I’ve been thinking a lot about my plans for the next year recently and one of the things I know for sure I’m going to be doing quite a bit of is travelling to various knitting related events. This seems like a great oppurtunity to teach some workshops and to meet some of you, but the thing is I really have no idea what to teach. The problem is that I’d really like there to be a reason for me in particular to be teaching a particular class, there are lots of things I can think of to teach but I don’t see why you would go out of your way to learn them from me. So what do you think? If location, money, time etc weren’t an issue what would be your dream class to take if I was teaching? The chances are that most of these will be fairly short single workshops with relatively large groups eg. a couple of hours and 20 people, so please bear that in mind.
If you have any requests for where you’d like to see me that would also be great, although I’m not making any promises! As I said before I’m planning on going to New York in a few months, but my plans have now changed and I’ll be doing a lot more travelling around over May and June now and I need to fill the gap between the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival and TNNA. I am planning on dragging a case full of samples around with me to show and tell but some workshops would be fun too.
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I would be interested in something like different cast ons and finishing techniques. Something I can get by without but should learn but can never motivate myself to learn through books.
Funny you ask, because over the past few weeks I have been thinking and dreaming of being taught by you all the rudiments of great sweater knitting. I am still pretty intimidated by such endeavor. It is so easy to waste so much money, time and yarn over some malformed piece of knitting. :-)
I am in Montreal and I would attend your class if you were giving one more or less in the area. :-)
I think an “It’s all in the finishing” type class would be cool. I remember when you blogged about Arabella and I though to myself, ‘it is amazing what a few finishing details can do to totally transform a simple garment’.
Knitted toys? They’re often quite fiddly if you’ve not made one before and there are some techniques (like picking up stitches in the middle of a stuffed knitted surface) that are fairly specific to toy-making.
I live in the Bay Area, and I organize knitting events and workshops (with LYSes or independently). I’d love to talk to you about possible events here. I have lots of ideas on topics :-).
I’d like a class on designing knit wear and transferring your ideas to paper for a pattern. I often start knitting something and make it up as I go along, and then I forget what i did to make the finished product.
Perhaps something about designing garments to FIT.. such as the instructions you have about the top down raglan shaping – how to take a pattern and modify it for you.
Also what about how to write a succesful pattern, you could take one of you designs and talk through the process. Where you find ideas/inspiration, how you get the things you knit down on paper for others to follow, what about working out other sizes etc..
I would love you to do some workshops IN EDINBURGH that are a bit beyond the basics.
:-))
If you taught a workshop on how to transform ideas into knittable items I bet that would be well attended. Even if it was something as basic as how to swatch yarns and do knitting maths. Another idea could be how to utilize different software to generate readable and user friendly patterns.
Ooh, I’m digging the other suggestions people have had. My idea is a bit similar–I’ve made several of your knitted animals, and I would be really interested in a class focussing on the techniques involved with those–picking up stitches, finishing, HOW TO DO A FRENCH KNOT IN YARN (I’m still, ah, struggling a bit on that one). I’d also love hearing about the design thoughts behind each animal–why some of them have longer legs and arms, why the different decreases are used to shape the faces, that sort of thing. I guess you wouldn’t want to get *too* in detail, since if we all run away and start designing our own Ysolda-esque animals that hurts you, but I feel like understanding a bit more about how and why the animals look the way they do would make me better when I’m knitting them.
Something on making jumpers and the assembly of them after all the knitting would be good. And yeah, i agree that fitting garments would be really useful too.
I would like to see you teach a class at The Knitting Guild Associations Spring Knit and Crochet Show in Portland from May 14th thru the 17th.
Ideas for classes – fitting, finishing, designing -
Something about designing. I have so many ideas and when I go to make them and write down what I do, it becomes way more complicated than it needs to be. Also, I want to learn how to add shaping to lace. You were making that lace hoodie way back in 2007. I’d like to be able to do something like that but lace + shaping = crying and headaches for me.
Oh also, I could made a million gauge swatches but when I go to make the garment it comes out much smaller or bigger than I want it to be, even with the same size needles. So I end up ripping something back 3-5 time before it will FIT but by then I’m sick of the yarn and am not interested anymore. What the heck am I doing wrong?!
I would take any class you’re teaching but if you want to know my opinion, I’d like a class about designing! Just the basics. You should come to the Seattle or somewhere in the NW! It’s really nice out here in the spring.
I agree with WoollyPaws about designing garments to fit well. It would be great to really learn how to grade patterns for multiple sizes. A more advanced designer type classes would be really useful (for me, anyway!)
Please come to the Chicago area! I’d love a class on Finishing Techniques or Toy Making, or Sweater Design. There’s a great shop that would love to have you. (Nana’s Knitting Shop in Oak Lawn, and no, I don’t work there.) The yarn harlot stopped there and knit with us. And many of the regulars are huge fans of your designs.
Hi Ysolda, for me your work really stands out in the design and exectution areas. Your designs always have great details that make them special and different, and the details are incorporated into the allover design in a way that’s natural (e.g. as part of the shaping, as opposed to a motif just added to look nice). I think that a workshop on design process and how to incorporate elements such as stitch choices, pleats, types of yarn, etc. to achieve various effects in a knitted project would be something that you’d excel at because you seem to do it almost unconsciously as part of your process.
Totally agree with mizkathychin – it would be a waste to teach stitches or techniques you can easily find in books or online, while it would be amazing to learn from you about the practical side of knitwear design – transferring idea to pattern through calculations, yarn choice, stitch choices, fit…I am SO confused by the existing explanations of measuring etc.
I’m excited at the prospect – please don’t miss out London in your list of more exotic destinations!
Hi there! My LYS has already talked to you about visiting (Stitches with Style in Newark, DE) so I’m looking forward to meeting you in May!
I’d be interested in a learning about designing knits – from conception to translation (pattern/chart writing, choosing yarns, etc.) to submission. I guess this could even be more of a lecture based on your own process.
I would love to take classes in colorwork, finishing, and knitted toys. I’m so happy you’ll be in NY! Have you sorted out a flat yet?
Yarn Barn in Lawrence, KS! Heh. That’s a long way to travel for not a gigantic crowd. I agree with the others about transferring designs to paper, fit, etc.
Your dilemma reminds me of a problem writers often face: “why should I write about that subject, when somebody else already did?” This is a self-defeating thought you must immediately reject! Teach whatever excites you, and there will always be people who want to learn it from you. Best of luck!
I’m not the first to say this but I’ll chime in and agree: A course on designing, from conception to pattern would be fantastic. I’d probably go simply to satisfy my curiosity, because I know how *I* make things for myself, but really haven’t a clue about anyone else’s creative process. I’m sure many would want to attend to get some guidance on how to get from ‘pretty sketch’ to ‘finished pattern’.
the best things i’ve learnt from your patterns is how to pick the right size to knit.
it’d be an interesting workshop if you were to take people through measuring themselves and from that which pattern size to make/which combinations to make) probabbly would be quite a short workshop though…
i’d also be interested in “just” a talk, instead of a practical workshop on life as a designer…
Uk Rav Day 5/6th June-don’t suppose you’ll be in the country for that?
I would love to see you do a class on knitwear design: inspiration, color, etc.
Also, to dig deeper: technical aspects of getting the designs on paper, knitting the completed garment, problem-solving, etc.
Or, a class on one of your designs — I am thinking of the great gray and red blanket, in particular.
Fitting and sweaters would also be nice.
We would love to have you teach in Portland, Oregon! There are tons of knitters and knit shops here that would love to host you. A weekend retreat would be even better!
A few other people have suggested it but I’ll say it too. I’d love a class on designing. I personally would take an entire class on wording, including charts, and especially the layout of a pattern to make it user friendly.
I’ve actually been wanting to pick your brain on how you get into self-publishing your patterns. Even just how you get your inspiration and the process you go through in designing your projects and capturing them on paper would be wonderful.
I’m in South Dakota, so I’d have to drive pretty much anywhere. Also, I’m rather new to the whole knitting scene and to the whereabouts of knitting conferences but Omaha (NE), Minneapolis (MN) or Chicago (IL) come to mind as good places.
It would be so amazing to get to meet you in person & hear any tips that you would want to share, though. ^_^
I have to chime in and agree with the others who have already posted. It would be interesting to see you take one of the items you’ve already designed and take us through the steps from concept, to paper and onto guage, yarn selection and fit. That would be like giving someone the basics to creating their own personalized projects and designs.
P.S. Even though it’s hot down here, Floridians love to knit too! Maybe a trip south can fill some of your travel gaps.
I’d love to take a class from you on the design process. I’ve been thinking a lot about trying to find ways to be more creative with my knitting rather than derivative, but I just don’t know where to start.
If it helps, I live in Tacoma, WA, which is the convenient location of the Madrona fiber arts festival (http://www.madronafiberarts.com/). It’s going on this weekend, so maybe next year?
I would LOVE to attend a class taught by you on designing. I adore your designs. I live in the Seattle area. Or maybe a class on making a living, or even just a little extra money, knitting. Hope this helps!
Does this mean you won’t be at Woolfest :-(
I couldn’t guarantee a large crowd but we’d love to have you up in the NW Highlands for a workshop on design.
It would wonderful if you taught a class at Threadbear Fiber Arts in Lansing Michigan. It is the largest yarn store I’ve ever seen and they are good at organizing larger events.
I’d really love a class on how to design your own knitwear – everything from stitch count, different types of yarns and their effects but most especially increasing and decreasing and their effects on shape (like, when you’re knitting a hat, how do you know when to decrease and by how many) and anything else to do with designing and knitting up a piece! Mostly (well, for me personally) for personal use. Writing up patterns and working out the patterns for different sizes would be a different class all together!
definitely some kind of principles of design class. a bunch of people have suggested “how to get your ideas on paper,” but i’d also be interested in something like “how to have good ideas in the first place.” like for example, “how to listen to your yarn”– not just in the mystical sense, but in the practical sense; what sort of things to try, what sort of stitch patterns are good & bad ideas for what sort of yarn & what sort of garments, etc.
An “Intro to pattern design class” would be wonderful – focusing on inspiration and techniques. And in Toronto, Canada even better!
dear ysolda, i would like a workshop on how to design. upsizing and downsizing, creating one’s own cables.
i am sure you can get something to do in the gap between your different chores in the us.
i have a dream of a knitting seminar in denmark arranged by me some time. lots of good food, show and tell, walk and talk, being together night and day and maybe one day it will happen. maybe.
I would love for you to come to Knit-Knack in Maplewood, NJ and teach a class on design.
You really excel at pattern-writing – a workshop on your approach to writing clear and concise instructions, and sizing patterns would be great! Clearly all the responses show there are lots of us who thing you have quite a bit to offer as a teacher!
As an aspiring knitwear designer, I would love to learn exactly that: how to design garments and writing patterns.
I think the pickup and knit parts of your toy patterns are really innovative so I’d enjoy a class on the fiddlier bits of the knitted toys so that I could get them just so.
Like everyone else and their brothers, it seems, I’d love to take a design class from you – specifically on shaping, fit, altering a pattern for different sizes, etc. A class on designing lace would also be nice. I’ve always particularly admired your work with lace.
I’ll also put in a vote for you to come to the Midwest. I would drive as far as Minneapolis or Chicago for a class from you, if it was on a feasible weekend, but there’s a pretty thriving knitting scene here in Madison. I think you’d get a lot of interest here.
I can only agree, that I would love to learn more about how to design, shape, alter etc knits. Er, but as I live in Berlin, Germany, I think I don’t stand a chance. So I go on stalking your blog. :o)
There are a couple of finishing techniques courses, but I think it is always nice to see how you do. Besides, a toy class would be nice, especially how to make it safer for children – Imprengant, and concern about it. Tips is also something nice, as well as working with colors…. take care!
I would be very interested in hearing more about your process of design, from inspiration, trying out your ideas, what tells you something is going to be successful, right through to skills needed to write up a pattern. Overall, it’s your inspiration and creativity I’m most particularly intrigued by.
MDSW? yay! I would love to take a workshop discussing or working on developing a creative/design process… I know that’s very open, but something that I think would be fun and intriguing, I know how it works for me, but I would love a window into how this works for other people and ways to tap into one’s own best creative energy…
I think you could teach a great beret class since you have such great experience there! Like many other commenters, I’m also in Seattle, in the Pacific NW. Our climate is probably pretty similar to yours in Scotland, so a trip out here might keep homesickness at bay.
My dream workshop would be learning all about designing your own knitwear, and all the stuff that goes into publishing and blogging and selling. I always have ideas for things I’d like to knit, but have no idea how to go about making them a reality. And I love reading your blog, and the way you photograph your patterns is really appealing.
If you ever plan on coming to Australia, let me know! I’m in Canberra and I have a spare room :)
I would love some advice on designing patterns. I usually just knit and make things up as I go, and I am struggling through trying to transfer these things into instructions that a beginner could follow. So I vote for pattern making!
Design workshop…especially sweater design. It’s a true talent of yours and I’d certainly come to your workshop if you were ever in Toronto! (Though, no more showing me really really lovely shoes that are available less than a few blocks from both home and work…that’s really not fair)
Colorwork. Definitely colorwork. And altering patterns to get a custom fit in sweaters.
I second the calls for a class on jumper/cardigan shaping and fitting (particularly something including short rows for bust fitting, because I simply cannot get my head around it!) It would be great to do a workshop where people could pair up to take measurements properly – there must be lots of people like me, who keep on meaning to do it, but never get around to it (let alone finding somebody to help out).
I make too many projects just as the pattern is written, without so much as even a yarn substitution. So, I would love to be forced to break out of that mold! It would be a class for those who are comfortable with technique but need a design push. Location? Would love to meet you in NY in June, or London any other time!
I’d love to take any class you’d offer. I think the best place would be at The Point in NYC. The store is gorgeous and extremely well run. Hope to see you there!
I would be interested in a class on the rudiments of designing my own patterns. I live in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and I’d love to see you teach a workshop here :)
Wait, you are coming here to the US for MDS&W? Did I rad that right? I would suggest that you contact Jolene at Cloverhill in Catonsville MD and talk to her. (She is on Ravelry plus the shop site.) Even if nothing else, she might could work soemthing out with you for her booth at MDS&W where she features indie dyers & designers.
please come to boston! it’s only a few hours travel from nyc.
like others have said, i’d come to any event you were holding in boston, but i’d be especially excited by a workshop on design processes, sweater execution, or finishing techniques.
I would love a class on how to include finishing techniques while you’re knitting a garment. I made your Coraline and adding all those finishing touches (hem, i-cord edging, etc.) while knitting made it SO NICE!
I like the suggestions about knitted toys and finishing, or adding the special touch to a garment. One of your strengths is giving a whimsical, old-storybook feel to your designs. Focusing on the details that make something really stand out and take on a certain character would make an amazing class!
I think knitted toys would be a great class and something that I think you really excel at! I hope to see you at TNNA in Columbus then! YAY!
I would be interested to hear your thoughts on adapting patterns to flatter different body types. For example, you could do a workshop on how to adapt your gorgeous Little Birds pattern into different styles – simple cardigan, pullover, etc.
Ooh, come to London and teach something! Everyone else has already come up with great ideas, so I would like to second a workshop on jumpers, designing, details, or finishing.
I’m not into toys, so that’s the only thing I wouldn’t be thrilled to come to. Socktopus in London do lovely classes, why don’t you go there?
Hi!
I’ve never posted a comment before, but I adore your patterns.
I live in New York – and would definitely go to pretty much any seminar or talk you’d want to give.
There are a few great yarn stores i know of in New York (Knit New York, Purl, Downtown Yarns – are my favorites).
As for topics – I’m most interested in how you get from a design idea to a knit pattern. I tend to have design ideas, make things up as I go, and then not really know what I did in order to make a pattern.
Happy Travels.
We would love to have you come to Sydney, Australia and teach about designing knitwear.
How you started in the business, how you come up with a design, transfer to pattern for different sizes etc.
I’ve been to a few seminars / workshops with textile designers for quilting / sewing and I found it really inspiring for them to talk about how they started and also how the business didn’t start turning a profit until after 5 years etc – the realities. Mistakes they made in the early days and things to look out for if you are thinking of giving it a go. Most of us dream about giving up our day jobs and turning our hobby into a career. This could just be an overview / intro type thing before the workshop.
I would come to a workshop given by you on inspiration – how you come up with the design ideas you do and see them through to a final product. I personally can learn all the techniques I need from the books and websites that are out there, but I struggle with coming up with my own designs. Part of that is because I think I need more experience – I need to knit more – but another part of it is I feel I’m missing tools. Your niche could be giving us the tools.