Lucia wearing long ascot scarf
Why is it perfect?
Because these scarves both just simple enough and just complicated enough to teach the very most basic shaping and styling lessons. So, guess what? I’m going to run an introductory “how to design” lesson using this scarf. To
The beginner lesson focus on creating a pattern that can be knit by an advance beginner knitter. So, if you are an advanced beginner knitter, you can start learning how to design. What if you are a skilled knitter who doesn’t know how to design? Well, you too will benefit from this lesson series by accumulating knowledge you need later on when you want to design complicated patterns.
What if you don’t really want to design your own stuff? Well, even knitters who don’t plan to design will find that understanding the process of design will help them better understand published patterns and also permit them to “tweak” patterns to adapt them to their own needs.
Syllabus
The syllabus for this course is:
- Lesson 1: Select a general organization for our work and focus on aesthetic choices.
- Lesson 2 : Focus on decorative effects. Selecting yarn, increase/decrease methods, stitch pattern selections and tools you will need.
- Lesson 3: Creating template for directions with “fill in the blank spaces” for numerical values.
- Lesson 4: Focus on shaping: Computing the shaping directions.
- Lesson 5: Estimating yarn requirements.
- Lesson 6: Writing up your knitting directions.
- Lesson 7: Knitting from your directions. Refine directions.
- Lesson 8: Bragging about your scarf.
Schedule
The schedule is being developed. As I schedule posts, I will indicate the upcoming dates on the calendar on our lesson site about page. (Today, is Nov. 23. I’ve written the first three lessons, but I’m going post them over the course of a few days. That way, I’ll always be a few days ahead of the subscribers.)
Materials
Because this is a design lesson, it’s impossible to describe the exact materials you will need. However, if you make the most likely design choices you will need:
- Roughly 100 grams of chunky or heavy worsted yarn for single wrap scarf that wraps once around your neck.
- A set of needles of the diameter recommended on the ball-band. This is used to knit garter stitch. These can be straight or circular, as you prefer.
- Optional: A set of needles one or two diameter sizes smaller than recommended on the ball-band. These are used to knit the ribbing. You could also use the larger needles if you prefer.
- A tapestry needle to weave in ends when you are finished.
- A tapestry needles and some left over yarn to use as a stitch holder, or an honest to goodness stitch holder, or a double pointed needle and some rubber bands. (These are used a stitch holders.
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Subscribe to the lesson
The first & second lessons will be free. Access to later lesson will be available to visitors who subscribe to the blog.
To become subscribe to the blog and access the full blog content, Click to subscribe To The Knitting Fiend: Premium.
I think you have a great idea
!
Thanks Carol! Guess what? I installed a plugin that lets me also email the posts to members. (My mother needs that for ALL blogs. She’s never figured out RSS, so I’d set the RSS to email her posts on the original blog!)
Anyway, I hope word gets out and a few people subscribe! I can also find out what lesson they’d most like– but for starters I need an easy basic one I can point back to when, later one, people sign up for “advanced” lessons, but don’t even know beginner stuff!