Friday, October 30, 2009

Class with BrooklynTweed - Jared Flood

Today I took a class at the new Knitch location on aran sweater design and steeks with Jared Flood. It was a great class and there was so much great information presented that I had never encountered before. He talked about guage swatching for cables and adjusting for ease in the process of designing a sweater and how to use this information to make a sweater that fits your measurements. He also showed us how to do a crocheted steek. I've done a steek with machine stitching before cutting, but this was the first time I'd ever tried the crochet method. Great method and I look forward to using it in an upcoming cardigan.




Here are my swatch and steek samples from the class. This is a close up of the steeked edge on the back side.


He also showed us how to pick up and knit the button band. This is the same swatch after I knitted on the button band. It lays so nice a flat and the steek just folds right under and lays flat on the inside. This is the front side.



This is the back side of the sample. The steek flap had a little bit of a pucker to it, but he said this could be remedied by just using a smaller crochet hook to do the steek.


Of course I was a total knitting geek and asked Kim (the owner of Knitch) if I could keep one of the demo sheets from the class and she said I could if it was alright with Jared. I then asked Jared if he would autograph it. He probably thought I'm a nut, but he did sign if for me! :)


It was a fun class and he is an excellent instructor. If you have the chance, I can highly recommend the classes. Be warned... you better sign up quick. The classes were popular and filled quickly.