We won’t be seeking gold. Instead we’ll find a wealth of natural imagery and shared experiences with new-found knitting friends.

The Vogue Knitting cruise to Alaska departs from Vancouver in a little under a year. I join Cat Bordhi and an editor from Vogue Knitting to serve up some knitting techniques to inspire you.

If you know Cat, you already know she’ll have your inquisitive minds working in concert with your hands, sticks, and favorite yarns on her latest innovation. I’d also like you to try something that may offer you a new way to add color to your knitting. A cruise like this will provide a perfect opportunity to explore your knitting at your leisure.

This is Cat’s first knitting cruise, and my second. So I can tell you first-hand that Holland America takes great care of you aboard. Great ship, great staff, great food.

Follow this link to learn the details. Spend a little time exploring the Holland America site to learn of the shore excursions you could opt to add to your cruise- kayaking, sled-dog rides, hikes, salmon bakes, and fishing.

The highlight of this tour will be the natural beauty around us.  I’ll leave you with a few memories from my first visit to Alaska. These are pictures from the decks and from shore excursions. I can’t wait to spend time with you, Cat, and our hosts at Vogue Knitting.

Join me this Sunday, October 5, for an event at The Naked Sheep Yarn Shop on Staten Island. I’m so excited!

Show & Tell

Starting at 1:00 we’ll have a trunk show of garments featuring a fun coloring option– vertically stranded color work.  I’ll have with me some socks, hats, scarves, and the Bold Move skirt. Feel free to try things on.

Learn

After about a half hour of show and tell let me teach you how it’s done in an informal class session (about 45 minutes long). Bring some worsted weight yarn and appropriate sized needles. Please choose either DPNs, two circulars, or one long circular for magic loop knitting– whatever method you prefer for knitting in the round on a circumference of about 8″. That’s what we’ll practice on.

Projects!

If you’re ready to dive in, let me and the shop staff help you pick a project to try out your new skills. Let’s spend the afternoon knitting together and I will be happy to assist individuals with questions as they arise. I’m all yours.

Where?

Location: The Naked Sheep Yarn Shop, 4038 Victory Boulevard, Staten Island, NY 10314

Details: Call 718-477-9276

When:

Sunday, October 5, starting at 1:00 pm.

Then, on Monday…

On Monday the 6th I plan to hang out at the shop to knit some more. I’ll update this spot when I know the exact times I’ll be there. Again, I’ll be happy to help you make progress on your vertically stranded color work.

To get a better idea of what we’ll be up to, here are some photos of garments and swatches using the technique.

This post is for fellow fiber event teachers who are continually trying to figure out how to best serve our students.

Giving students individual attention is really important, and I will continue to do this, but recently I’ve discovered the joys of teaching with live video projection. Students really like it. At the same time, everyone in the classroom can see my hands moving, demonstrating something in particular.

Teachers need to ask for their host venue to have a projector and screen, or, for smaller rooms, a large flatscreen ready for them. A video-camera, smartphone, or ipad (anything with quality video taping ability) + proper device-to-projector connecting cords + tripod + black background = all you need.

I wish I had a smartphone, but I don’t. So I tote my small Canon video camera with me to events. With it are a black shirt that serves as my background, one cord to output video (no sound needed) to the projector, and my makeshift tripod.

You’ll need to set it up at home first to be certain you have what you need. The advantage to my camera is that it has a remote zoom and a light, so I can get really close! Students can see individual stitches even in a large room. The tripod was going to be an issue for me financially, so I used something I already owned. I used the stand to my dress-maker’s form. It has a stable base. It collapses somewhat for travel. And, importantly, it has an “arm” to which I can attach the camera directly overhead my hands, about 24 inches above the table top.

Here are some photos from recent events. I used it at Vogue Live in Chicago in a huge room, the Empire Room.

And I used it in a more typical event classroom setting at Interweave Knitting Lab in San Mateo. I plan to use it at future Stitches events, and wherever I go. I just love this teaching tool.

Here is a student, Martine (spelling?) helping me out.

Just set the camera to record, without taping anything. I keep the camera plugged in, as opposed to relying on battery life, and I bring an Ott-light in case conditions require it. One could use a web-camera or a document projector as well, but I think those of you already owning and iPad or iPhone will be ready to try this.

Good luck.