Intermediate Knitting
Syllabus and Supply List
Materials
2 balls Zitron Loft, any color, for hat; instructor provides contrast for color work
2 skeins Berroco's Ultra Alpaca Light
Please select bamboo or wood needles
One Size 7 circular needle for hat in 16" or 20" length. If you know you're a tight knitter, go up a
size; loose knitter? go down a size.
Double-pointed needles for hat: same size as circular needle.
Double-pointed needles for fingerless gloves: Size 3 seven-inch.
Optional glove needles: Size 3 four-inch
Instructor will provide
Contrast wool for color work on hat, stitch markers, crochet hook, patterns for hat and gloves.
Prerequisite
If you completed Basic Knitting this spring, please keep knitting and join us in the fall. This class does require a formal Basic Knitting class taken at the shop and a month or two of scarf knitting or other simple projects. Get ready for the next level.
Class 1: Make sure your stitches are turned the right way when you knit, learn how to pick up a dropped stitch, learn the long-tail cast on, increase and decrease. Analyze a simple pattern and color chart. Brief discussion of gauge and some tips for using circular needles and double-pointed needles. Practice casting onto a circular needle in long-tail, join without twisting, and begin ribbing for hat. All techniques are introduced and practiced in class. Homework entails straightforward knitting and additional practice of what we learn in class.
Class 2: Intro to color work. Learn how to carry a second color along with you for a contrast pattern on the hat. Knitting in two colors really opens up the landscape for lots of creative projects. For comic relief, we'll learn the simple curly fringe which is optional for the hat.
Class 3: Shape the top of the hat with decreases and finish off the hat with a simple "belly-button" close. Learn how to cast onto double-pointed needles for a pair of fingerless gloves.
Class 4: Making a thumb gore for fingerless gloves (or gloves with fingers or mittens or mitts, for that matter) is so much fun. We'll discuss fitting gloves to the recipient and how to size up glove patterns for men. Introduction to planning finger placement across the top of the gloves. We won't knit the ends of the fingers (which takes a lot of the guesswork out of fit and finishing). After this class, though, you'll be confident enough to tackle a pair of gloves with fingers. Basic glove construction hasn't varied for several centuries so you can do this!
Class 5: We'll finish a couple of fingers together. I've discovered a technique to cast-off the ends of the fingers without that annoying cast-off ridge, so this pattern will have no design flaw to interfere with the beauty of the alpaca yarn. Oh, and we'll finish knitting our thumb.