Here’s a list of the classes I taught on the Craft Cruises, August 2017, cruise to Alaska. I loved the students and teaching these classes.

Beguiling Brioche

Have you ever tasted that French bread/cake/pastry called brioche? It’s tender, light, slightly puffy, and so full of butter and eggs that it’s richer than a Rockefeller. Well, knitted brioche is just as lush: lofty, squeezable, and handsome on both sides. Learn the basics of one- and two-color brioche. The fabric makes fluffy, insulating scarves or, if you live where it’s always warm, elegant spa cloths and guest towels. What lovely and fitting mementos of your Alaska cruise those would be.  4.5 hours

Gauge — the Knitter’s Superpower

Gauge is one of the most misunderstood, maligned, and miraculously important tools of knitting. Once you have the keys to understanding it, your knitting life will be transformed. Not only will the sweater you make fit you and not your grand-niece who’s 6” taller, but your cardigan bands won’t pull up short and your scarf edges won’t flair. And no, you can’t “block those out.” Mastering gauge is a knitter’s superpower. And it’s surprisingly simple. 3 hours

 “The More-or-Less-Right Formula”

  In 2010 Ann Budd wrote: “I spent last weekend teaching for Camp Yawatink, a knitting retreat . . . From the feedback I got, the best trick I showed the campers was the shaping formula from Cheryl Brunette’s book Sweater 101 . . .”

Ann was referring to “The More-or-Less-Right Formula” and this is your rare opportunity to learn it directly from the author. This technique is best known for helping you space increases or decreases evenly across a row or between a certain number of rows, but it has a lot more power than that. It’s not really a “formula,” just simple arithmetic, and it will be one of the most valuable tools you will ever put into your knitting toolbox. 3 hours

Not Your Ho-Hum Ribbing

Are you weary of plain K1 P1 and K2 P2 ribbing? There are over a dozen interesting variations on the theme of taming the edge of a fabric with a vertically interesting pattern. We won’t get through a dozen but we will whet your appetite for something different. You’ll walk away with some samples, written instructions, and the courage to take any pattern that calls for plain ribbing and make it more lively. 3 hours

The Taming of the Sweater Pattern

Reading a sweater pattern can be scary. There are dense strings of words, numbers, parentheses, stars, abbreviations, and often, mistakes. Even if you know how to decipher this symbol salad, it is, simply, TMI. Too much information.

You are one knitter making one sweater in one size and any information that does not help you succeed with the project in your lap is confusing clutter. Fortunately there’s an elegant solution and that’s what you’ll learn in this class. You’ll transform the symbol salad into an easy-to-read “picture pattern” specific to your project and if there are errors in the pattern, you’ll find them and correct them before you ever pick up the needles. 4.5 hours