NY01
Cat Bordhi
Design Socks like a Pro
Advanced

“Dancing with Socks”
Have you been hankering to play around with basic sock patterns to create your own original designs? Or maybe you’d just like to add stitch patterns with confidence? This class will empower you to be a sock designer — in as simple or complex a manner as you like — and a better all-around knitter. We’ll start out by knitting a few baby socks to gain a fluent understanding of the elements underlying all of Cat’s New Pathways sock architectures. Then you’ll be ready to design (for anyone from a baby to a large man) within any of the architectures, to create entirely new architectures, or even skip from one architecture to another in the same sock! We’ll explore ways to integrate stitch patterns, texture, elasticity, durability, and color to help you create beautiful, well-fitted, and original sock designs. We’ll also examine and compare the available design spaces in both traditional (heel flap and gusset, short row heel) socks and Cat’s sock architectures, and identify the advantages of each.

Cat Bordhi’s students describe her workshops as inspiring, illuminating, empowering, full of laughter, and mind-boggling. “My years as a middle school teacher taught me to work with different learning styles and personalities,” she explains. “Also, I truly love teaching and love people. Inside every knitter is a bright and child-like intelligence that can truly understand and see how things work, and my job is to nudge the knitter into that warm and welcoming space — and to help them feel very much at home there.” Cat teaches all over North America and is the author of two books on socks — New Pathways For Sock Knitters, Book One and Socks Soar on Two Circular Needles; two on Moebius knitting — A Treasury of Magical Knitting and A Second Treasury of Magical Knitting; and novel, Treasure Forest.

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NY02
Gwen Bortner
Entrelac: From the Beginning to Endless Possibilities
Intermediate/Advanced

Entrelac, a knitting technique often referred to as basket weave, looks complicated but is surprisingly easy to learn. Even so, the nature of its construction seems to limit the possible applications—or does it? If you are intrigued by this fascinating technique, this is the workshop for you—even if you are new to entrelac.
We begin by learning (or reviewing) the basic construction of entrelac, so everyone starts with the same base knowledge. As part of this process, you create two small, but practical, projects. When you are comfortable with the basics, we move on to resolving the challenges of creating with entrelac. Calculating gauge, using schematics, shaping, seams, and invisible joins will all be covered as skills build on one another. Soon you are ready to begin designing your own project or modifying a pattern you have always wanted to knit. This workshop combines the benefits of one-on-one instruction with learning from other student’s projects.

Gwen is a CYCA certified teacher and is accredited by the Professional Knitwear Designers Guild. She gave up an executive career to create Knitability, LLC where the company motto is “taking knitters to the next level.”

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NY03
Christine Bylsma
Stash Away Island
Intermediate

Imagine for a moment, that you are marooned on a beautiful island with your most cherished knitting tools, your favorite yarns, kindred knitters and a gourmet chef (of course). We will turn the perfect fantasy into reality (including the gourmet chef!). But first, leave all your perceptions of how yarn can and should be used at home as we create stash fabric from all your yarns and use scavenged and borrowed items to suit your creative needs. Wait, no patterns on our island? No problem! Learn to design, fit and write your own pattern to suit the yarns you have. You will find new life and unbelievable potential in your stash — and you — to create whatever you want — whether it’s home decor or apparel that makes your island a paradise.

Chris has her own line of custom knitwear designs. She encourages knitters to think outside the box and color outside the lines.

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NY04
Lily Chin
The Elements of Design
Intermediate/Advanced

Interested in designing for yourself? Going beyond the basics. All aspects and fine points of total design will be explored, including: shape, fit, ease, proportion, color, pattern, stitch, yarn, fabric, compositition, and more. Sources of inspiration as well as a fashion and color forecast will be discussed. Ultimately, all elements will come together in a personally flattering garment for YOU! Must have successfully altered a pattern before and be able to convert schematic inches into stitches and rows when given a gauge.

Lily brings the best of fashion and fun to Stitches and the handknitting world. She is the author of The Urban Knitter and Mosaic Magic: Afghans Made Easy.

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NY05
Margaret Fisher
Seven Things that can “Make or Break” a Sweater™
Easy/Intermediate

Learn seven things that will make a big difference in the appearance of your sweaters. The smallest details can have a huge impact—increasing in ribbing, bumpy or smooth cast-on edge, slanting decreases, invisible increases, perfect buttonholes, flat edgings, and blocking. Learn about all of these things and much more while making a mini-adult sweater. Receive lots of tips and hints about how to produce good results. Since you spend hours making a garment, you’ll want to use techniques that make even the simplest sweater look marvelous.

A TKGA Master Knitter, skilled designer, and experienced teacher, Margaret Fisher has been knitting and crocheting for over 40 years. She loves colorful, textured fabrics and well-fitting sweaters with contemporary style.

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NY06
Betsy Hershberg
Just “Bead“ It!!
Intermediate
Join Betsy for a weekend of inspiration, discovery, and exploration into the world of endless possibilities available when you combine knitted fiber and beads. While surface embellishment is all the current “rage” in fashion and design, beaded knitting, in many shapes and forms, has been around for centuries. We’ll examine a bit of the history and the myriad of fibers, beads and tools available, considering which work best and why. We’ll explore different bead knitting techniques and use them to make a knitted sampler, providing a visual aid to take home as a resource for future projects. We’ll play with more advanced bead knitting techniques for edges and embellishment, fringing, and finishing and maybe even an occasional UBO — unidentified, beaded object! Then, we’ll use some of these techniques to create wonderful bead knitted jewelry.
Betsy Hershberg is an award-winning knitting designer and popular knitting instructor who is never happier than when she is sitting in the big red leather chair in her studio, playing with fine fibers, and teeny, tiny beads. Her knitting brain “exploded” when she first learned how to bead
knit from Lily Chin at STITCHES. She creates one-of-a-kind pieces of beaded, knitted jewelry.
Helping students learn the techniques that will allow them to unlock their own creativity is one
of her greatest joys.

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NY07
Maureen Mason-Jamieson
Japanese Knitting Techniques
Intermediate

Whether your favorite knitting involves cables, color, texture or anything else, Japanese knitting techniques will improve the finished look. You’ll learn Japanese methods for short rows which may be used for shaping shoulders, creating curves, or decoration. After learning the Japanese 3-needle bind-off , you’ll say “sayonara” to your regular version. Discover Maureen’s fancy variations of this slick bind-off for trimming your seams in style as well as uniting stitches. Explore picking up stitches for button and buttonhole bands that merge perfectly at the top and bottom edges without that annoying dip. Learn new, unique versions of buttonholes, the advantages of tubular cast-ons and bind-offs, and how to create bobbles quickly and using a crochet hook. You’ll also learn to read Japanese knitting patterns without learning Japanese!

A Canada native, Maureen focuses her attention on color work, particularly in modular knitting. A designer for publications and yarn companies, she also teaches across the US and Canada.

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NY08
Debbie New
Ouroborus Garment
Advanced

Knitting circularly and steeking (cutting) the garment afterwards is a slightly scary tradition. This workshop examines ways to knit things circularly without having to cut them. Techniques range from the simple to the complex to suit various styles — take your pick. You will have a chance to design an Ouroborus jacket like the one pictured. Bring along a garment that fits you well as a starting point. You can make these garments in any stitch, so again, take your pick.

Debbie extends the possibilities of knitting by exploring original techniques that range from knit teacups to wall hangings, from sculptures to garments. Her knit boat — yes, it floats, with her in it! — is featured in A Gathering of Lace. She is the author of Unexpected Knitting.

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NY09
Judy Pascale
The Total Garment from Start to Finish
Easy/Intermediate

In this 3-day workshop you will be using techniques to modify patterns or design your own pattern while determining your personal measurements. Phases will begin by utilizing a well-fitting knitted garment or store bought garment from your existing wardrobe to determine the shaping you want to incorporate into your knitting design and instructions.
While working through the garment, we will rework the sleeves to allow picking up at shoulders and working them down to the cuff. The accurate formula you will learn gives you the perfect sleeve every time. This same formula will also allow you to work your sleeve from the cuff up and then sew in the sleeve cap with a totally professional finish.
Once the desired neckline is complete the workshop culminates with the invisible seam. This is accomplished by selecting the appropriate location to insert the sewing needle for optimum results that suites that particular stitch pattern. Emphasis is on producing a smooth nearly invisible transition.
While going through this 3-day experience, many tips and tricks will be covered along the way assuring the successful completion of many exciting garments in the future.

An enthusiastic knitwear designer and teacher from Connecticut, Judy specializes in finishing and design, emphasizing custom fitting.

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NY10
Merike Saarniit
Color Recipes and Remedies
Easy

What knitter doesn’t have odd lots of yarn leftovers from one project or another (including yarns purchased on impulse and never used)? Bring some or all and see how painting coordinated colors, over-dyeing, and stitch pattern selection can turn your odd-lot stash into an inspiring collection of yarns ready to knit into a vest, hat, scarf, afghan, or your own unique project.

Drawing on her Estonian heritage, Merike has been involved with fiber arts since childhood. She teaches workshops in many fiber-related subjects.

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NY11
Candace Eisner Strick
Fair Isle: Everything You Need to Know
Intermediate

Fair Isle sweaters look complicated and hard to knit. It’s a myth!! They are easy if you know the right techniques. Learn traditional methods used in Fair Isle knitting, including: cable edge cast-on, corrugated ribbing, manipulating two colors with both hands, knitting in ends, weaving in long strands, steeking, shaping next to a steek, cutting and finishing a steek, picking up stitches around a finished steek. Learn the design process involved: color choices, design options, color changes within the pattern for maximum effect, and number calculations. Knit a sample sweater, then begin planning out and knitting your own design.

Candace Eisner Strick has immersed herself in music and knitting most of her life.Now retired from 16 years of teaching cello, she concentrates on designing, writing, and teaching knitting. She is the author of 6 books, her designs and writing has been published in every major knitting magazines, and she teaches nationally and internationally. She is the creator of her own line of yarn, Merging Colors, as well as her own line of patterns, Strickwear, appropriately, ‘strick’ means to knit.

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