Custom Colorwork Mitts
Custom Colorwork Techniques; Mitts with Stephannie Tallent is a new class on Craftsy, and Stephannie, who is also my tech editor, gave me a copy of the class to review. I watched it over the weekend, as the class is only a few hours long broken into shorter segments. Being an intermediate class there is no review of basic techniques, the assumption is that everyone watching has at least a little experience knitting with two colors. This way the lessons are kept short, but packed full of information. A lot of times when I’m watching a video on a knitting technique the pace is too slow and I just want the instructor to get on with it. Not so with this class, and you can always use the 30 second replay to go back and watch some important bit of information again.
Although Stephannie does discuss the technical aspects of knitting fingerless mitts, the focus of the class is definitely on design, making this a great introduction for new designers or experienced knitters who just like to do things their own way. Even if you’ve never designed anything before, she makes it very easy to start with mitts by providing worksheets and templates, and breaking down the process into several simple steps. Stephannie has designed dozens of mitts, so she knows what she’s talking about, and it shows in the smallest details. The class is full of tips on knitting colorwork, from technical considerations, like where to add extra stitches, to design decisions, such as making sure the motifs are centered and balanced. This class won’t show you how to knit holding one color in each hand, but it will teach you how to choose and combine colors to produce designs that are neither garish nor boring. I especially liked her ideas for finding and adapting new motifs.
The class was such fun to watch, I really want to make my own custom colorwork mitts now! My templates are printed out and I’m just waiting until I have a bit of free time to start playing with the design. If you want to play too you can use this link to get the class. You can also find Stephannie’s designs on Ravelry and on her website sunsetcat.com.
Thank you for knitting!