How to Knit short courses for beginners and improvers

I’m running my popular How to Knit short courses for beginners and improvers. Let me tell you about them.

When do the How to Knit courses take place?

I am running my How to Knit short courses for beginners and improvers on Tuesday evenings in November this year. Each takes place over three classes and costs £48.00.

You can choose the dates for your three classes when you book. There are five places in each. After you book, I’ll email you to ask whether you are a beginner or an improver. 

If you find you cannot attend one, it might be possible to change to another. Or if you did the course for beginners a while ago, you could book a refresher class before your improvers’ course. And if you would like an extra session, that may also be possible.

People in a class may be all beginners, all improvers, or a mixture of both. Beginners enjoy seeing what someone with a little more experience can do, and improvers benefit from seeing how far they have progressed in a few classes. And improvers who did not learn with me will pick up the tips I teach to beginners.

Where is the Being Knitterly Studio?

The Being Knitterly Studio is based in Loughborough, north Leicestershire. I’ll email you directions after you book.

Why should you come to these knitting short courses?

Maybe you have never tried to knit or you have used books or videos, or you just prefer to learn with a tutor. Maybe, you can cast on, knit and purl but are not sure what to try next. The most important thing is that you want to learn. You’ll have a lot of fun trying different things in each class and learning with others.

I’ll also provide delicious biscuits and a variety of hot drinks.

How will you learn?

I’ll demonstrate each stitch, both to groups and individuals. The first few times that you try a stitch, I’ll talk you through the process as you do it. I shall demonstrate as many times as necessary, let you practise, and show you how to adjust your fingers so that you find knitting easier. You will leave with a handout giving instructions for each stitch. Practice makes perfect, so doing some knitting between each class will help too.

What will you learn if you’re a beginner?

You’ll learn to:

• Choose the correct needles for yarn.
• Hold the needles and yarn. 
• Cast on and off.
• Knit and purl.
• Do garter stitch, stocking stitch, ribs and moss stitch.
• Join knitting together.
• As well as understand simple pattern instructions.

In the first class, you’ll learn how to hold the knitting needles and yarn whilst practising the knit stitch. It’s not easy for a beginner – you will be all fingers and thumbs. I’ll tell you why you need to hold the needles and yarn in a certain way and what doesn’t matter. Gradually your fingers will cooperate and you’ll be knitting! Then you will learn to cast off and cast on before learning how to do the purl stitch. By the end of this class, you’ll have some small knitted samples that may have holes but we’re not going to worry about that this week. Practice makes perfect, as they say!

In the second class you’ll continue to use knit and purl stitches, but this time instead of using only one per row, you’ll change between knit and purl stitches during a row. You will do this when working on ribs, and moss stitch. And, because you learnt the difficult things last week (holding the knitting needles and yarn), you’ll pick this up much quicker. You will also start to make a small doll-sized blanket from squares of stocking stitch. You will finish knitting your squares at home ready for the next class.

In the final class, you’ll learn how to use mattress stitch to join pieces of knitting. You’ll use this to turn your knitted squares into a small doll-sized blanket. You will finish the blanket by adding a simple garter stitch border. You will finish the short course for beginners ready to make simple scarves, bags, cushions, throws and blankets.

“This was a fantastic course. I couldn’t knit before and my New Year’s Resolution was to learn. Now I have the confidence to embark on a project to knit a blanket.”

Jackie

What will you learn if you’re an improver?

You’ll learn to:

• Make sure your finished projects are the correct size.
• Change colour.
• Increase and decrease neatly.
• Keep edges neat.
• Sew seams.
• Read simple knitting patterns.

These classes focus on following simple knitting patterns. Each project uses more techniques so that by the end of this course you will have made a pair of fingerless mittens, a hat and a flower corsage using simple stitches.

In the first class, you will start making pair of simple fingerless mittens following written instructions. You will find out how to ensure that your finished project is the correct size. You will learn to keep track of where you are on a project. You will also learn how to make neat edges.

In the second class, you will use mattress stitch to join the sides of your fingerless mittens and learn how to finish ends. You’ll also learn how to decrease stitches while knitting a hat.

In the final class, you will learn how to increase stitches and used mirrored increases and decreases, while knitting a flower corsage. By the end of the course, you will be you will be confident reading knitting instructions, and you will finish the short course for improvers ready to try out other patterns.

“I was thrilled with the new skills I learned and am eagerly looking forward to the next course. Meanwhile, I will be tackling some projects on my own that I wouldn’t have felt confident to try before this course.”

Eileen