Come Learn Something New

Summer is officially over, though here in Colorado we are still having some pretty hot days. The weather is predicted to start cooling off nicely in the next week. My kiddos are both back at school, and I’m back to teaching classes at my local yarn shop; Longmont Yarn Shoppe.

I taught my first class last weekend: Learn to Crochet Level 1 – Getting Started. I have 9 other classes coming up in the next 4 months. 3 of them will be Hybrid classes that will have seats both in-person and via Zoom. All the times listed below are in Mountain Time, Zoom classes include the other US time zones on the registration page at LongmontYarn.com.

Memory Angel Ornament (in-person): Sunday September 17th, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

I updated my Memory Angel Ornament pattern to use a large wooden bead and a button for the head. This class includes a class kit for $8 payable at the time of class and is in-person at the shop classroom. The kit booklet includes the pattern for the angel as well as additional tips and tricks on making your angel.

If you missed the class you can purchase the pattern in my Ravelry shop here.

Learn to Crochet Level 2 – Working in Rows (in-person): Saturday September 23rd, 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

This is the next step in learning to crochet. If you already know how to comfortably make chain stitches this is the class for you. You’ll learn how to make slip, single, half-double, double and treble crochet stitches along with working into a foundation chain and the basics of reading a pattern. The class cost includes the kit for class, so all you need to bring is a crochet hook.

Learn to Crochet Level 3 – Working in Rounds (in-person): Saturday September 30th, 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m

This class is all about getting comfortable working the stitches you picked up in Level 2 in concentric rounds. You’ll learn all about starting and joining your rounds and how to make the motifs in your hand-out in a variety of sizes.

Granny Square Basics with Andee (hybrid) : Saturday September 30th, 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

There are 6 seats for In-person students and 6 seats for Zoom students.

For this class you will need the “Helen’s Yarn Adventures” granny square blanket pattern. The pattern includes stitch diagrams and directions for making granny squares.

Granny Squares are a classic crochet motif that has been used since the mid-1800’s to make blankets and other projects. The squares are worked in the round with 4 corners and are great for using up bits of yarn left from other projects. In this class you will learn how to crochet the classic granny square as well as modifications to the granny square pattern for more drape in your project.  We will cover 2 methods of joining a new color at the beginning of a round including standing stitches, invisible joins for the last round of a square, easy ways to weave in all those tails and working multiple rounds in one color.

Learn to Crochet Level 4 – Crocheting a Hat (in-person): Saturday October 14th, 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

This class is a great introduction to making a basic crocheted hat. The class kit includes a booklet with everything you need to know to make any size of hat with any yarn of your choice.

Inside Out Rectangles (in-person): Saturday, December 16th, 10 a.m – 1 p.m.

Rectangles are one of the most useful shapes to crochet, depending on their size they can be a scarf, wrap, throw or blanket.  Working in the round, from the inside out, like a granny square makes it easy to change colors and add a fun border.  But how do you get the rectangle started and how do you determine how big your finished project will be? Come join Andee for this class and you will learn everything you need to know to get the size rectangle you want.

Class tuition includes a full color workbook. We will cover beginning your project with the Stacked Rows Foundation and how long you need it to be for the finished size you want. You will even learn a No Math version using your workbook in class.  As well as learning how to figure out the size project you can create with the yardage you have available. The workbook will include 3 different stitch patterns to use to make your projects.

Joining Your Granny Squares with Andee (hybrid): Saturday October 28th, 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

There are 6 seats for In-person students and 6 seats for Zoom students.

For this class you will need the “Helen’s Yarn Adventures” granny square blanket pattern. The pattern includes stitch diagrams and directions for making granny squares. For this class you will need to make 12 squares that have 4 rounds and 4 squares that have 3 rounds before class so you can practice the various joins. For those that want, I will show how the 16 squares from the homework can be made into a bag.

You’ve gotten comfortable with crocheting the classic Granny Square, so now it’s time to learn all the tips and tricks for joining your granny squares together to make a blanket or other projects.  Class will cover 4 methods for joining squares together: Sewing, 2 Crochet joins and a Join-as-you-Go method. We will also cover how to weave in all those ends to create a fabric that is both beautiful and long wearing, plus tricks for blocking and edging your granny square project.

Linked Stitches Hat with Andee (hybrid): Sunday November 5th, 12:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.

There are 6 seats for In-person students and 6 seats for Zoom students.

For this class you will need the Snowy Rainbow Hat pattern.

Hats are fun, and quick projects to crochet and make wonderful gifts, but if you have crocheted a hat using double crochet stitches you may have been disappointed with how holey the fabric is.  You need Linked Stitches! 

Come learn how to work linked double crochet stitches in this hat project. You will have a fun hat that is warm and stretchy without any holes. During class you will crochet an infant size hat to practice the techniques and leave with the skills to make your hat in 4 additional sizes (Toddler, Child, Small Adult, Large Adult).  Students will also learn how to adjust the size of their hat to use different weights of yarn.

Needle Felted Angel Ornament (Zoom): Sunday December 17th, 12:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Come learn how to create this adorable compact little angel. In three hours you will be confident with using a variety of needle felting sculptural techniques to create a dense long-lasting felted ornament that will be loved for years. Project will introduce using a template for starting your sculpture and directional gathering of fiber to create 3 dimensional shapes. Class is ideal for those that have a little experience with needle-felting already.

All materials are included in the class fee.  TO ENSURE YOU GET YOUR KIT IN TIME IF IT IS SHIPPED register 7-8 business days before class starts. 

Join me at the 2023 Interweave YarnFest!

I’ve been busy crocheting away on some designs I can’t share yet, but I wanted to be sure to let you know some other fun things coming up this Spring. I’m one of the Instructors for Interweave YarnFest in Loveland, Colorado this year!

Currently workshops are available at the Early Bird pricing through this Friday, February 10th. So hurry on over and pick your workshops now.

I’ll be teaching 4 workshops.

Collage of Various Stitch Charts overlaid with a photo of a snowflake worked in a medium blue thread on a wooden background.

Stitch Chart Bootcamp – Crochet: Workshop is Thursday, April 13th, 9:00 a.m. – Noon.

Have you ever wondered exactly where the next stitch is supposed to go? You know that the stitch chart probably holds the answer to this question. You may have even referred to a chart in a crochet pattern that uses both text and chart, but are you ready to work from only the chart? A whole world of international patterns opens to you when you can decipher stitch charts, even if you don’t understand the written language that accompanies the chart. In this class, you will learn how to work solely from a stitch chart to crochet a lovely motif. You’ll learn what the symbols in the charts stand for, how they may change depending on the country of origin, and the skill to get results that please you when working from the charts alone. The class handout includes over 5 stitch chart patterns for you to practice with.

Different Needle felted angels and animals in front of a medium gray fabric background. 3 angels are displayed on a gold wire hanger, a curly coated sheep is to the left and a dark gray bunny is to the right. A variety of plain roving shapes are in the foreground.

Needle Felting in 3D: Workshop is Thursday, April 13th, 1:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.

This is the workshop for you if you have ever wanted to learn how to create something three-dimensional out of wool! Needle felting is a great fiber art for creating sculptural pieces. It is a wonderful medium for making everything from toys to jewelry to art. The possibilities are endless. This session will be all about creating fun and engaging 3D characters and critters with confidence. Learn everything you need to use your felting needle safely and ergonomically. This class also covers the following: creating different shapes from loose fiber and joining them together to make an object that can stand up; using a “frame” to create the base of your three-dimensional pieces; making both “hard” and “soft” felt; and embellishing your sculpture with yarn, beads, and fabric. You will leave class with a full-color booklet of how-tos, your own felting needle, and a bag full of fiber. The class kit will have everything you need to practice in class. I’ll provide work surfaces for students to use during class as well.

Little Needle Felted ball shaped sheep with curly white fleece and brown ears, nose and feet.

Rollie Pollie Sheep – Needlefelting: Workshop is Friday, April 14th, 9:00 a.m. – Noon.

Don’t be Baaaashful! Ewe know you want to learn how to create this adorable cuddly round sheep. This little sheep is a perfect soft toy or decoration for a fiber loving friend. I originally designed my first rollie pollie sheep for a friend’s grandchild. In this workshop, you will be confident with using a variety of needle felting sculptural techniques to create your own lovable little sheep. This project will introduce creating a sphere base form, creating three-dimensional shapes on a base form, and embellishing your sculpture with curly mohair locks. We will also discuss modifications for making your sheep more toddler or baby friendly. Class kit contains everything you need to make one cuddly sheep. I’ll provide work surfaces to use during the class.

3 Hearts, 2 below and 1 above. Top heart is a plum red color, lower 2 are an orange red color. Hearts have cream colored crochet edges. Hearts are on a medium gray fabric background.

Heart Full of Love Pin – Needlefelting: Workshop is Friday, April 14th, 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Have you always wanted to try needle felting but you’ve been intimidated by the needles? This class is a great introduction to needle felting! You will learn how to add sculptural needle felting to a simple crocheted base, how to work safely on small projects and create dense durable felt. At the end of the class, you will have at least one little heart pin completed. You can wear your heart on your sleeve or your jacket collar, or give it away to someone you love. The class kit comes with enough supplies to make two heart pins, including a crocheted heart and the yarn to crochet your own little heart. Class handout will include instructions to crochet your own heart. I will also cover how to crochet the heart for students who are interested.

I hope you can join me for one or more of these fun workshops in beautiful Loveland.

Spring Time is Here!

It is feeling like spring here in Colorado and next week is Interweave YarnFest! It has been a long time for all of us waiting to be together safely again. I’m so excited to be teaching my 3 workshops and looking forward to see other fiber enthusiasts in person. Online registration for workshops closes tomorrow, April 13th so make sure to grab your spot.

The morning of April 20th I’ll be teaching “Needle Felt a Curly Sheep Pin” from 9 a.m. to Noon. This workshop is perfect for those that love sheep motifs and fiber. If you have ever wanted to try out needle felting this is the perfect class for you. The workshop kit contains everything you need to make the Curly Sheep Pin, so you only have to bring yourself. I’ll be providing surfaces for folks to work on during the workshop and at the end of 3 hours you will have a cute pin to wear (or magnet for your fridge)

That afternoon I’ll be teaching “Stitch Chart Bootcamp” from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. If you have always been mystified by crochet stitch charts this is the workshop for you. You’ll learn all the things to look for to decipher stitch charts and will be crocheting from stitch charts alone by the end of the workshop. I’ll also be showing you the different symbols from other countries so you can work from those stitch charts even if you don’t understand the accompanying text.

The morning of April 21st I’ll be teaching “Needle Felting in 3D” from 9 a.m. to Noon. This is the workshop to take if you want to take your needle felting to the next level. Wool is a wonderful medium to use for sculpture. Once you know some basic tips and tricks you can make all sorts of fun pieces as toys, jewelry or decorations. The class kit will have all sorts of materials for you to try out the techniques I’ll be teaching. I will be providing felting surfaces for students to use during the workshop.

There are seats available in all my workshops, so if you have been waiting to register for one of them now is a great time to do it. Online registration closes April 13th CLICK HERE TO REGISTER. If you purchase a workshop ticket, you will automatically receive a FREE 3-day marketplace ticket and tote bag {Limit one per customer}.  All the booths in the marketplace are filled up and going to be showcasing lots of yarn and fiber goodies for your shopping pleasure.

Make sure to say “Hi” if you are going to be at YarnFest.

Interweave YarnFest for Fiber Fun in Colorado!

I’m so pleased to share that I am going to be teaching at the Interweave YarnFest this April. YarnFest runs from Wednesday April 20th – Saturday April 23rd. There are lots of exciting workshops and 3 of them will be taught by me.

Image of Red Violet and Denim color yarn balls with Interweave YarnFest logo covering a third of image on a light grey background. Official Instructor in dark grey large letters and below that in smaller letters "Take a look at what I'll be teaching April 20-23, 2022."

You can visit the website by clicking here, once you are on the home page the Green “Register” button takes you to the pages to view all the workshops being offered. You can sort thru the offerings using the drop down menus to tailor the view to what interests you most.

You can save $20 on a workshop if you register before midnight (ET) January 31, 2022!

If you don’t live in the Colorado Front Range, this is a great way to treat yourself to a visit to the area and some fun with yarn and fiber as well. YarnFest is held in the Loveland Embassy Suites Hotel, a great place to stay to enjoy the festival and Colorado.

The workshops I will be teaching are…

An image of the pin which is a little round base relief sheep front view with curly white fleece, simple brown face and ears and little round brown front legs on an abstract colorful background.
Needle Felt a Curly Sheep Pin
Wednesday April 20th 9a – 12p (Mtn Time)

This workshop is a great introduction to needle-felting, especially if you haven’t ever tried it out before. You will be making a fun little project that will introduce you the basics for making a successful needle felting project. You may end up with a whole little flock of sheep.

The workshop kit includes full color handout, 1 felting needle, all the fiber you’ll need to create the class project and pin backs. I’ll be bringing surfaces for students to work on, so you will only need to bring your excitement to learn.

Foreground is a red violet lacy snowflake, background is a collage of various crochet stitch charts.
Stitch Chart Bootcamp
Wednesday April 20th 1:30p – 4:30p (Mtn Time)

This workshop is especially for those that have been mystified by crochet stitch charts, or maybe you can figure them out better when they are part of a written pattern. The first time I ever encountered crochet stitch charts I was thrilled. I had struggled with written patterns for years, but stitch charts helped me bridge the gap and suddenly I was pattern following genius. Over the past 15 years I have collected an extensive library of stitch dictionaries, books and magazines that feature stitch charts. Many of these are in languages I can’t read, but the stitch charts allow me to decipher those patterns too.

Come join me in this workshop you will leave knowing exactly what the stitch charts are telling you. You will be crocheting various small projects in class working from stitch charts only as part of this “bootcamp”.

Don’t worry, I’m a really nice drill sergeant.

Main image is a photograph of a 3 dimensional white bunny sitting on it's back legs. Inside bunny's ear is pink with a pink nose and dark black shiny eye. Bunny is sitting on a multi-colored surface with a gray background.
Needle Felting in 3D
Thursday April 21st 9a – 12p (Mtn Time)

I have always loved to do sculpture. I’ve sculpted in clay, wood and stone; but needle felting is one of my very favorites. Sculpting in fiber is full of easy choices and wonderfully therapeutic.

In this workshop I’ll share all the tips and tricks for making 3D sculptures using needle felting. You will learn how to build shapes and join them together, different ways of creating underlying structures to support larger sculptures, refining your sculptures and how to embellish your sculptures with other materials.

The workshop kit includes a full-color handout, 2 different felting needles, all the fiber you’ll need to create the class projects, beads and other embellishment materials.

Click here to visit the Interweave YarnFest website and register to attend. Remember Register before midnight (Eastern) January 31, 2022 for $20 off one of your workshops. Further details are on the website.

Learning Some New Stuff

I’m excited to announce that I will be teaching 3 crochet classes and 1 Needle-felting class via Zoom for the Longmont Yarn Shoppe this fall. I’ve been learning about teaching on Zoom and am really looking forward to this opportunity. Especially as this gives my readers that aren’t local a chance to take a class with me from the comfort of their own home. Keep in mind that I am in Colorado so the times listed below are Mountain time zone.

The 3 Crochet Classes are:

Strawberry Fields Crochet Shawlette: Class will be held in two sessions, the first will be Friday, October 2nd from 9 – 10 a.m., the second will be Friday, October 16th from 10 a.m. – 12 p.m.  In the first session of class, you will learn how to work the mesh body of the shawl, then the 2nd session of class will be adding the lace border. This will include tips and tricks on how to keep track of your lace repeats, using wet blocking to really “open” the fabric of your shawlette, and tips on how to make a larger shawl if desired.You can register for this class on the Longmont Yarn Shoppe website here.

Crochet Slippers 101: Class will be held in two 1.5 hour sessions on Friday, October 23rd & 30th from 9:30 – 11 a.m. This class is project centered and uses my One Skein Joy Slippers pattern to introduce students to making crocheted slippers. In class you’ll learn the tricks for completing your slippers without tears, crocheting 2 at a time, a handy elastic crochet ribbing, and some fun tips for personalizing your slippers as well.You can register for this class on the Longmont Yarn Shoppe website here.

Crochet Slippers 102: Class will be held in two 1.5 hour sessions on Friday, November 13th & 20th from 9:30 – 11 a.m. In this class students will learn how to modify One Skeins Joy Slipper pattern to use it with any weight of yarn with an appropriate hook to make slippers that will fit every time. You can register for this class on the Longmont Yarn Shoppe website here.

Needle Felting Class

Itty Bitty Angel: Class will be held in one session on Sunday, November 15th from 10a – Noon. Come learn how to create these adorable compact angels that can be jewelry, toys or little ornaments. They are perfect for using up bits of wool yarn and loose fiber from other needle felting projects. You can register for this class on the Longmont Yarn Shoppe website here.