Workshops with Margaret Radcliffe
When: March 23-24, 2019
Where: Westminster College 1840 S. 1300 E. Dick Science Building, Room 109
More class details and supply lists here.
Pricing and registration form here. Guild Members: $40/class. Non-members:$50/class.
HELIX KNITTING, Sat. March 23 9:30am – 12:30pm
Knit circular stripes with absolutely no jogs. No one will ever find your beginning and end of round. Use as only two colors, or as many as you like. This technique produces perfect interlocking spirals of each color. Class will cover casting on, shaping, and working on circular needles, magic loop, two circulars and double pointed needles.
LUXURY YARN WORKSHOP: NOT JUST WOOL, Sat. March 23, 2pm – 5pm
Fiber, Structure, Texture: Knitting successfully with novelty, luxury, and designer yarns.Novelty yarns, cotton, silk, mohair, alpaca, and the newer knitting fibers like bamboo, hemp and Tencel all present a challenge to knitters, especially if used in a pattern designed for that all-forgiving fiber, wool. Learn proven techniques for insuring success when knitting garments in these “alternative” yarns. Class will cover ways to prevent sagging and biasing, sizing borders, alternatives to ribbing, adding other fibers to mitigate the problems with the main fiber, and pattern stitches and seaming techniques to stabilize the fabric. The role of yarn architecture and garment fit will also be covered in detail. Students will take home a better grasp of what the pitfalls are of working with these fibers, and a small arsenal of techniques for dealing with them. Knitters are encouraged to bring completed garments they are unhappy with, to use as example. Student supplied materials for this class now include only a small amount of luxury or novelty yarns.
WONDERFUL WOVEN STITCHES, Sun. March 24, 9am – noon
Using your two knitting needles and basic knitting stitches, discover the astonishing fabrics and textures you can create that imitate woven fabrics. Combine colors into tweeds, checks and polka dots (using only one color at a time, of course), and show off hand painted yarns to best advantage. Learn to weave in an additional strand of yarn as you knit. Amaze your knitting friends—some of these fabrics will stump the most experienced of them! Students will choose 2 pattern stitches to try during class in each of the following groups. The pattern stitches listed below have been selected on ease (small number of stitches and rows per repeat) and aesthetics. Quite simply, they are the easiest to do and look the best of the woven stitches I’ve researched. Students will receive a handout with instructions, charts and pictures for each pattern stitch. Details such as whether to slip knitwise or purlwise, and where to position the yarn will be discussed in class. We will also discuss how to determine needle size and appropriate uses for the fabrics created.
INTRODUCING the OUROBOROS MOEBIUS, Sun. March 24, 2pm – 5pm
A new (and very easy) approach to the seamless knitted moebius. No particular cast on, no advanced techniques, and no special needles are required to make this versatile moebius scarf–you don’t even need to know how to purl! You’ll make a small sample moebius in class to learn this simplified approach and we’ll discuss options for color, texture, and joining that allow for infinite variations, plus discussion of how to apply the same approach to constructing other garments.