Knitting classes on line

If you have ever wanted to learn new techniques but couldn’t find a class at your LYS, and you are comfortable taking classes on line, maybe the [tag]Needlecraft University[/tag] is for you. Students with no experience as well as those with Basic or higher skill level may benefit from these classes.

At the University, a beginners class is free and the project is a purse. [tag]Nazanin S. Fard[/tag] (Nazee) shows you the shortcuts. She shows you all the details, from holding needles, casting on to decreasing and binding off, with all the diagrams, all in plain English, no knitting lingo. However, as a knitter, you do need to become familiar with knitting lingo, as it is the standard way of writing instructions in almost every project. That is why after she explains every instruction in plain English, she shows its equivalent in knitting lingo, so you become familiar with it for your next endeavor in knitting world.

Many advanced classes are available, a few of the knitting techniques covered in the classes are Double Knitting, Kitchener Stitch or Bind Off and Circular Short Rows.

Additional classes teach cables, easy ways of working with color and socks that are worked from cuff to toe on two circular needles.

The classes are moderately priced and most are two lessons. The Needlecraft University site also offers a newsletter and a discussion board where you can your questions, and as you visit, respond to those you know the answer.

I guess I must have had this pattern on my mind, because I had chosen this log cabin blanket recipe to write about, promptly forgot about it and a couple of weeks later started knitting a log cabin blanket using all my pink yarn.

It might stay pink if it makes it to baby blanket sized, or I might add in some pastel green and blue, too, to make a bigger blanket. We’ll see. I’m also holding several strands of yarn together to make a kind of bulky yarn, which means it’s deeply satisfying how much yarn is used even as the project is still relatively small.

In Kristen Finlay’s version, DK weight yarn scraps (or fingering/sock yarn held double) are used to make a simple scrappy log cabin blanket that’s lighter weight than my version. Log cabin is a great technique for knitters of any skill level because it’s worked in garter stitch. The only not completely basic technique you need for log cabin knitting is picking up stitches.

If you’ve never worked a log cabin knitting project before, this is a good introduction, and it is really nice to use all your yarn scraps in one big project you’ll use for years to come.

If you use a lot of DK weight yarn you can keep building on it whenever you finish a project, or if you use more worsted weight you can do the same thing with it, it will just be a little bigger starting out than the pattern calls for. How big it gets is totally up to you.

I have really been enjoying working on my log cabin project, and it’s my current sitting at my desk and need a break knit (do you have one of those or is it just me?).

Ready to start your own log cabin blanket knitting project? You can grab the free pattern from Kristen Finlay on Ravelry.

Need more log cabin inspiration? Check out more log cabin knitting patterns.

[Photo: Kristen Finlay]

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