There's nothing like a deadline to create motivation.
I'm teaching virtually at
Fiberworld this
weekend. My class numbers, alas, aren't great. Perhaps many of us are tired of
being online? I hope we will continue to have a mix of in-person and virtual
events. I like in-person events, but it is also nice to take a class without
the hassle and expense of travel. For some people — especially if you are a
caregiver or live in a rural area — virtual gatherings are the only option.
The three classes I'm teaching this weekend are "Easy Reversible Cables," "Essentials of Versa Lace," and "Illusions in Shadows." The shadow knitting class is the most recent addition to my repertoire. As is my habit, I debuted it at South Carolina Knit Inn 2020. As is also my habit, I try to have a well-researched class. When I design a handout, it is meant to be ongoing reference. Sometimes I keep my own handouts in my knitting bag when I am working on a relevant project. The tips, tricks, and reminders I've already figured out are right there, on a piece of paper! For "Illusions in Shadows" I wanted to go beyond common knowledge. I've developed a reputation for working things reversibly. I wanted my illusion knit blanket to be reversible.
It is!
The patterns are both by Steve Plummer. You can buy them in his Ravelry store here. If you want to browse his offerings for patterns that are the same size and could be worked reversibly, size information is here.
If you are planning on mounting your illusion as wall art, the reversible technique is irrelevant. If you are making a blanket, that's another story. I can envision making a child's blanket with a pretty picture on one side and the name of the child on the other. There might be interesting witty designs. Kirk versus Picard? Pirate versus ninja? Or maybe something subtle like a polar bear on one side and a grizzly bear on the other?
The challenge in reversible illusion knitting is normal double-knitting doesn't work. Double-knitting relies on color changes in the middle of a row to tack together the two layers of fabric. There are no color changes mid-row in illusion knitting. The color changes are only at the beginning of right-side rows. If you work an illusion knit in regular double-knitting, you get a sack or pillow case. If that's what you want, there's your solution! But if you want a blanket, the combination of 1×1 ribbing and slipped-stitch double-knitting is what you need to make a fabric that behaves as one unit.
If you want to take this class in person, it is on the schedule for
Pittsburgh Creative Arts Festival
in August and
Southeastern Animal Fiber Fair
in October. This will likely be what I teach at Kanuga in January 2022.
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