Just returned from a great weekend at Interweave Knitting Lab New England in NH. I took 2 classes while there and have certainly come home inspired!
The first class was a full day of colored twined knitting with Beth Brown-Reinsel. I took a twined knitting class taught by Beth back in 2007 and really loved it, but I hadn't learned two-colored twined knitting. To see my work from the 2007 class,
click here. Back to this weekend, another great class. Beth is an excellent teacher and full of knowledge. We worked on a pair of fingerless mitts. I will start with a picture of Beth's mitts because you can really see what they are supposed to look like:
For a full class description from beth's website,
click here. My mitts do not look as polished as Beth's because 1. she is the expert! and 2. my yarn choice. I still love them. I finished them up at home this weekend. Here they are:
I have already wore them to the ice rink (yes, hockey season is here again) and they were perfect. I have a couple of mitten design ideas in mind right now with the ultimate goal of a twined sweater. Maybe that will be my 2013 knitting challenge?
The other class I took was Bohus Knitting Tradition by Anne Berk. This was also an excellent class with a great instructor. I have been curious about Bohus knitting and this class certainly fueled the fire. We worked on a small sample to try some of the techniques. And when I say small, I'm talking US1 needles and fingering weight yarn:
That's 3 hours of work! 2.5" x 4"
Why would anyone torture themselves like that? Well, take a look at some of Anne's sweaters (yes, she has knit all of these!):
And for even more inspiration, check out this
Flickr group (vintage Bohus). Yup. I will knit one of those one day. So I ordered the following book on Anne's recommendation:
The story behind the tradition is quite interesting and I look forward to reading the book. Again, I would like to start with a pair of mittens and move on from there. If only I didn't need sleep!
