I'm Cable Ready!

 Melissa Leapman

I'm cable ready now...

thanks to Melissa Leapman

 and

her Cable Ready class that I took today.

Melissa flew all the way out from New York City

exclusively for two days of classes for my knitting guild,

the Camellia City Stockinettes. 

I must say,

designer events and classes

are a wonderful perk of belonging to my local TKGA guild.

 Cable Ready

I really liked Melissa's relaxed teaching style.

She has a simple and straightforward approach

to explaining things. 

For her Cable Ready class,
she broke down the basics

 and taught us to knit with charts. 

 She told us,

 "Charts show the way the resulting fabric will look
 and you can knit faster".

 Heart Cable

In our class,

she taught us two simple cable maneuvers (with 4 stitches)

that resulted in mastering the

honeycomb, braid and rope cable motif. 

 Thanks to Melissa's instruction,

I did all my class cable exercises by chart

(a first for me). 

I'm pretty excited to be able to knit cables now by charts.

Melissa also taught us how to knit heart cables,
two-colored cables

and gave us some color stranding tips, too.

The best part of taking a designer's class...

is all the tips and tricks you pick up from them!

Melissa's Books

During class,

I had a chance to ask Melissa a few questions.

She learned to crochet at the age of 4.

She is a "self taught" knitter

who taught herself to knit in high school.

She attributes that to her teaching style. 

She is an east coast gal who ended up in New York in college

 and stayed in New York City.  Lucky her!

Her latest book Stashbuster Knits has just hit the shelves

and she has exciting things planned for the future.
(Sorry I can't tell you about them now.)

You can though keep up with Melissa and her latest news
on her Facebook page.

Melissa is a popular instructor at Stitches events around the US

 and other venues. 

 Take her classes if you ever have a chance! 

It was a pleasure to meet Melissa today

and learn more about cables.

I can truly say...

I'm cable ready now!

Interweave Knitting Lab

Welcome to the Knitting Lab

Hats off to Interweave

for their first annual Interweave Knitting Lab,

November 3-6, 2011.

I was thrilled to head back to my old college stomping grounds

in San Mateo, California on Saturday for their

special events with Alice Starmore.

 The Knitting Lab event appeared to me to be a huge success.

Everyone on the Interweave team wore lab coats and were professional, friendly and helpful.

I met Beth, Interweave Sr. Marketing Manager and she told me that they wanted the Knitting Lab

to be "the magazine coming alive". 

She summed it up best when she said

"the Knitting Lab is an educational conference with a marketplace". 

I chatted with a few fellow knitters and they all raved about the classes and instructors. 

Here is a recap of my day at Knitting Lab...

 Knitter's Market

My first stop was the Knitter's Market.

The Knitter's Market was a small marketplace,

 free of charge to Knitting Lab attendees and the general public. 

I met a lot of nice vendors and retailers walking through it.

 The Habu Ladies

I saw some familiar faces at the Market,

 like the lovely Habu ladies.

 Yummy Yarns

Yes, there were yummy yarns
at the Knitter's Market!

Designing Women

(Left to right: Ann Budd, Joan McGowan-Michael, Vivian Hoxbro & Annie Modesitt)

Of course, the best part of the Knitting Lab were all

the Designing Women!

Each day along with classes,

there were book signings with

favorite knitting authors and designers. 

Eunny Jang

I also ran into Interweave Knits magazine Editor,

Knitwear Designer, Author and TV knitting celebrity...

Eunny Jang.

Eunny was so cute and nice. 

 I couldn't wait to tell her how much I enjoy  Knitting Daily
every Tuesday morning at my house.

Alice Starmore

Naturally, I've saved the best for last...

the legendary Alice Starmore was at Knitting Lab

 as a keynote speaker for "My Colorful Life"

as well as a book signing.

I was a bit curious how Interweave managed to get Alice Starmore to come out for Knitting Lab.  

While chatting with  Karin Strom, Editorial Director,

I found out that Alice is long time friends

with Interweave founder, Linda Ligon. 

Last night when Karen Strom introduced Alice for her talk,

she told us that it took Alice 27 hours to travel from her home

on the Isle of Lewis, Scotland to San Francisco, California. 

Alice said it had been 13 years since she has visited the

United States.  

How grateful we knitters are that she made the extremely long journey.

At the book signing earlier in the afternoon,

I asked Alice what else she will be doing on her visit

to Northern California. 

She told me that she loves the Pacific Coast and Pacific Ocean

and is looking forward to spending time north of San Francisco

at the coast again.

It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to meet Alice Starmore

and another knitting dream come true for me.

Stay tuned for my upcoming post on meeting

this legendary knitter. 

La vie en Rose

 My French Flower

My obsession with flowers continues to bloom!

I can now create beautiful silk flowers in the age-old technique of French flower making, thanks to my class yesterday with milliner artist  Jan Wutkowski. 

Jan flew all the way out from North Carolina to teach

French Flower Making at

 Lacis Museum of Lace and Textiles in Berkeley, California. 

 I always thought I would have to travel to  London or Australia to learn the secrets of traditional French flower making.  Thanks to Lacis and Jan's class, I now have the tools and secrets to create beautiful silk flowers in the French tradition. 

 French Flower Making

with Jan Wutkowski

Jan is an American milliner who trained at the Melbourne School of Millinery in 1995.  She has been designing and making hats since 1996.  Today she is not only is a milliner and teacher but also owns A Muse in Wilmington, North Carolina. 

Over lunch with Jan, I had the chance to get to know Jan the designer.  I was rather curious where her love for hats began and interestingly enough it began with her love for vintage jewelry.  Well, that makes perfect sense...vintage jewelry, hats, gloves all from other glamorous eras.   I loved hearing her stories about her brides and the one-of-a-kind hats she creates for the them. 

Of course, I couldn't wait to ask Jan if hats and fascinators are more popular today due to the Royal Wedding.  Jan quickly told me that fascinators can be many different things in millinery and they have been around a long time.  Yes, the Royal Wedding has made millinery more popular here in America but Jan is always busy with her clientele.  She not only designs beautiful bridal millinery but keeps very busy with her "Kentucky Derby ladies".

As a designer, Jan spends her calender year with the first half creating beautiful hats during the busy bridal, garden and Derby season.  The second half of the year, she travels around the country (and the world) as a milliner teacher. 

My Silk Fabrics

The French Flower Making class began with a nice introduction from Jan.  Next Jan asked us to introduce ourselves and talk about our interest with flower making.  It was so neat to hear every ones story.  Most students were from the Bay Area.  A few, like me, travelled a few hours for the class and one young lady came all way from Mexico!  Most of the students were involved in millinery and fashion and some students just loved hats.

For me, I am not quite sure where this path will lead me.  I am somewhat interested in trying to combine the flowers with my knitting.  Then again, I love hats and vintage so I might just end up embellishing hats and making brooches.

 French Flowers

To create our flowers, Jan taught us the process in the traditional French method using heat tools. 

 The first step was preparing our fabrics and then letting them dry during our lunch break.  After lunch we cut flower petals for creating beautiful roses.  Next we learned how to use our heat tools and shape our petals.  By the end of the day, Jan showed us how to assemble our flowers and everyone finished the class with a beautiful rose!

Jan had told us early on in the day, that even though we all started out with the same pattern and instructions, each of our flowers would be unique.  She was so right.  I was so amazed at every ones fabric combinations and their beautiful results. 

Lacis

I had so much fun taking this class. 

Thank you to Jules Kliot, the owner of Lacis for bringing Jan out to the west coast and for all your amazing supplies and resources! 

 Lacis has wonderful supplies for knitters, too.  I was so thrilled to find two handbag purse handles I've been searching for (even in England) and a hard to find Japanese crochet book.  Of course, I also came home with flower making books and supplies, too!

Lastly, Merci to Jan for sharing her knowledge of

French Flower Making

and for helping keep the craft alive!

Art in Progress...

Let's Make Art

They say there’s an artist hidden in all of us and this scarf certainly proves it!

I've been wanting to dabble at this scarf technique for over a year now. Well, I finally had my chance to get "artsy" with silk and fiber tonight at Knitique's Needle Felted Scarf class. I've never had so much fun on a Friday night with fiber!

Needle Felted Silk Scarf

Danielle the owner of Knitique (and my knitting teacher) taught the class. She gave us fabulous tips and ideas on how to bring out our creativity from the artist within. Sorry but I can't give these tips away...you'll just have to take the class!

This scarf is one of those projects that is really more fun done in a class environment or with a group of fiber friends. It was so neat to see each person's creativity and how unique everyone’s scarves turned out. All the scarves looked like they came from “high end” boutique stores!

The inspiration for my scarf came from all the scarves I love at Anthropologie.

For now, my scarf is art in progress....

Rosie Posey Tea Party

Rosie Posey Tea Cosy Shop Sample

The Rosie Posey Tea Cosy class at Knitique last Saturday was so much fun! The best part was the Rosie Posey Tea Party!

Danielle brought in her vintage Royal Winton chintz and Wedgwood china. She supplied all the accoutrement's and her daughter was our tea hostess. Fellow knitter Cora made luscious lemon cakes and I brought cucumber mint sandwiches.

The tea and conversation flowed all day. We enjoyed Cora's Passion Fruit tea and my Dammann Freres, 4 Fruits Rouges Tea from France.

Rosie Posey Tea Cosy

As usual Danielle (Knitique owner/instructor) made the tea cosy pattern easier.

The green ribbed cosy is doubled so it has a liner. It takes a while to knit. I have that part almost done and then I will be ready to knit the roses.

The Rosey Posie is a really fun and easy pattern. If you enjoy tea time..I highly recommend this pattern!

Rosie Posey Tea Party!

No tea party is complete without classic cucumber sandwiches! My garden is abundant with fresh mint so I brought cucumber mint sandwiches to the tea party. I have had several requests for my recipe so here it is:

Cucumber Mint Tea Sandwiches

1/4 C. butter (softened)

1/4 C. cream cheese (softened)

1/2 C. loosely packed fresh mint leaves. Then cleaned/dried/and finely chopped

1 cucumber (seedless/English style) cut into thin slices

12 slices dense white bread

To prepare:

Make the mint butter. Combine the softened butter, cream cheese and chopped mint.

Trim the crusts off the bread slices with a serrated knife. Spread the mint butter on each bread slice. Top 6 of the bread slices with the sliced cucumber, season with salt and top with other 6 bread slices to make a sandwich. Cut with a serrated knife into triangle or rectangular shapes.

Cover with a damp tea towel and refrigerate until ready to serve.
 Enjoy!

I can't wait to use my Rosie Posey at a garden tea party!

Rosie Posy Tea Cosy

Rosie Posy Tea Cosy

When I saw the Rosie Posy Tea Cosy in The Knitter magazine, Issue Two...I couldn't wait to make it!

Rosie Posy is the clever creation of Australian designer Loani Prior. Loani loves tea cosies! She is the author of Wild Tea Cosies which features 24 tea cosy patterns, including the Rosie Posy. If you are a member on Ravelry ...the pattern is free!

Vintage Knit Tea Cosy Booklet

Tea cosies have been around a long time. If you're not sure exactly what a tea cosy is, think of it as a little knit sweater for the teapot to keep the pot insulated and the tea warm.

Tea cosies have flourished both in Britain and America since the late 1800's. They were quite popular in the 1940's and 50's judging by all the vintage knitting patterns from that era.

Tea Cosies are back in style thanks to the resurgence and popularity of tea and knitting. Many vintage tea cosy patterns have even been restyled for today's more "stylish" knitter.

Berocco Comfort DK Yarns

I love tea, knitting and roses so the Rosie Posy Tea Cosy is just my cup of tea!

Tomorrow I am taking the Rosie Posy Tea Cosy class at Knitique . The owner Danielle is teaching the class and having a tea party,too! The best part is, Danielle always makes understanding the pattern so much easier!

My tea cosy will be knit in Berocco Comfort DK yarns in colors to match my Royal Winton Chintz tea ware. I will post photos of my Rosie Posy as soon as it is finished!

I am off to enjoy a cup of tea...more later!

Lucy Neatby Intarsia Workshop

Lucy Neatby Itarsia

and

Fringes, Folderols & Furbelows Workshop

I am a better knitter!

Last weekend I attended Lucy Neatby's Intarsia and Fringes, 

Folderols and Furbelows workshops. 

I truly am a better knitter now!

While I may not be ready to knit a gorgeous Kaffe Fassett sweater just yet ..

I am ready to knit Intarsia now, thanks to Lucy.

Lucy Neatby

Knitting Teacher Extraordinaire!

Lucy loves color and isn't afraid to show it. Even her hair is colorful... just like her Intarsia knitting! It is her colorful and relaxed "fun" spirit that makes learning from her such a delight!

Lucy is an incredible teacher. She breaks down everything in easy to understand terms. I have always adored knit garments with pretty rose and floral patterns. I never, ever dreamed that I would attempt this type of Intarsia knitting. Thanks to Lucy Neatby...I know I can do it now!

Lucy's Intarsia Work

Lucy describes colorful Intarsia knitting as:

 "patchwork knitting or even painting with yarn"!

Lisette's Intarsia Work

I learned so many great tips in Lucy's Intarsia workshop. I learned how to make butterfly bobbins for my different color yarns. I learned how important preparation and organization is for Intarsia knitting.

Lucy says "keeping stitches happy, keeps the knitter happy"! She told us that "yarns hold hands" and "let your yarns link with one another with Intarsia knitting". Probably her best advice was "don't overdose" your Intarsia knitting..."only do a couple rows a night".

Lucy's Intarsia Cardigan

"She designs to teach!"

Lucy's Intarsia cardigan is a gorgeous example of Intarsia. She has been designing her own patterns ever since she started knitting. She is a naturally gifted designer and teacher. She said that "I design to teach". Of course, she loves knitting but teaching seems dearest to her heart these days.

Backside of Intarsia

This is the inside or backside of Lucy's Intarsia cardigan. 

Wow...she really kept all those stitches happy. 

Her work is so nice and tidy! Something to strive for!

Lucy Neatby Workshop

Danielle at Knitique told me what a fabulous teacher Lucy is and how lucky I was to be taking her workshop. I do feel really lucky. Thank you to the Camellia City Stockinettes for bringing Lucy back for more workshops!

I also purchased Lucy's Knitter's Companion DVD's Intarsia Untangled 1 and 2. I know they will be great for a refresher course and it will be like having Lucy for a private workshop in my own home!

The best Intarsia knitting advice Lucy gave was: "be brave and keep on going"!

Thank you Lucy...I am a better knitter now!

Louisa Harding Juliet Scarf Class

Juliet Scarf Class with Louisa Harding

I have always hoped to take a workshop with my favorite designer Louisa Harding.

I love her Cameo Shawl from the book Pretty Knits. I was so excited about a year ago when I read that she was teaching a Cameo Shawl workshop at Loop in London. Oh, how I wanted to hop on a plane to London to take that class!

I was even more excited when I found out that she was the (week long) guest instructor last September in the South of France with Kristeen Griffin-Grimes of French Girl Knits. This would have been a dream come true but I couldn't pull this trip off either.

So you can imagine my delight, when I emailed Louisa Harding's company in England and found out from Louisa, herself, that she was doing a workshop event right here in northern California. I called Green Planet Yarn in Campbell, Ca immediately and signed up for all the Louisa Harding events.

Louisa Harding Day

I was still reeling with excitement of meeting Louisa Harding the day before at the book signing event at Babetta's Yarn & Gifts. You can imagine how excited I was to be spending the entire day with Louisa at Green Planet Yarn. This was an occasion meant to be shared so I invited my knitting friend Pamela to join me. She has been knitting all her life and has followed Louisa's career since her early days at Rowan. Pamela was just as excited as me!

Louisa Harding

Juliet Scarf Workshop

I have wanted to make the Juliet Scarf for quite some time. I remember the first time I saw Louisa's book Knitting Little Luxuries at my local Borders Books. I fell in love with all the pretty patterns but didn't think I could knit them.

Not much later though, I purchased the book, started a wish list of what patterns to knit and signed up for knitting classes.

Now it is about a year later and I am taking the Juliet Scarf class from Louisa herself. Wow!

To begin our workshop, Louisa tells us about her concept for the Juliet Scarf. She designed it in her luxurious Kimono Angora yarn. The pattern only requires one skein for both the rosette pin and the scarf so it is a perfect little luxury gift to knit and give away or keep yourself. (We are keeping ours!)

The one thing I am most struck with about Louisa, is how beautiful her patterns are. She tells us that she designs all her patterns to be simple and not hard to knit.

Juliet Rosette

For my scarf, I selected a new color of Kimono Angora in # 18 Aqua. This is my first time knitting with this yarn. It is very luxurious and feels wonderful to knit with. I am using Clover bamboo needles.

Our first step in making our Juliette Scarf is to make the Rosette pin for the scarf. Louisa guided us perfectly. This was the first time that I have done short rows. I loved making the flower rosette. It was magical how it became a flower.

The interesting part, is that the rosette looks as if it could be crocheted but it is all made with knitting. Louisa told us that she knits and doesn't' crochet. So many of her garments have lacy trims and they are all achieved by knitting. Since I a more of a knitter myself, I love that!

There were eight students in our class. We were all pretty serious and entrenched in our knitting. Now and then we would fess up about a mistake and ask Louisa for help. Louisa graciously fixed our mistakes and made it look effortless. I loved it when she said to us (in her lovely British accent) "ladies it is just a scarf"! That lightened up our moods, relaxed us a bit and made the class fun!

I remember my friend Pamela being nervous about knitting in front of Louisa. She was worried about forgetting everything. Neither of us forget how to knit (thank goodness) and Louisa really put us at ease. Louisa made the class a special memory...one we wont' forget!

Louisa is an impressive knitter. I have never seen anyone knit so fast! She also has her Juliet scarf pattern memorized. No matter where one of us was stuck in the pattern, she had us back on track in no time!

Pamela, Louisa and Lisette

Juliet Scarf Workshop

Dreams do come true! 

My wish to take a workshop from my knitting idol Louisa Harding came true! 

I didn't even have to hop a plane to London to meet her. I do hope one day that I can take more workshops from Louisa. It would really be a dream come true to take a workshop in England or France with her!

I am a very expressive person so Louisa certainly knows how much I admire her. I really attribute her work as the reason I am knitting today.

Louisa's beautiful books and fashion-forward patterns are what made me want to learn more about knitting and move beyond the garter and purl stitch.

Next, it's time for tea with Louisa Harding.

Read about tea and conversation with my favorite designer next!