Cat's workshop

I will admit that during workshops I get busy listening and executing the knitting instructions, and at the end I have a difficult time remembering all that I heard and saw. Thus I beg your forgiveness if this blog entry is less detailed or as long as you might like.

Cat spoke for a few minutes about sock architecture and the arch expansion, the we dove right into the first learning sock. Let me state here that I had some misgivings about this class before I signed up. The blurb said it was a good class for someone who had never knit a sock as well as someone who had knit socks. I've knit several pairs, around 10ish, I think, so I was a bit worried that I may be a little more advanced than the student the class was aimed towards. However, I really wanted to take a class from Cat, and as I have Tuesdays off, that made my decision for me. I did learn some really excellent tips and tricks in this class and just had a great time.

The first learning sock is the Little Sky Sock from New Pathways for Sock Knitters. Cat taught us the mother/grandmother increase, which I had learned when I took the class from Annie Modesitt this past spring. That was a good thing since I was able to help the students sitting around me. I did have the decency to tell them I had learned that increase during another workshop (and therefore I'm not a knitting prodigy.) The Little Sky Sock went very quickly, and I was able to get mine completed before we started on the Coriolis. (That was were the sockknitting experience was very helpful. I'm not sure how many others were able to get finished. It's not that I'm that fast a knitter - I just didn't have to frog anything.)

While at Knit Nite at Needle Nook I spoke to Mary Jane whom I had sat with at Cat's, and we did wonder about the people who had never knit socks before. In my opinion, I'm not sure that would have been the best class for someone who's never knit a sock before, but it really depends on the knitter.

To begin the Coriolis Cat taught us Judy's Magic Cast On. What a dream that is! I've learned and taught the Turkish cast on, which gives you a beautiful toe for toe up socks, but this one is even less fiddly and gives you very similar results. I wouldn't do a slip knot to start it though since I think that would bother me. You can wrap your yarn in such a way that you don't need a slip knot (thank you Meg Swansen).

Gotta go for right now and get breakfast while it's hot. More later.