First Saturday of each month10:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Once a month, join Cocoknits to work on your wip and ask Julie questions about her designs. She will teach you pertinent techniques and help you gain the skills to tackle your next project or finish the one you’re working on now. Materials: Bring a Cocoknits Design to work on or start.
Visit the A Verb for Keeping Warm website to sign up.
Part workshop, part dress-up party! I will give a short talk with hand-outs and visuals on what to look for and avoid when choosing patterns for your body type. Then everyone tries on the sweaters from the trunk show and we give each other feedback on what works, what doesn’t and why!
Visit the Yarn Garage to sign up.
Seamless Sweater Construction (morning)Do you hate seaming sweaters? This class will teach you how to transform a seamed sweater pattern into a seamless pattern. We will use the Gisela pattern from cocoknits and go through the pattern in class to transform it into seamless construction featuring set-in sleeves and English Tailored shoulders.
I give a short talk on what to look for and avoid when choosing patterns for your body type. Then everyone tries on the sweaters from the trunk show and we give each other feedback on what works, what doesn’t and why!
It is helpful to have students bring with them a close-fitting T-shirt. We will trace and cut out a kraft paper pattern of this garment and I’ll show them how to use this paper pattern as a template to get a good fit when knitting for themselves.
I also discuss how to alter patterns to fit your body. Specifically how to make a sweater pattern into a petite pattern, how to knit around a larger bust, how to alter sleeve lengths and how to knit so that the sweater fits in the shoulder area.
Visit the Minnesota Knitters’ Guild website to sign up.
Swatch with a variety of Habu yarns, combining two or more strands to see what textures you come up with. Experiment with stainless steel, copper, raw silk, nettle, and pineapple! Julie will illustrate how to use the various textures with her designs.
Visit the StevenBe website to sign up.
Sweater construction featuring seamless, set-in sleeves with English Tailored shoulders
This is how I like to finish the shoulders and neckline of my sweaters. I will provide a pattern for a mini/toddler sweater (quick knit on US 9 needles) and students should have body and two sleeves completed up to the armholes. We will join all the pieces and finish the cardigan in class so that everyone can experience first-hand how English Tailoring works and how they can use it for any set-in sleeve pattern.
Visit the StevenBe website to sign up.
Using Japanese charts in Western knitting patternsMaybe you’ve taken Takako’s class on translating Japanese patterns (but it’s not a prerequisite for this class). So how about using those charts to knit an American pattern?
I’ll show you how to chart your written pattern so you can see where you are with a glance (rather than reading through paragraphs). Working a pattern this way also increases your ability to move back and forth between Japanese and Western patterns. I will bring a pattern for us to chart but feel free to bring one of your own to practice on toward the end of class.
I get many questions about the Habu yarns I use in my designs. In this class you will have a chance to swatch with a variety of Habu yarns, combining two, three or even four strands to see what textures you come up with. You can swatch with stainless steel, copper, raw silk, pineapple, nettle, as well as wool, cotton and linen.
While you are swatching, I will discuss where and how to use the different textures with examples from my trunk show. Students should bring a few sizes of needles focusing on sizes they prefer to knit with.
Note: materials fee $15
Visit the Knitterly website to sign up.
Sweater construction featuring seamless, set-in sleeves with English Tailored shoulders
This is how I like to finish the shoulders and neckline of my sweaters. I will provide a pattern for a mini/toddler sweater (quick knit on US 9 needles) and students should have body and two sleeves completed up to the armholes. We will join all the pieces and finish the cardigan in class so that everyone can experience first-hand how English Tailoring works and how they can use it for any set-in sleeve pattern.
Visit the Knitterly website to sign up.
It’s a weekend of workshops at Knit Purl. Join cocoknits and Habu for the party and trunk show, and learn more about reading patterns and finishing techniques.
1:45 PM – 2:45 PM
Reading Japanese Patterns / Takako Ueki
3:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Habu Yarn Tasting / Julie Weisenberger
5:00 PM – 7:00 PM
What Not to Knit Party & Trunk Show
10:00 AM – 11:00 AM
Reading Japanese Patterns / Takako Ueki
11:30 AM – 1:00 PM
Using Japanese Charts in Western Patterns / Julie Weisenberger
1:30 PM – 3:30 PM
Habu Yarn Tasting / Takako Ueki
2:00 PM – 6:00 PM
European Finishing Techniques // Julie Weisenberger
Saturdays: March 17 & 24, April 14 & 21, May 5 & 19
3:30 PM – 5:30 PM
In this class, Julie will specifically address the knitted fabric and gauge and how you can make your very own yarns through combining yarns, thus, creating a unique, knitted fabric. You can choose a Cocoknits’ sweater pattern or for the more adventurous, a Habu kit. Also in class, you will learn how to pull the relevant numbers out of the written pattern and plot them onto a spread sheet and use this as your pattern. Once you have learned on this sweater pattern you should be able to transform other patterns.
We will meet over 3 months so you have time to knit in between classes and (hopefully) have a completed sweater by the end!
Prereq: Students should be advanced beginners at least…however
Visit the A Verb for Keeping Warm website to sign up.
Join me and Takako from Habu Textiles on March 9–11 for a fun and exciting weekend. There will be workshops and trunk shows from both.
For more details and to register, visit the website for A Good Yarn.