Fast-Tastic Knitting!

Dearest Knitters,

I am so excited about this new Craftsy class, I just want to bust!

First some background:

I am not only a hand knitter, I am also a machine knitter. Years ago when I first started designing for knitting publications, the deadlines came so fast and furious that I had to find something to help speed up my knitting so that I could meet them.

I bought myself a very simple knitting machine and after I’d gotten over the learning curve, it made all the difference in the world. I could do yards of stockinette in literally minutes. Stockinette sleeves for a sweater? 20 minutes. Ditto a sweater back with side shaping and interior darts; done in 20 minutes.

But there is that learning curve and at the time I needed help in the form of lessons. So I bought Susan Guagliumi’s book “Hand Manipulated Stitches for Machine Knitting” and her videotape by the same name. The videotape was especially helpful, as seeing the techniques in motion is key for learning.

 In these lessons I learned everything I needed to know to use my machine which is a simple and basic plastic bed LK 150, and coincidentally is the same machine Susan used in her video to demonstrate.

It’s been about 18 years since discovering Susan and I no longer own a VHS machine, so imagine my delight when I saw her lessons have come to Craftsy!!!!

“Machine Knitting: Essential Techniques” is the perfect class to take if you already own or are thinking about investing in a simple machine like the one I use. So many knitting machines are purchased and then just stored away under a bed and forgotten, but these lessons will help get you over that learning curve and make your machine an essential part of your knitting repetoire.

Susan takes students through the basics of setting up the machine, showing what the parts do and then takes us right into the knitting. We learn to cast on, increase and decrease, do eyelets for lace, short rows and bind off.

We then take off into some other skills including ribbing, cables, and some alternative cast ons.

Then comes a very important lesson on troubleshooting which will make all the difference in your machine either becoming part of your knitting bag-o’-tricks, or living forlornly under a bed. Learn to fix mistakes, recognize when something is going wrong, take care of cast-on problems and essentially jump over the roadblocks that take the joy out of machine knitting. This is the part of the class that you will refer to over and over and is absolutely worth it’s weight in gold.

Let me just re-iterate, the lessons Susan teaches are for a simple, non-electric, non-computerized model knitting machine. Personally, I enjoy hand knitting too much to get into anything fancier. The machine is there for me to speed up the easy parts of the knitting, and then I hang my project back onto hand knitting needles for the fun/more difficult details.

So dear knitters, if this sounds like the machine knitting class you’ve been wanting to try, get it on sale using this link for a 33% discount.

Happy machine knitting!!

Whip Your Knits at Lambtown!

If you’ll be in or around Dixon, California the weekend of Oct 3-4, 2015, join me at the Lambtown Fiber Festival for my very popular “Whip Your Knits into Shape” fitting class! Read the description by scrolling down here.

Ready to sign up for classes?

Do it here.

Classes at Yarnosphere! October 12-13th, 2013

 

Join me at Yarnosphere!

Join me, Joan McGowan Michael, at Yarnoshpere! Yarn show October 12-13, 2013.

I’ll be teaching my very popular Whip Your Knits into Shape workshops and my fun Bead Embroidery for Knits class!

-With Whip Your Knits  Part 1, students will work in teams to take complete measurements of your own bodies and I will show you how to apply that knowledge to getting the best fit possible in your knitted garments. Alterations, the application of short row shaping, ease, and marrying different sizes are all discussed in this class. We keep this class small enough for me to give everyone the personal attention they need, so sign up early to assure a spot.

-In Whip Your Knits Part 2, students will use the measurements taken in Part 1 and transfer them to brown paper to make a basic hard pattern of their body, then using this new pattern to easily design a custom sweater on graph paper. Again, small class size assures personal attention, so reserve early!

–Bead Embroidery for Knits is where I get to pull out my small but fantastic collection of 50’s beaded sweaters and we re-create one of the beaded motifs on a swatch which we later turn into a fancy eyeglass case! This technique is great for more than just knits; decorate a tee shirt or jean jacket or even Christmas ornaments

It’s going to be a great knitter’s weekend in Orange County and I can’t wait to see you all there!