes the place as the new stitch adjacent to the purl section.

Stitch 3: The first purl stitch of the purl section following the cable.

Following these steps, you’re presented with a nice, tidy row of cabling with no icky, baggy stitches. Voilà!

As I’ve said earlier, this may need some adjustment to work properly with knitting which is not performed in the right-handed English style, but the stitches identified will be the same ones that create the problem, and therefore will be the same ones that need twisting  and correcting. There it is. My method of creating beautiful cables that refrain from ugly gaping sections.

If you’re a lefty and have tested this, let me know how it works for you – I’d love to hear.

With love from the Maker’s House,

Sylvia

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Laughing baby

11 Feb

Hey friend,
This will be a short post. I’ve been busy writing my business plan and Jeremy’s been helping me with the financials for the yarn shop, so I haven’t had much time to be creative in my usual ways. But, the plan is almost done and soon I’ll be able to be a bit more balanced with my time. I’m almost done charting the lace for the pattern I promised… It’s a candlelight lace cowl and I think you’ll like it. Tonight, I just wanted to share this video with you. Here’s Swimmy being his usual silly self. Somewhere he picked up that laughter can be faked and he’s started pretending to laugh instead of just laughing. It usually ends up in regular belly laughs and squeals, but it’s ridiculously cute when he’s faking. Enjoy!
With love from the Maker’s House,
Sylvia

Laughing baby from Sylvia9000 on Vimeo.

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