Around here things both look and feel like Fall these last couple of days. Leaves have not just turned, they've started to rain down with each breeze and pile in gutters. Chestnuts litter the ground along a street I often walk. Today we had wind and beautifully clear blue skies. That means tonight will get cold and many places near the city will wake to their first frost of the season.
With Fall, my knitting plans always become more immediate. This morning I pulled out the Alpaca/Jacob blend bulky yarn I bought at Madrona last February, thinking it might make a good jump-start project for a more productive season than I've had for a while. As I finish up the socks I'm working on I'll ruminate on what I want from it - definitely some kind of cardigan with cables.
Fall also marks the start of Lucy Neatby's annual teaching schedule. The three days of classes I just took with her have me motivated to get going on a zillion new ideas. I want to try mixing Channel Island cast-on with the seed stitch borders of a sweater, maybe from that luscious Yak blend I keep thinking about, rather than the 1x1 ribbing of a sock. Though I'm sure it'll show up on a few socks here, too. I keep analyzing variegated yarn to decide if they would benefit from her Navajo Knitting technique.**
If you ever have an opportunity to take a class or workshop with Lucy, do not hesitate, do not pass Go, just sign up. She's one of those knitters/designers who see the process of knitting from new perspectives and come up with lots of useful tips, tweaks, and techniques.
On top of that, she's a very good teacher. Her classes contain just the right amount of information to feel worthwhile but not become overwhelming. I've seen her manage to get around a room that held more than 40 people to ensure everyone got the concept without leaving anyone feeling they were twiddling their thumbs waiting.
The clips from her DVDs that she uses to illustrate techniques work so much better than crowding around a demo. Now I can refer back to a DVD for a refresher after being lead through some of the things there. The DVDs make great tools on their own, but in class Lucy can expand on the hows and whys and make sure you've got it. Plus, she's always throwing in little bits of extra info.
She's also interesting, funny, nice, and very motivating. I even came away with a sock pattern well outside my usual choices, but that will make a good little project to practice some stranded knitting techniques as I promised myself I would in the near future. And I can always use more cozy house socks now that Fall has fell.
**I'll post on both of these techniques in the next few days.
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