Class Info

Anne Hanson: Off the Cuff Design

Participants will learn how to enhance a favorite basic sock recipe by swapping in textured or lace stitch patterns and choosing appropriate yarns to complete their personal vision. The focus for this class is to add imaginative elements to an existing sock recipe for personal fulfillment and use; sizing and pattern writing will not be covered.

Discussion will include: a short discourse on the elements of design, considerations for choosing (or inventing) sock-worthy motifs, combining multiple stitch patterns and choosing appropriate ribbings/edgings, making the numbers fit, planning the layout of patterns, working fancy patterns on the heel, choosing appropriate yarns, making the best use of yarn types, swatching for better results (MWAH-ha-ha-ha), and solving the fiddly bits (how to fudge it when you need to).

Participants will need: paper, pen, calculator, graph paper, one skein of sock yarn for project work (students are also encouraged to bring a variety of sock leftovers in small amounts for experimenting), a variety of sock needles appropriate for yarn of choice. Additionally, students should bring a book of stitch patterns, and have 4 to 6 stitch patterns marked as possibilities. Swatching stitch motifs ahead of time is encouraged, but optional.

Janel Laidman: Colorful Creativity – Stranded Socks that fit with flair.

Color work socks are really fun to knit and wear. In this class you will explore how to avoid common pitfalls when knitting stranded socks, like how to keep them from having loosey goosey ladders at the needle joins, how to keep your floats floating and stretchy, how to shape the leg so you don’t end up with something that cuts off circulation at the calf while bagging around the ankles and how to combine colors for best effect. In class you'll be knitting a mini sock that combines all of these strategies, and there will be discussion on how to apply them to grown up size footwear. No experience with stranding is necessary, you will learn how to manage the yarns to achieve a smooth colorful look.

Stephanie Pearl McPhee: Choosing among Choices

Which Yarn? Which cast-on? Which heel? Toe-up or cuff down? This class explores the choices that all sock knitters make as they commit themselves to a noble goal- their perfect, plain, personalized sock pattern and that's what you'll have in your hand when you leave the class. With a little luck, at the end of the class you'll have worked out what you like and why, along with how to make it fit you right. Expect side dishes of sock knitting history, sock knitting tricks and ideas about how to make socks that are still personalized and perfect, but not plain. Please bring some ideas about what you like in a sock, whether or not you've ever managed to make that happen.

Tina Newton: Saturate Yourself

Colour play and theory depravedDyer style. You will learn the elemental dye basics especially as it relates to wool and sock knitting. You will then get a chance to experiment on your very own skein of sock yarn. You will also learn how to over dye skeins you are not happy with. You will bring 2 skeins of sock yarn with you and we will discuss what exactly is not to your taste and then fix it.
Warning: There is no fixing my colourways!
Class Supplies: 2 Skeins of any sock yarn you would like to over dye. An apron or tshirt you can be messy in. Your imagination.

Cat: Engineering New Stitches

What Happens When Fertile Stitch Elements Make Love

Can you imagine owning a sock-dedicated stitch dictionary full of entirely fresh, unknown stitches? This class will give you the tools to birth new stitch patterns and to create such a collection by yourself, or with friends. The trick is to circumvent the logical mind, which always wants to arrange the basic structural elements of knitting into familiar relationships. Cat will map out playful generative pathways guaranteed to circumvent your cautious logical mind, offering you a plethora of new arrangements of familiar elements from which to choose. Don't worry if you “are not creative.” Cat knows how to flip your switch, and the experience is liberating and fun. You'll be encouraged to turn your original stitch pattern into a family of related stitch patterns, perfect for arranging on a sock. This class will keep your brain cells lively and bright, and your socks will shine with original loveliness.

Class supplies and homework:
Needles (any kind you like) to suit STR heavyweight, which should be in a shaded solid rather than a high contrast colorway since you will want to see texture clearly. Please also bring stitch markers, scissors, a darning needle, graph paper, a few colored pencils, a mechanical pencil, and an art-gum eraser. Optional extras: a stitch dictionary you are fond of, as well as any or all of the following: a clear photo of an intriguing and mysterious stitch element on a knitted garment cut out of a magazine or catalogue (see someone in a crowd with a great sweater? Pull out your camera phone and sneak up behind them to take a photo!); a knitted garment with an unfamiliar stitch pattern, clippings/ photos/ sketches of beautiful patterns found in architecture, tilework, wallpaper, fences, anywhere you see something that might become a stitch pattern . . . you get the idea. If you photograph stitches, if possible, also photograph the inside as this may give important clues.

Sivia Harding: Bountifully Beaded Wristlets

In this class you'll learn at least four ways to add beads to beautify your knitting, and complete a wristlet or cuff in the process. Students will learn how to plan adding beads, how to choose beads and which beading technique applies when. Beads built in, beads added on, beads pre-strung and beads at the last minute... Sivia's the bead queen, and she'll show you how to put a little sparkle in your knitting.
Class Supplies: You will need a crochet hook. Sivia recommends Susan Bates size 13-14 and a dental floss threader which you can get almost anywhere.

Materials

Camp provides all materials for all the classes, but not tools. This means that if a class calls for yarn, we'll give it to you there, with the exception of in Tina's class - where undyed yarn will be provided for the raw dyeing, but you should (if you want to) bring two skeins of sock yarn for overdyeing. (These should be skeins you don't care for - colourwise, that you would like to "fix". We know you have some yarn like that.) If a class calls for beads we'll bring the beads. If it calls for STR heavyweight, or leftovers for experimenting.... we'll have that there too. All you need to bring from the materials list is stuff you likely own - the tools, like needles, crochet hooks, graph paper, calculator, pencils.... just tools.)