Very impressed with Louisa Harding, plus a report on another class

Some may have noticed that Louisa Harding commented on my last blog post, following up on my comments about her workshop. She was interested in what fueled my dissatisfaction with it, and I wrote back to her and explained a bit more. One of my big concerns was that I thought the workshop would discuss more about combining yarns more generally, not just experimenting with some from her line. She then responded with a very nice message that discussed yarn combinations and substitutions, and also recommended The Knitters Guide to Combining Yarns by Kathleen and Nick Greco. I am very impressed by her wish to be helpful. I know my reaction to a negative comment about a class would have been very different, and much less of a credit to me! Thank you, Louisa!

This past Sunday I took a 6-hour Norwegian Mittens class with Beth Brown-Reinsel at Webs. Yes, this was the day of the Yarn Harlot's visit there, and the store was a madhouse most of the day. (Those of us in the class dashed out when they all went off to the theater and did our shopping then.) I had heard the Beth's classes are very good and well worth seeking out, and I have to concur. There were just 6 of us in class, so she was able to give us lots of individual attention when needed. I have now learned the Norwegian Purl technique, which I think will be extremely helpful to me as a Continental knitter (whenever possible I just knit back backwards and try to avoid purling altogether). My tension goes all wonky with regular purling. We also learned how to carry both strands of yarn in one hand (the left, in my case) when doing stranded work, and I have fallen in love with the simplicity of it. Once I get my technique honed, I think I'll be much faster. She also shared some other really helpful information, including dominant yarn in stranded knitting, and showed us how to recognize it knitting in a variety of different styles. My first mitten from the class is just half done and desperately needs blocking to look attractive, so I'll hold off putting up a picture.

I finished the Taconic V-Neck Pullover yesterday, with about 3 yards of yarn to spare. The sleeves are very wide, and in looking at the small picture on the pattern (yoo-hoo Webs, could you include larger pictures both on your website and on the patterns themselves?), I see this is the way it is designed. I don't think I really like this look, but the sweater is ultra-comfy and I love the way the body portion looks (I added some waist shaping to the back), so on the whole I am quite pleased.