New Classes from Knitgrrl Shannon Okey and Andi Smith

I’m a big fan of Shannon Okey and what she’s done at Cooperative Press, which allows knitting and crafty authors a venue for publishing fun, innovative projects with smaller print runs than a more traditional publisher would allow, but with more support and ease of distribution than creators would have with self-publishing.

Okey has presented a class at STITCHES and elsewhere to help knitters and other creatives who want to publish their own work, and she’s now expanded that class into a month (or so) long online course where users can work at their own pace.

In addition to that class, the virtual Knitgrrl studio is also hosting two classes by Andi Smith, author of Big Foot Knits. One is about knitting a sock to fit whether your foot is big or small, and the other is on the crochet Crocodile Stitch.

Check out this blog post for all the details or to register. Sounds like lots of fun; online learning is great for those of us who never or rarely make it to the shows/conferences/events in the knitting world!

Not too long ago I did a test knit for another designer that was for a cabled cardigan. It’s really cozy and nice but it just about broke me in a ton of different ways. I couldn’t get gauge, which I suppose is my own problem, but mainly I was somehow both bored and forced to pay attention at the same time.

Because it used the same cable all over, I always had to know what row I was on, but nine out of ten of those rows, nothing in particular was going on. So I couldn’t stop paying attention, but what I needed to attend to was boring.

It may have ruined me for knitting cabled sweaters, but maybe I just need something that’s more engaging. Like this Modern Aran Cardigan pattern from Lion Brand Yarn.

This is a reworking of an old pattern from their archives, and you can tell that form the classic look of the cables and the oversized feel (nothing cropped about this one!). It has allover cables, but like a classic Aran sweater it’s not the same cable, so you’ll have to pay attention to what row you’re on and what cable turns happen for which cables on that row.

Because of this, it’s considered an intermediate knitting pattern, but if you’re comfortable working from multiple charts at once it shouldn’t be a problem for you. There are three different charts and seven different cable moves.

Also because the pattern is so big and boxy there are only two sizes available, with a finished chest measurement of either 49 or 63 inches (that’s 124.5 or 160 cm). It’s up to you to decide how much ease you would like and whether that will work for your body.

The pattern uses worsted weight yarn (and calls for another classic, Lion Brand Fisherman’s Wool). It calls for six buttons and includes pockets to make it extra cozy.

This one looks like a great winter project to make and to wear if you’re up for a bit of a challenge. You can grab the free pattern or buy a kit with the yarn needed direct from Lion Brand Yarn.

[Photo: Lion Brand Yarn]

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