Stitch Up: Knit a Snood

A couple of weeks ago Jen from Stitch-Up asked me to come along to a snood knitting workshop she was running, to lend a hand and take some photographs! The workshop was at the newly-relocated Duke Studios which I was incredibly excited to see.

We met all the ladies who had signed up for the class in the wonderful Sheaf St Cafe, crapped a coffee (or tea) and went to the Not-Bored room in Duke Studios which was to be the most beautiful meeting room I have ever seen (look at that wall colour!!). It worked absolutely perfectly for the workshop; a nice community table where Jen could show everyone what to do, and then people could chat, get to know each other and ask questions as they went.

The majority of the workshoppers there were total beginners and Jen did the best job at giving everyone the skills they needed to finish their own snood. We started off with a simple bracelet which taught everyone how to cast on, cast off and the knit stitch. A really simple way to learn the basics and have a practise before starting the main piece. Myself and Kendall (of Trends with Benefits) were on hand to help everyone out, so no-one dropped behind or where left unsure what to do next. I was sooooo impressed with how fast everyone picked it up and how enthusiastic they were to learn more. Jen did an amazing job! I think a few people left with dreams of knitting their own jumpers. 

Everyone that came to the class got their own Knit Kit, which had a tote bag, 15mm needles, the Snood pattern, two balls of yarn (each person choose their own colour too!), yarn needle and, of course, a Stitch Up badge.

Go give Stitch-Up a follow on Facebook or Twitter to keep up to date with future workshops you can get involved in!

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Stitch-Up: Knit as you Feel

Earlier this week I headed down to the Real Junk Food Project in Armley, Leeds to help out with the first of four  'Knit as you Feel' beginners knitting lessons! They're run by Jen Sharp of Stitch-Up which is an awesome new project which is dedicated to teaching the basics and benefits of traditional craft skills! Such an amazing idea!

Such an awesome mix of people came along too; some brought work colleagues, daughters, friends, the old and the young. It was great to see a packed room of people all super eager to learn a craft. As the group was pretty big Jen had this great idea for everyone to chat about how experienced they were with knitting and have the experts sit with the total beginners. It worked out perfect! Jen went over the basics with everyone and if anyone got stuck they had a pro right by them. Everyone was helping each other out, chatting and having the best time.

I had no idea what to expect at the start and I was kind of nervous at the prospect of taking photos. But it went great and I had the best time! Everyone took home their yarn and needles to practise and bring back next week; it's going to be so good seeing everyones work. AND, if all goes to plan we're thinking of stitching together everyones pieces to use in some yarn-bombing. I know everyone will be so proud when they see the finished thing.

If you're just starting out knitting or thinking of getting into it I would seriously recommend looking for a class near to you. Even better, if you're in Leeds look up Stitch-Up! I'll hopefully be helping out more in the future too.

// You can find more about Stitch-Up on Facebook and twitter //

  

       

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