Spring 2012 Classes

Updated March 5, 2012

More classes to be added as the schedule allows!

LEARN TO KNIT *

$15 for first one-hour session, $10 for each additional one-hour session

Wednesday, March 21, 5 to 6 p.m.

Wednesday, March 28, 5 to 6 p.m.

Saturday, April 14, 2 to 3 p.m.

Saturday, April 21, 2 to 3 p.m.

Learn the fundamentals of knitting, such as how to cast on, knit, purl, and bind off. If you bring 100% cotton yarn you can learn to make a washcloth.

Materials: approximately 100 yards of worsted weight yarn and size 8 needles.

FELT CLOGS

$50 for three sessions

Tuesdays, March 27 and April 3 and 10

6 to 8 p.m.

Keep your feet warm and toasty with these clogs. This is a great time to experiment with short rows, since the felting will cover up any imperfections!

Materials: 500 to 720 yards of worsted weight yarn and size 13 16” and 24” circular needles.

LACE

$65 for four sessions

Tuesdays, April 17 and 24 and May 1 and 8

6 to 8 p.m.

Lace looks complicated, but it’s all about making increases and decreases in an elegant way. You’ll learn how to read a chart in this class.

Materials: 210 to 400 yards of worsted weight yarn and size US#8 circular needle

FINISHING SCHOOL

$25 for one sessions

Tuesday, May 22

6 to 8 p.m.

Have you ever avoided a pattern just because you weren’t sure how to seam it? Does sewing on buttons get you down? Not sure what a three-needle bind off is? In this class, we’ll discuss all of the finishing touches that can make or break your project.

Materials: Bring your current project and a tapestry needle. If you’d like to practice, make three or four stockinette stitch swatches.

PRIVATE LESSONS

$20/hour, ask about special deals for a group!

By appointment only.

To register for any class, email classes@theshizknit.com or call 502-627-0618. Classes marked with an asterisk are held at Mama’s Hip on Bardstown Road. All other classes are held at the Germantown knitting studio of Tonya Wagner. The Shizknit reserves the right to cancel any class that does not meet minimum enrollment requirements. Payment is due at the first session of each class, to secure your spot you can pay 50% of the fee in advance. Email classes@theshizknit.com to sign up for the mailing list and be informed of classes that may be added to the schedule.

Socks and Schedules

This sock has nothing to do with the post, really, other than the fact that it's the sock that I used for the Basic Socks class last quarter. It's knit in very lovely Spud & Chloë Fine in Anemone. I love making ankle socks; I'm hoping to be able to add another Learn to Knit Sock class in the spring.

Which brings me to business. The spring schedule is proving to be difficult to, well, schedule. Don't worry - I have a full line-up of Tuesday classes but Wednesdays are looking quite busy for the spring. I'm giving myself a couple of days to iron things out, but decided that this Wednesday, Feburary 29, the schedule will go online as-is, and I'll add new classes as soon as possible. Make sure to check back! I'm also working with Shannon at Mama's Hip for a return to Saturday Learn to Knit classes. I will be making Facebook events for classes over the next couple of days, so please "like" The Shizknit page to view these and to be updated on the current schedule. You can also email classes@theshizknit.com to be added to the mailing list.

See you here Wednesday, if not before!

Decision 2012: Sock Yarn Edition.

I am so pleased with my last pair of two-at-a-time, toe-up magic loop socks that I am going to begin another pair next week when the class begins. (There's still time to sign up - email classes@theshizknit.com if you're interested! Also, I honestly didn't mean for this post to be an advertisement for the class, but I'd be a bad buisnesslady if I didn't take the opportunity to mention it.)

When I worked at the Knit Nook, people would spend quite some time deciding on the right yarn for their project. And while I know that deciding which yarn to use is relatively inconsequential, I was one of those people, often taking the yarn off the shelf and sitting it on the big table in front of me, admiring it for the whole day before deciding if I should take it home or not. Before the store closed I managed to amass a significant sock yarn stash. Last night I got down my little basket of super wash sock yarns and tried to decide what to use for my toe-up socks.

I narrowed it down to three.

The first is Mountain Colors Bearfoot.

This yarn is gorgeous, so I hesitate to call it boring. However, I think I might get bored knitting a stockinette stitch sock in semi-solid yarn. Quite honestly, the main reason I'm considering this yarn is because it's been wound for so long that I feel like I need to use it. Still, I think it might be better paired with a lace pattern or something with a little interest.

Next, Tofutsies . . . specifically, in this color.

I like self-striping yarn. The colors are bright and cheerful. There's no reason *not* to use this yarn. Still, I think the winner might be the last yarn.

Great Adirondack Soxie in Monet. I fell in love with the colorway when I first saw it but didn't buy it until soon before the Knit Nook went out of business.

I think it would be a good candidate for toe-up socks because of the yardage - 360 is a little less than other sock yarns (compare to 425 meters in Tofutsies and 400 yards of Bearfoot.) Using it for toe-up socks would ensure that I wouldn't run out. Plus, the color is just really beautiful.

Looking over my notes, I think I have made a decision, though I'm not quite ready to say a definite no to the Mountain Colors and Tofutsies yarn just yet. What do you consider when choosing a yarn for a project? Is color the most important thing to you? Yardage is probably a concern. What about fiber content? Share your thoughts in the comments section and let me know which of these yarns you'd use.

Happy knitting!

Check out D.I.Y. Louisville!

Shame on me . . . I haven't blogged since January 13!

I did, however, complete an interview for D.I.Y. Louisville. Check it out on their blog! Kim and Julee are two crafty ladies and I am hoping I have a Tuesday free sometime to check out their group at Sunergos on Woodlawn.

Interview is here.

And here is a photo of yarn, just because.

Using a scale to determine how much yarn you have.

It happens a lot: you buy 7 hanks of yarn for a project, but only end up needing 6.25. How do you know how much yarn you have left? A digital scale can tell you.

Let's use Cascade 220 as an example, since I know that each 100g hank has 220 yards. 220 divided by 100 is 2.2, so 2.2 yards weigh one gram. If I weigh my yarn leftovers and have 30 grams, I simply multiply 30 by 2.2 to figure out how many yards I have remaining - in this case, 66. Now you know exactly how many yards you have left and can search for patterns that will work with your yardage.

Week in review.

Still doing secret knitting. I swear, that sweater will be perfect as many times as I've reworked the yoke.

This week in review:

Jan. 1


Jan. 2


Jan. 3


Jan. 4


Jan. 5


Jan. 6


Jan. 7

Looking ahead.

Remember me? My name is Tonya and I used to blog about knitting. December has been unbelievably busy with something like 11 knitting classes in two weeks, a deadline knitting project, and travel for the holidays and my sister's college graduation.

I'm back and looking forward to lots of great knits and classes in 2012. I also have a camera now thanks to my lovely parents, so the blog should be looking much better with actual pictures.







See. Real pictures.

I'll update again next year!