Sunday, June 28, 2009

What kind of yarn?

As I have already noted, I present the brand new knitter with an already-started piece of knitted fabric, so that they can bypass the cast-on and the first few rows.

My philosophy is that the first yarn that a beginner uses should be a plain worsted type of yarn. Skinnier yarns are too hard to see. Fatter yarns can be difficult to work with, even for an experienced knitter.

Generally, I am using up my stash of worsted partial-skeins for new knitters.

But I am finding that there is some variation even within the plain worsted family.

Some yarns are slippery, some have a lot of friction, and some are just right!

I've been experimenting with giving beginners yarn that has some friction. Because the yarn doesn't pull through the left-hand needle stitch easily, the students have to apply some extra force to make the new stitch look like a nice upside-down raindrop. The students have to be conscious of the stitch formation, and I think that it will make subsequent projects have the right tension, instead of being too tight.

The downside of using frictitious (ok, I invented that word) yarn is that it is really really easy to knit too tightly in the class.

I'll keep monitoring the results with various kinds of worsted yarns.

What have been your experiences? Thanks in advance for your comments.


Judy Obee
My Knitting Website

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Wednesday, June 24, 2009

How to hold the yarn

When I am knitting outside the classroom environment, I use the continental method, wrapping the yarn on my left index finger, just like I crochet.

But when I am teaching beginner knitting, I use the "right hand throw" method.

I find that there are a couple of possibilities when students are starting to knit with this method.

In the first (and most common) case, they hold it quite tightly for the part where they are bringing the new loop through the stitch on the left hand needle. But they keep holding it tightly, which makes the new stitch very very small, and difficult to work in the following row. My solution is to tell them to release the yarn just a bit, and pull that new stitch strongly away from the left hand needle, so that the new stitch clearly forms an upside-down teardrop.

In the second (and much rarer) case, they hold the yarn so loosely that it is difficult to form the stitch, to bring the new loop through the stitch on the lh needle without losing it. Then, typically, they have been listing to me work with the student with the too-tight problem, so they really overcompensate, and then make the newly created stitch huge! My solution for them is to show them a more appropriately-sized upside-down teardrop, and tell them to tighten their stitches a bit after they are formed.

How do you solve these problems?

Thanks

Judy
http://www.learntoknitcalgary.ca/

Monday, June 22, 2009

The student's first stitches

A knitting teacher's competition consists of things like a learn-to-knit-all-by-yourself book, a learn-to-knit-all-by-yourself web site, and YouTube. You can learn to knit all by yourself for free, courtesy of the Internet. So what value can I provide as a face-to-face alive-and-in-person knitting instructor?

I believe that one of the biggest benefits that I provide is that when a student comes to my class, they do not "start at the very beginning" (ref Julie Andrews, The Sound of Music, the beginning of the Do-Re-Me song).

Instead, I give them a pair of needles on which I have already done "Cast On 12, k 3 rows".

My first class curriculum is roughly:
  • 1/2 hour - the knit stitch
  • 1/2 hour - the purl stitch
  • 1/2 hour - cast off / bind off
  • 1/2 hour - cast on

Here are the benefits to the student:

  • By doing their very first row onto stitches that I have done in advance, they learn what it feels like when those stitches are the proper size and tension.
  • When they work their second row, onto stitches that they have done, they can feel the difference, and learn how to adjust accordingly.
  • They feel like they are knitting like their mothers/grandmothers very quickly into the lesson.
  • When they finally learn to cast on, they will realize the implications of their cast-on tension. Most beginners will cast on too tightly (even experts do that - I always cast onto two needles held as one!)

I have had a lot of success with this approach.

Thoughts?

Judy

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Introduction to Knitting Teachers blog

This is intended to be a blog with resources for knitting teachers. What do I do with my students? And what do you do with your students?

About me: I run the Crocus Needle Arts School in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. One of the things that I do in this school is teach knitting. I am a Craft Yarn Council of America Certified Knitting Instructor. My main website for knitting is http://www.LearnToKnitCalgary.ca

I have been knitting for 5 decades, and teaching since 2005. Teaching needle arts is my post-retirement career (I've been a computer geek for 4 decades!).

I hold knitting classes in my living room - comfortable chairs with plenty of light. Depending on what I am teaching, I may use a white board for drawing some concepts (especially when teaching pattern reading). One of my plans is to convert my pattern reading workshop into PowerPoint form. That way, I won't forget key points from one session to the next - at least, that's the hope.

I really am interested in learning what others do when they are teaching knitting. In the end, this blog could be a really valuable resource to new knitting teachers.

Thanks in advance.

Judy