Skill-Builder Blankets

I love to teach skill-builder classes. What inevitably happens is I’ll get knitters who tell me “I’d love to do [cables, bobbles, lace, any knitting technique], but I’m not a good enough knitter,” but then they work at it, they struggle, they find their “aha!” moments. To see them have pride in their work, that they did the thing they thought they couldn’t do, it’s the absolute best.

For these classes that cover a lot of techniques, I like blankets. It gives you enough knitting time to master the skills, the different techniques make the large project new and exciting at every turn (which makes them interesting for seasoned knitters too!), and who doesn’t want a warm, handmade blanket in their life.

We just wrapped up a class at the Studio over Knit Purl Hunter‘s Building Blocks afghan. We all had so much fun in the classes, it was bittersweet as we finished off our blankets.

This last class covered seaming the blanket squares and a crochet border that we all decided we wanted to add. Everyone in the class had some experience with crochet, but I had one student who only decided to take the knitting skill-builder class because there wasn’t a crochet skill-builder class.

Which shame on me. Crochet was my first fiber love, and it should be represented. So I’m fixing that.

This is the As-We-Go Stripey blanket by Hannah Owens, and I’ll teach you how to make it at the Studio over five Tuesdays starting on January 29th. It covers a granny stripe (similar technique as a granny square), Catharine Wheel, star stitch, bobbles, and a chevron ripple. The pattern is written as a throw, but you can make it any size you like. Use up your worsted scraps, or the Studio can help you find yarn if you need it! (And I don’t know about you, but I always seem to need it.) It’s also a fun opportunity to play with some color.

So join us! I promise we’ll have fun! You can sign up here if you’re interested.