Learn the basics of
Hand Crafts
The aim of this course is to teach participants the fundamentals of knitting in a simple, clear, and engaging way. By building on their skills lesson-by-lesson, students will gain the confidence to not only complete the knitting projects which form the crux of the course but also to have fun personalising their knits and getting creative with motifs and colours. This course takes the fear and frustration out of knitting, making it accessible and easy to understand. By the end of the four modules, students will not only know how to knit, but also how to read a knitting pattern to create a blanket, a hat, a fair isle cowl, and a simple sweater.
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Course details
1.I Heart Yarn
In this lesson we'll discuss the difference between the various man-made and natural fibres and how to choose the appropriate fibre and yarn gauge for their projects. Students will learn how to read a yarn label so that they can easily and correctly choose yarn for their knitting.
2.The Knitty Gritty
In this lesson the students will be introduced to the tools used to knit. They will learn how to identify the correct needles for a specific project and to understand sizing conventions and use a needle gauge. Students will also be shown how to make stitch markers from things found around the house.
3.A star-studded cast(on)
In lesson three we'll learn how to get our yarn on our needles to lay the foundation for our knitting.
4.You have me in stitches
It's time to start knitting! Lesson four is all about the classic knit stitch. We'll learn how to hold our needles and yarn and start knitting.
5.Purl it!
Using video demonstrations and illustrations participants will learn the different methods for forming purl stitches. The Norwegian purl will be the focus of this lesson. It is a complicated method, however, it is significantly more ergonomic and worth the effort.
6.Square dance
In this lesson, students will use the purl stitch with the knit stitch to knit in rows to create the classic stockinette knit. Adding to their small stitch library, students will learn to make the moss stitch. Using the stitches learnt in lesson 4, 5, and 6 students will knit squares and bind them off to prepare for the next lesson.
7.Seams like a great idea
In this video, we'll start putting together our squares to make a blanket.
8.The final flourish
In this final lesson we’re going to mix it up with some very useful construction tips followed by fun, new creative skills. We’ll start with two strategies for getting multiple squares together. Last lesson we only sewed two squares together, and if you’ve been tentative about seaming even more squares together, this lesson will make it all clear. I’ll also show you how to weave your ends into your seams to neaten up your blanket after seaming. Then the fun really starts. I’m going to teach you how to make cute tassels, a fun fringe, and, my personal favourite, pompoms! Get your yarn and scissors ready.
1.Tear it up
All knitters make mistakes. Learning how to fix those mistakes and how to futureproof your knitting is an invaluable skill to acquire. By the end of this lesson you will know how to run lifelines to make ripping out stitches painless.
2.Oh no! How to spot mistakes
Knowing when you've made a mistake can be difficult for a beginner. This lesson will teach you to read their stitches and how to tell when you have dropped a stitch or made one of the other common errors.
3.You knit me right round
In this lesson we'll learn how to use circular needles and join our knitting to knit in the round. For bonus fun I'll show you how to use very basic stitches to knit a simple but impressive lace.
4.Feel the tension
In order to produce a garment of the correct size we need to understand gauge and tension. This lesson will also give tips on how to keep your tension consistent and how to correct tension which is too tight or too loose.
5.Take it down a notch
Decreasing stitches is an essential skill to create different shapes when knitting. This skill will be necessary to complete the project for this module. Decreasing across a round seems like a complicated bit of mathematics, but is in fact a simple task. This 'knitting maths' is a valuable tool which we will revisit in later modules for different purposes which will be mentioned in this lesson.
6.Rib it
Ribbing is an impressive skill which is incredibly simple to master. This lesson will take the student through the process step-by-step and use the 'reading your stitches' information to help avoid mistakes and accidental moss stitch. We will also practice casting off in pattern and look at some easy variations on the classic 1x1 rib stitch.
7.Rib it
In this lesson we'll learn how to make ribbing and we'll look at the best ways to find good patterns online.
8.Let's make a hat
Knit with me in this lesson as I walk you through every step of following a knitting pattern to make your first hat.
1.It takes two (colours) to tango
The aim of this lesson is to familiarise you with joining new yarn to a project, whether in the same colour or a different colour. We'll learn to weave our ends in as we go and knit rows of stripes, keeping count of our rows with some easy tricks.
2.Getting stranded
In lesson two we will learn about colour charts: how they work, how to read them, and where to find them. This lesson will provide a brief overview of the different colour work methods, including intarsia, slip stitch, and Fair Isle. We'll learn to use stitch markers as signposts for motif repeats and how to use a smartphone to check contrast and colour.
3.Well, that's handy!
In this lesson we'll learn how to knit with two strands of yarn at the same time. We'll tackle twists and tangles, and learn how to knit using both hands.
4.Floating away
To knit in fair isle, or any other colour work method, one needs to be able to catch the unused threads in the back of the work to avoid catching and tangling the dangling threads when the garment is complete. This lesson will teach students how to catch a float using the twist method and the locking method, as well as what to bear in mind to avoid floats in your colour work.
5.A world of colour
Knitting with more than two colours at the same time is much trickier than one would expect after mastering two-colour knitting. This lesson will show students tips and tricks for avoiding the common pitfalls. We'll also learn about avoiding float peeking, tension issues, and how to put colours on hold without cutting the yarn.
6.Don't make a mis-steek
This is an advanced lesson which introduces students to one of the scarier knitting technique. while students will not be practicing steeking, there will be demonstrations to show them how the method works to turn a sweater into a cardigan by cutting open your knitting.
7.Knitalong knitathon
In this lesson we'll knit together using the Anthology cowl pattern. We'll practice our stranded colour work and select design motifs from the pattern's stitch library.
8.Three times the trouble
In this lesson we will recap some of the techniques we use to correct our knitting mistakes, with particular reference to the challenges we face when we knit with three colours or more. We will also learn a fun, simple new skill called slip stitch knitting as an alternative to traditional stranded colour work techniques.
