The second Saturday of September is an important day on my calendar... it's the date of the Waterloo County Knitter's Fair, hosted by my friends of the wonderful Kitchener-Waterloo Knitter's Guild.
I've always considered this weekend the official start of the sweater season - the weather is often a little cooler, and everyone is wearing their hand-knit finest. And there's so many wonderful ideas for fall and winter knitting projects on display.
I love this event - over 60 vendors, many of them very small, selling all sorts of fabulous yarn and roving and wonderful knitting goodies. Gemini Fibres and Needle Arts Book Shop are always important stops for me for their fabulous selection of crafting books. And so much great yarn - lots of local sheep and alpaca farms showing their wares. I'm getting excited just thinking about it!
Even more exciting: this year I'm speaking.
My topic is...
The first time doesn’t have to be awful: your first sweater, your first socks, your first shawl & how to make them better.More details in the newsletter.
Learning to knit and learning to knit a garment are completely different things, and yet this is rarely addressed in knitting books or classes. I’ve been teaching knitting for nearly 10 years, and every week I see knitters struggle with the same problem: how to get from knitting and purling to successfully executing patterns. I’ll explain why this evolution is so challenging ,and why the current knitting literature doesn’t help.I’ll talk about how knitters of all levels can avoid the “horrible first attempt” syndrome while improving their skills and taking on new challenges. I’ll share my “training sock” philosophy (and patterns), and I’ll provide a series of tips and techniques for ensuring that your first attempt at any new technique is always fun, easy and successful.
I hope to see you there! Say hello!
Denise Powell is also making a presentation about using quilting designs as inspiration for knitting. She wrote an article for A Needle Pulling Thread on this topic, and if you're a quilter (or just admire them from afar, as I do), it's very cool stuff.
4 comments:
Do you know how excited I am about this event? Squeeeeeee.
Anne Hanson of Knitspot will be at the Shall We Knit? booth at the Fair, doing a trunk show of her phenomenal lace designs.
Anna Dalvi of Knit and Knag will be doing a book-signing for her new release with Cooperative Press (Shaping Shawls) over at the Zen Yarn Gardens booth, as well.
And there are SO MANY grade A+++ knitters coming, both famous and not, it's my favourite day of the year to get inspiration.
p.s. I think I'll be at the Volunteer/Admin table in the back corner of Marshall Hall all day. Come find me and say hello!
I'm not in the right country to attend this event but I love to read about what you are doing and teaching. I do so agree about teh 'first syndrome' and would love to hear what you say about it
Wow, this will be my first year going to this event and you've made me extra excited! Can't wait.
Such a great talk today. Thanks for all the information and entertainment!
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