Stitches Class - Fully Fashioned and Fabulous

Sunday's class was inspiring, also, but in a different way. No colors, no new stitch patterns, but a very cool way to make your garments fit, and make the fitting of those garments do design work.

OK, so I didn't describe that very well. What we did was learn how increases and decreases that are intended to make your garment fit properly - actually go in and out with your body parts - can also be used as a design element. We worked on swatches - there were 5 homework swatches - so we could see the shaping and design working together, and we received guidance on how to do this in other settings. So, I can potentially choose a sweater that I like from a book or magazine, but that does not have shaping that flatters me. I can study it, do a swatch or two (or 4), and add shaping to the sweater that enhances the design or my shape or both.

Stitches classes are not cheap. They are fun, there are good discussions and sometimes we meet someone that becomes a friend, and we get excited about the teachers' books or designs. We can purchase those books and faithfully follow those designs and execute a perfect duplicate now that we know the "secret". In order to make this a truly worthwhile expenditure, though, I want to do more. I want to really apply the knowledge I gained to my knitting, not to someone else's knitting.

My commitment for this coming year is to put what I have learned to use in something unique to me. I will swatch and experiment and not feel that I have "wasted" that yarn. I will make multiple swatches until I have worked out something that I want to accomplish. I may design my own sweater or vest or I may adjust someone else's, but I will customize a garment to fit me or I will choose colors for a Fair Isle garment that suit me and please me.

Serious stuff over, I hope to post photos of my stash enhancement tomorrow.