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Darn It! How to Repair your Knitting Online Workshop Available

I’ve been working on my new class from Interweave, Darn It! How to Repair your Knitting for several years.  Since I began offering repair courses, I’ve wanted to find a way to get this information to students who were not in my geographic area.  This started when I posted about getting a copy of Rena Crockett’s Flawless Knit Repair.  People from all parts of the globe would email asking how they could get a copy, or asking if I’d be willing to scan a PDF version of the book.  (I was never comfortable with that solution, as I make my living off of my copyright, and I’ve never been able to contact Crockett or her realitives to see if they would be OK with that action.)

But in the back of my brain I was trying to figure out how I could create my own, readily available version of Crockett’s book.  Becasue as much as Crockett’s book was instrumental in my own start into repairing things, I’d found some other methods of working that I wanted to share with people.  More than a year ago I teamed up with Interweave to try and create a course that would answer the need I’d seen.

I’m proud to announce that Darn It: How to Repair your Knitting is finally available!  This class covers a lot of ground: repairing knit fabrics, purl fabrics, cables, lace and (my favorite!) colorwork (which has some special challenges).  It breaks down, step-by-step, how to approach various reparis, and how to make them nearly invisible (if that’s your desire).

Let’s look at what the class includes:

In This Online Workshop You’ll Learn:

  • A variety of repair techniques including duplicate and Kitchener stitch
  • How to fix holes before they even happen
  • Step-by-step repairs for stockinette, Fair Isle, cables, and lace knitting
  • The secret to weaving in ends invisibly
  • Tips for sourcing repair yarn and mimicking original yarns in older or heirloom pieces

Lesson Outline:

  • Intro
  • Darning vs. Reweaving
  • A Stitch In Time: Finding Holes Before They Happen
  • The Duplicate Stitch
  • Repairing Stranded Colorwork
  • Kitchener Stitch
  • Repairing Cables
  • Mending a Hole in Stockinette
  • Weaving in Ends
  • Repairing Lace
  • Conclusion

Skill Level:

Any! Students should have basic knitting skills and some knowledge of knitting cables and simple lace.

Optional Materials for Practice Swatches:

Small amounts of worsted-weight yarn in several colors for practice swatches and repair; Size 7 or 8 knitting needles; locking stitch markers; crochet hook; tapestry needle and sharp-tipped needle; Size 7 or 8 double-pointed knitting needles

All About Yarns in October!

All About Yarns with Jennifer Raymond

If you follow my blog, you know that one of my favorite classes to teach is Yarns 101.  Yarns 101 is normally a 3-hour class on why yarns behave the way they do: why some yarn substitutions work, why your alpaca sweater is super saggy, and how we can make more informed decisions about pairing yarns with projects.  I love teaching the class, and often one of the responses I get back on my evals is… “When will you teach a Yarns 201?”

So many people enjoy the class, and would love to delve even further into the material.

I’ve been thinking for a while about how to go about doing that, and in the spring I pitched a class to Interweave that was my answer.

All About Yarns is an online seminar I’ll be teaching with Interweave’s online learning platform, Craft University.  From October 3rd to October 21st, we’ll explore and learn the different factors that influence how yarn behaves: ply, weight & fiber.

How does this differ from Yarns 101?  Yarns 101 is 3 hours.  All About Yarns is 3 weeks.  We’ll be able to do things I wouldn’t be able to do in a workshop.  There will be further learning assignments, swatching and sampling, and the creating of yarn cards.

Take a look at some of the topics we’ll cover:

  • How to determine the weight and size of your yarn.
  • Discover how ply and yarn weight influence the final presentation of your colorwork or lace.
  • How to look at yarns to determine which ones is suited for which project.
  • Determine which yarns will be suited for high-wear items, and which yarns would be better for next-to-skin wearing.
  • Understand how fibers in yarns influence the final look, drape and sturdiness of your garment.
  • How to figure out what your “mystery yarns” are made of, and how best to use them in your projects.

I’d love to have you.  If you’re interested in the course, you can sign up for it here.  Come join me!