Knot Knecessarily Known Knitting

I must say how grateful I am that STITCHES was back in Atlanta this year after a five-year hiatus. Many of you know the last few months have had a lot of change in my personal life. Spending a weekend of teaching, learning, and just hanging out with my creative tribe was exactly what I needed. I didn't know how much I really needed it. I also must thank my students. Both of my classes, "Brioche Rosetta Stone" and "Knit Faster with Combination Knitting" sold out during the early registration period. Thank you! Of course, by now you all know that if I'm not teaching, I'm probably taking. For STITCHES I chose three classes. Thursday was Xandy Peters' all-day "Fox Paws Technique" class. Yes, I could probably have figured out this pattern on my own. This was one of those I-want-this-on-my-résumé choices. Plus, I wanted to meet the creative genius behind Fox Paws. Xandy is an excellent teacher. She walked us through the technique, first...

One of my favorite things about STITCHES is the opportunity to take classes. This year I took three. On Thursday afternoon I took Shannon Okey's "Get Published" class. Shannon is the genius behind Cooperative Press, who have published such great books as Alasdair Post-Quinn's Extreme Double Knitting . Shannon is definitely an extrovert. She gave a thorough handout and explained the pros and cons and options of self-publishing. Very helpful! On Saturday I took Susanna Hansson's "Bohus Stickning" class. Thank you to Pam who advised me to take this class. This is an all-day class and possibly the one for which Susanna is best known. She has an extensive personal collection of garments produced by the Bohus Stickning (1939-1969). This class was a great opportunity to learn not just the techniques but also the social history. If you have any interest in economic history or women's studies, this class is very much worth your time. The class fee of $25 ...

For Friday I wore the Bootkicked scarf. I also carried the Elfin Lace shawl and wore it a couple times. I have mixed feelings about appropriate room temperature. On the one hand, I don't like to be cold. On the other hand, if the knitters are cold, then they are wearing fabulous knitwear. Maybe keeping things a little on the cool side is appropriate in these circumstances. Friday was an all-day pattern writing class with Edie Eckman. She did a great job explaining how submissions are done within the industry. She also showed us how hard it is to write a pattern to the industry standard. Our practice sample was a flat sweater pattern graded in four sizes. Writing it in the shorthand of the knitting world was really hard. It was also harder than I expected because I don't knit sweaters from flat patterns, so it really hurt my brain to try to think that way. I would much rather draw out shoulder and neck shaping on graph paper than try to explain how many stitches to bi...