| Wool Week 20th May Canberra |
| The award-winning Old Bus Depot Market's annual Wool Week brings Australian-made goodies from across the country - it may be my last visit to Canberra for 2012 |
 With the loss of Creators and Designers in Canberra at the beautiful Old Parliament House, Wool Week may be my last visit to Canberra in 2012. However as a group of designers we hope to bring Designers on Show to the Timber Show, held annually in Canberra.
Sydney Quilt Fair Darling Harbour
Always a great show with something to inspire all crafty fingers!
This year I've relocated to the back of the hall, so you can sit and have a Capuccino while you contemplate your next knitting kit. Surprisingly, by watching from a distance, you'll see lots a garments being tried on and out of the blue (or red!) you'll see something worn by someone else that may not have appealed to you on the hanger!
SYDNEY knitting classes in June
The 3 days of classes with Nicola at the Uralla Wool Room were great fun. I am now putting classes together for June 22nd, 23rd, 24th. They will include "Fit & Style", "Mitres by Design", 'Intarsia" and "Texture". To register your interest please email me at jane@sigknit.com |
| Melbourne Art Craft & Quilt Fair |
| July 26th to 29th - Southbank |
| July 26-29 and the Art, Craft & Quilt Fair is my only visit to Melbourne this year so let's make the most of it! Melbourne (as a show and a city) was fabulous last year, with lots of you popping by to twirl in and generally show off the designs you knitted from Swing Swagger, Drape - this is what makes everything we do worthwhile - thank you so much and hope you 'twirl in' again in July. |
| Merrin - picking up the drops |
 Picking up the drops - be they dropped stitches, pattern errors or my terrible spelling! Merrin Marks joined the Signatur team last year, and to begin with, she worked on established patterns with alterations, options and additions.
Now with a fuller understanding of my designs Merrin is working on new designs, as well as formatting knitting classes for the USA shows. Let Merrin tell you a little about joining Laura and I, and our wonderful team of knitters at Signatur.
"Hi, I´m Merrin. I joined Signatur Handknits nearly two years ago and have found it to be a quite challenging but rewarding experience. I began knitting when I was ten years old and have never stopped;...."
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| .....colourwork and texture such as in Fair Isle, Intarsia and Aran being my favourite techniques. A perfect match with Jane´s design style of incorporating colour and texture into her garments. My primary work is to make sure Jane´s patterns are comprehensible to knitters and that the details are as accurate as possible to enable the smooth creation of her unique pieces. I..... |
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| .....also assist by test knitting some myself. One of our aims is to encourage not-so-experienced knitters to be able to create these garments for themselves and so I have recently been assisting Jane in the development of classes to enable knitters to develop pattern reading skills and techniques for knitting textures. Overall it is great to be working alongside Jane and the rest of her team to develop knitwear design and the craft of knitting in these ways. |
| KNITTING CLASSES |
| Texture Classes - adding a 3rd dimension to your skills |
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| Texture - cables, traveling stitches, bobbles and bells! Pattern, purpose and placement |
Texture (6 hour class): the Class has 6 knitted swatches:
One of the most important aspects of learning to knit is to know what your knitting should look like. It was with this in mind that Jane and I approached the development of her latest class in texture. This hands-on class covers techniques using basic knit/purl stitch combinations to form texture as well as 3D patterns such as travelling stitches, cables and leaf lace, as well as creating collars and shaping collars.
Students are encouraged (srongly!) to look at their knitting to observe the changes in the stitches and match wrong side rows by sight to Right side rows. The class also teaches students to use both written patterns and graphs and 'think' a little. |
| Intarsia Classes - untangling multi-colour, shapes and stripes |
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Intarsia - one of my favourites. Within 15 minutes you'll be knitting vertical stripes - or 'simply' intarsia - this class is about taking the tangle out of Intarsia.
6 hour class: The knitted swatch worked in the class includes both fairisle and intarsia; exploring the common techniques between the two: carrying the yarn and weaving the carried yarn. 6 sections are worked from a graph, each one adding a challenge. |
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| Mitre Classes - a simple technique for a stunning result |
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Mitres - yes simply two row stripes in garter st.
Mitres by design - 3 hours. A swatch will be knitted combining pieces required to create mitred garments. This includes knitting full Mitres to half and quarter mitres and tricks and tips for getting even edges. Picking up stitches, increasing and decreasing stitches into the pick up, to shape for A-line and Swagger-style Mitred garments.
Designing with Mitres - 3 hour class: This explores how Mitres change the construction of garments and some of the many different ways garments can be created: how to work a Mitre as a tension swatch to check garment sizing before you start knitting. Students need to have knitted Mitres to understand the technique and get the most out of the class. |
CLASS SCHEDULE 23rd to 25th June
at Signatur Studio, Ballyshannon Rd, Killarney Heights |
| (this is between Chatswood and Dee Why off Warringah Rd) |
Friday 22nd June: Texture Class - 6 hours 9.30am to 4.30pm
Saturday 23rd: Intarsia - 6 hours 9.30am to 4.30pm
Sunday 24th: Fit & Style - 3 hour 9.30am to 12.30pm
COST: 6 hour class $80 3 hour class $45
Class numbers are limited.
Materials for classes: 8ply wool and 4mm ndls (no cotton or mohair)
Texture: 1 x 50g + cable needle, pencil.
Intarsia: 20g each of 3 colours - pencil.
Fit & Style: Tape measure, pencil.
6 hour class: Please bring lunch and a coffee/tea cup.
Please email Jane to book your class! |
| URALLA knitting classes |
Thank you Nicola for holding the knitting classes again and the students for attending the classes. If you are ever on the New England Highway, which passes through Uralla, look out for Nicola's store The Uralla Wool Room - Australian and New Zealand wool, plus hand-dyed yarns, hand-knitted hats, sheepskin, possum knits, cashmere and of course Australian Pure New Wool, including Signatur Handknits - you can purchase ready made or order a kit through Nicola.
If you are excited about the Sydney Knitting classes, you can thank the Uralla students, as they want MORE!!! and will come to Sydney for the classes! Mitre classes will be scheduled later in the year: there's just not enough hours in a weekend! |
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If you'd like to ask a question about anything in this newsletter - or anything all, please email Jane. Thanks for your support - Laura, Petra, Merrin and I look forward to seeing you in the knitting circle!
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