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Merry Christmas!
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Best Posts of 2015
Happy New Year's Eve! All is well at this house, where we are enjoying a few days off. John and Steven worked on a cool muscle car all day yesterday, and I knitted in the nice, warm knitting room. Then we went to our favorite restaurant for dinner. The car is a long way from finished, so Steven stayed the night and they're going at it again today.
I am very blessed to have this social outlet for my machine knitting obsession, and this was a fun year! Not only did we go on marvelous jaunts to seminars, I persisted in putting up a video each month, which is a great motivational kick in my pants. Some of them were very useful to readers, and some were just ho-hummy things. Selfishly, I won't go into the so-so stuff, but I'll point out the good ones, and mention a couple of other favorite things I found on the web:
I started the year with a video showing how to give your machines a quick clean and oil. Guess what? You probably need to do it again...after every project would be good. Once a month would be good. It only takes a few minutes! How about NOW? http://diananatters.blogspot.com/2015/01/happy-new-year-and-januarys-video-early.html
In the spring of 2015, when I finally finished "Finishing School," I felt "finished." This was my most difficult project to date, taking me nine months and turning my knitting workroom into a giant heap of chunky samples and my video editing computer into a vast wasteland of outtakes. I wanted it to have a very large amount of information on how to do excellent project assembly, to be meticulously detailed and comprehensible, and to make it MINE. I showed the ways that I do things, which is very often not at all the way other people do things. What I discovered in the actual process was the relentless need to redo sections to make them clear and to struggle to find better ways to explain how the grafts and seams work. Being able to do it is not the same as being about to explain it! The final result was about 4 hours of video (it could have been 20 hours, but who would want that?), more of a reference work than a course. The feedback from knitters has been wonderful. http://diananatters.blogspot.com/2015/03/at-last-knitters-finishing-school-is.html
In June, I linked to another blog that had an explanation of my favorite provisional cast-on. I use this all the time! It's great for hand or machine knitting: https://cutlermac.wordpress.com/2015/06/05/crochet-cast-on-for-hand-and-machine-knitters/
In October, the video I put up (seashell stitch, above) was very popular. This is a very unusual stitch pattern, do-able on almost any flatbed machine, and after you knit it a while, has a rhythm and becomes habit-forming. http://diananatters.blogspot.com/2015/10/new-video-for-october-seashell-stitch.html
September's video, the Slant Lace Circle Scarf, is another don't miss item. If you haven't played with this stitch, you ought to give it a try. It biases tremendously, and that's the whole point. You end up with a trapezoid shape, and self-striping yarn gives you bias stripes. I made several of these scarves, and always get comments when I wear them. One of my scarves was made with a goofy assortment of small leftovers from socks. Oftentimes, scrappy projects just look junky and overly busy, like alphabet soup, to me, but that was one of the best uses I've found to this particular common leftover (my women's medium socks never take a whole ball. Good sock yarn is lovely, a bit expensive, and just too good to waste). http://diananatters.blogspot.com/2015/09/new-video-for-september-slant-lace.html
Well - this was a little nothing of a video, just a quick edging, but folks loved it - an anti-roll edging. http://diananatters.blogspot.com/2015/03/new-video-for-march-super-easy.html I play around with edgings quite a bit, and my first clue that this was a really good one was when my local knit club liked it so much.
Tom updated his whitening formula for yellowed plastic: http://diananatters.blogspot.com/2015/08/look-tom-has-updated-his-machine.html I haven't tried it yet, but Tom says it works even better! It has less ingredients and looks like it would be easier to do. I used his original formula just once and was astonished at how much better the vintage machine we treated looked.
Tomorrow - a sneak peek at the videos for 2016!
I am very blessed to have this social outlet for my machine knitting obsession, and this was a fun year! Not only did we go on marvelous jaunts to seminars, I persisted in putting up a video each month, which is a great motivational kick in my pants. Some of them were very useful to readers, and some were just ho-hummy things. Selfishly, I won't go into the so-so stuff, but I'll point out the good ones, and mention a couple of other favorite things I found on the web:
I started the year with a video showing how to give your machines a quick clean and oil. Guess what? You probably need to do it again...after every project would be good. Once a month would be good. It only takes a few minutes! How about NOW? http://diananatters.blogspot.com/2015/01/happy-new-year-and-januarys-video-early.html
In June, I linked to another blog that had an explanation of my favorite provisional cast-on. I use this all the time! It's great for hand or machine knitting: https://cutlermac.wordpress.com/2015/06/05/crochet-cast-on-for-hand-and-machine-knitters/
In October, the video I put up (seashell stitch, above) was very popular. This is a very unusual stitch pattern, do-able on almost any flatbed machine, and after you knit it a while, has a rhythm and becomes habit-forming. http://diananatters.blogspot.com/2015/10/new-video-for-october-seashell-stitch.html
September's video, the Slant Lace Circle Scarf, is another don't miss item. If you haven't played with this stitch, you ought to give it a try. It biases tremendously, and that's the whole point. You end up with a trapezoid shape, and self-striping yarn gives you bias stripes. I made several of these scarves, and always get comments when I wear them. One of my scarves was made with a goofy assortment of small leftovers from socks. Oftentimes, scrappy projects just look junky and overly busy, like alphabet soup, to me, but that was one of the best uses I've found to this particular common leftover (my women's medium socks never take a whole ball. Good sock yarn is lovely, a bit expensive, and just too good to waste). http://diananatters.blogspot.com/2015/09/new-video-for-september-slant-lace.html
Well - this was a little nothing of a video, just a quick edging, but folks loved it - an anti-roll edging. http://diananatters.blogspot.com/2015/03/new-video-for-march-super-easy.html I play around with edgings quite a bit, and my first clue that this was a really good one was when my local knit club liked it so much.
Tom updated his whitening formula for yellowed plastic: http://diananatters.blogspot.com/2015/08/look-tom-has-updated-his-machine.html I haven't tried it yet, but Tom says it works even better! It has less ingredients and looks like it would be easier to do. I used his original formula just once and was astonished at how much better the vintage machine we treated looked.
Tomorrow - a sneak peek at the videos for 2016!
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Start the New Year Right - A New Video!
Happy New Year!
First thing I accomplished this year, after sleeping in and having a nice breakfast, was upload a new video. John upgraded our bandwidth, and oh, that made it so easy and fast to do the upload.
I have a BUNCH of videos ready to go for 2016! This one was my demonstration at Knit Natters recently. I mailed one to our Barbara (John's 90-year-old mom, who rescues animals and is going strong). Barbara likes soft but warm hats for her early morning dog walks, and she said she just loves this one. One went to Steven's girlfriend, as well, and I also sized this down to a child's size for a girlfriend at Knit Natters. (She was planning to make it for a little girl and her doll, and I can't wait to see that.)
A couple hats are pictured here, but somehow in the Christmas hubbub, I didn't photograph the ones I gave away, which were my favorites. I didn't sew the flower into a circle on those, which gives more of a crewel look, and I used an unusual yarn for one of them. If Barbara can email me a photo, I'll share that.
I think that if you stick to a soft yarn, this would make a decent chemo hat, for those of you who collect and knit those patterns. It's fluffy, not flat, feminine and gently warm. I used sport weight yarn on the Brother 270 (bulky).
What fascinates me about this technique is that it's double English rib. That is, do you see how there are TWO needles tucking next to each other? Guess what, you can get away with this!
Now it's 2016, I've got New Year's Day off, and time's a-wasting. I'm going to go knit - hope you can find knitting time, too!
First thing I accomplished this year, after sleeping in and having a nice breakfast, was upload a new video. John upgraded our bandwidth, and oh, that made it so easy and fast to do the upload.

A couple hats are pictured here, but somehow in the Christmas hubbub, I didn't photograph the ones I gave away, which were my favorites. I didn't sew the flower into a circle on those, which gives more of a crewel look, and I used an unusual yarn for one of them. If Barbara can email me a photo, I'll share that.
I think that if you stick to a soft yarn, this would make a decent chemo hat, for those of you who collect and knit those patterns. It's fluffy, not flat, feminine and gently warm. I used sport weight yarn on the Brother 270 (bulky).
What fascinates me about this technique is that it's double English rib. That is, do you see how there are TWO needles tucking next to each other? Guess what, you can get away with this!
Now it's 2016, I've got New Year's Day off, and time's a-wasting. I'm going to go knit - hope you can find knitting time, too!
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Written Directions for the Double English Rib Cloche Hat
The YouTube video showing how to do this fluffy little hat is here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnweT_YrY-Q
While you're over there, you know you can subscribe to my YouTube channel and get notified of any new videos?
Now, here's the written pattern. Keep in mind that this uses sport-weight yarn on a bulky machine with a ribber. Most of the hat is ribbed, so it's not a beginner pattern, but hopefully with the video and written instructions, you'll find it a successful project.
By the way, I've decided I like the flower best if it's not sewn into a circle, as shown in this photo.
This picture is of the hat I knitted as I demonstrated at the club meeting yesterday. The yarn is Red Heart Boutique Unforgettable, and I can get two adult-sized hats out of one ball.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnweT_YrY-Q

Now, here's the written pattern. Keep in mind that this uses sport-weight yarn on a bulky machine with a ribber. Most of the hat is ribbed, so it's not a beginner pattern, but hopefully with the video and written instructions, you'll find it a successful project.
By the way, I've decided I like the flower best if it's not sewn into a circle, as shown in this photo.
This picture is of the hat I knitted as I demonstrated at the club meeting yesterday. The yarn is Red Heart Boutique Unforgettable, and I can get two adult-sized hats out of one ball.
Double English Rib Cloche Hat
By Diana Sullivan
This was knitted with sport weight acrylic yarn (I was quite happy with Bernat Baby Softee) on a Brother bulky machine.
Flower Embellishment: E-wrap over 27 needles. Hang comb and two weights. Tension 3. Knit 2 rows.
Set carriage to H setting, so it will slip any held needles. Working from one end, bring the 4th needle into hold (3 needles in work on end), *then skip 4 needles and bring out the 5th needle, skip 4, next in hold, on across. You should end up with 3 in work at the far end. Knit 4 rows. Put needles in hold into upper working position and knit one row. Bring same needles into hold as before, knit 4 rows. Push those back, knit 1 row. Repeat that again, bringing same needles into hold, knitting 4 rows, and putting them partway back and knit 1 row. Cut yarn, leaving a tail for sewing. Sew the stitches off onto that yarn.
Gather up the flower. Seam the open side, or leave it open, your choice.
Hat: Put ribber into position. Set up for 2x2 industrial ribbing as follows: Starting with needle #31 on the right, on main bed, bring out 2 needles, then leave one needle out of work, over to #31 on the left. End needles will be on the main bed.
Make sure the ribber is racked to the center and is on half pitch. First needle on the end is the needle in between the needles on the main bed, and the needles to bring out are a group of 2, then leave one out of work, across, ending with a single needle between the last two main bed needles. End needles on ribber at #31 left and #30 right.
Knit zigzag row at tightest tension. Hang comb and 3 heavy (1#) ribber weights. Set carriages for circular knitting and tension 1. Knit 3 rows. Cancel circular setting, change to garment tension #3 on both main bed and ribber. Transfer end ribber stitch to main bed on left to the main bed.
Set row counter to 000. Rack 2 clicks to the left to position for industrial rib. Needles on main bed and ribber should come close but not touch, and there should be two needles between the main bed and the ribber. Set both carriage for plain knitting and knit 6 rows of knit 2, purl 2 ribbing.
Set ribber to tuck when knitting to the left only by raising the left PR lever and sliding the center lever to P. Do this to RC 48. Tighten tension down to 0.2. Transfer each left needle in main bed groups onto neighboring needle to the right. Transfer each left needle in the ribber groups and put those onto their needle to the right. Double-check that all out-of-work needles are back out of work and that the needle arrangement is good.
This sets you up to do regular English Rib. Knit 20 rows. Take the knitting off on waste yarn and run the garment yarn through the stitches of the last row to gather the stitches. Gather the stitches for the crown of the hat, sew the side seam, and tack on the flower.
Child-Size Hat: I made a child’s hat with 17 groups of 2 needles on the main bed. I knitted 6 rows for the cuff, 36 rows of the double English Rib, and 12 rows of the single English Rib. For the flower embellishment, I used the same number of stitches but repeated the tuck procedure only twice.
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New Website for Knit Natters (Austin Area Machine Knitting Club)
The Knit Natters machine knitting club, which is the club I attend (almost every month; I'm there and helping unless I'm on the road), has a very out-of-date website. I just haven't been able to maintain it the last few years. It's on an old, basic html-based platform and somebody has to work in that way to update it. It takes me a long time to update it and fix things.
Yesterday, when we met, the ladies wanted to catch that thing up. Nobody wanted to fiddle with the html (see, I'm not the only one). So - Norma has a new blog for our club, here: http://knitnatters.blogspot.com.
Norma is posting club pix, patterns, tips, and other share-able items from the club. She's also posting meeting announcements and the like. She's just begun, but there will be more material as time goes by.
Our club is having a baby hat knit-in in May; these items will go to a local charity that makes baskets for needy new moms. We also are planning to have a seminar that I'll lead in August, and I hope to get some of the other local knitters to demo some of their best stuff (because the club has seen most of my stuff). Non-members are welcome. We also have a Yahoo group, knitnatters, that we use to communicate with our members, and we have people in that group who are not local and unable to attend.
We are planning a seminar for the spring of 2017, and we will bring in an outside teacher. I will provide details as I know more.
Also - any Passap knitters out there? Barbara, my really, really good friend and favorite Passap maven, teaches Passap E6000 lessons at almost every meeting. Our club is one of the few that has a Japanese machine demo and a Swiss machine demo at nearly every meeting.
Yesterday, when we met, the ladies wanted to catch that thing up. Nobody wanted to fiddle with the html (see, I'm not the only one). So - Norma has a new blog for our club, here: http://knitnatters.blogspot.com.
Norma is posting club pix, patterns, tips, and other share-able items from the club. She's also posting meeting announcements and the like. She's just begun, but there will be more material as time goes by.
Our club is having a baby hat knit-in in May; these items will go to a local charity that makes baskets for needy new moms. We also are planning to have a seminar that I'll lead in August, and I hope to get some of the other local knitters to demo some of their best stuff (because the club has seen most of my stuff). Non-members are welcome. We also have a Yahoo group, knitnatters, that we use to communicate with our members, and we have people in that group who are not local and unable to attend.
We are planning a seminar for the spring of 2017, and we will bring in an outside teacher. I will provide details as I know more.
Also - any Passap knitters out there? Barbara, my really, really good friend and favorite Passap maven, teaches Passap E6000 lessons at almost every meeting. Our club is one of the few that has a Japanese machine demo and a Swiss machine demo at nearly every meeting.
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Sweater Kits Available from Ideas from the Master
For a while now, I've been corresponding with an entrepreneur who is developing a new product and company. They make pre-knitted sweater kits that you simply sew together. I can certainly see this as a great way to work on your finishing skills, for instance.
Their website is up! It's here:
http://www.ideasfromthemaster.com/#!blank/c1dxp
Go have a look!
Their website is up! It's here:
http://www.ideasfromthemaster.com/#!blank/c1dxp
Go have a look!
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Fascinating Information at Marzipan
Mar has knitted some very cute photo pillows, and she's explained how she did it - with something called Gimp and Design-A-Knit. Go have a look!
http://marzipanknits.blogspot.com/2016/01/bitten-by-gimp-bug.html
http://marzipanknits.blogspot.com/2016/01/bitten-by-gimp-bug.html
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Have You Seen One of These?
Look at this vintage toy knitting machine over at Yet Another Canadian Artisan:
https://cutlermac.wordpress.com/2016/01/08/look-what-landed-in-my-lap/
I remember these being advertised in the 1960s. I didn't have one...but wanted one, of course. Somehow knitting has just always fascinated me.
https://cutlermac.wordpress.com/2016/01/08/look-what-landed-in-my-lap/
I remember these being advertised in the 1960s. I didn't have one...but wanted one, of course. Somehow knitting has just always fascinated me.
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Nedelina's Dressed-Up Circular Baby Blanket

Check out Nedelina's Circular Swirl Baby Blanket variation. She's added some cute crocheted flowers in the center. I really like it. She only has six sections, so perhaps she changed the numbers to make this work. Or, maybe the knitting, which is so stretchy sideways, simply stretches this way.
The YouTube video for my blanket pattern: https://youtu.be/yBje2C9n3Oc
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Check Out Tom's Seminar Schedule
I think you all know that I'm a big fan of Tom Panciarello (Tom Knitting Machine Guy), and I am very happy to report that he's planning to teach at our central Texas seminar on April Fool's weekend of 2017! We are going to have a wonderful seminar.
He does other seminars, too - check this out:
http://tommachineknittingguy.blogspot.com/2016/01/updates.html
He does other seminars, too - check this out:
http://tommachineknittingguy.blogspot.com/2016/01/updates.html
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Would anyone like to guest blog?
I was reading another blog, and the person said they didn't need any guest bloggers.
Well - if you'll write about machine knitting and it's a pretty good post (especially with pictures), send it to me! I love to link to other people's MK work, and I'd love to have some guest bloggers to keep this space interesting. My primary goal here is to promote machine knitting, not to promote any so bring it on.
I'm not going to run something that's just an ad for somebody's business. But if it's a story about your experiences in MK, cool. Fixing a machine. Doing an unusual project. Building a club. Bring it on!
No, you don't need to be an expert. I'd love to see some articles about being a beginner and getting started, and tips for that stage in the craft. Or articles about little breakthroughs in your development. Or notes about how you just do things differently.
Well - if you'll write about machine knitting and it's a pretty good post (especially with pictures), send it to me! I love to link to other people's MK work, and I'd love to have some guest bloggers to keep this space interesting. My primary goal here is to promote machine knitting, not to promote any so bring it on.
I'm not going to run something that's just an ad for somebody's business. But if it's a story about your experiences in MK, cool. Fixing a machine. Doing an unusual project. Building a club. Bring it on!
No, you don't need to be an expert. I'd love to see some articles about being a beginner and getting started, and tips for that stage in the craft. Or articles about little breakthroughs in your development. Or notes about how you just do things differently.
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New Video for February - Stuffed Valentine Hearts
Happy Valentine's Day!
So...I'm a week early. Well, it's a week for you to knit one of these little pincushions, or pillows, or sachets, or whatever-you-can-think-of little stuffed hearts. It only takes a dab of yarn, can be done on almost any machine, and is great short-rowing and Kitchener practice.



And, here are some little ones that I made for pin cushions (filled with bits of waste yarn). Now. I find that I've gotten quite happily used to having a pin cushion next to my machine with tapestry needles. They're very handy.
Below is a brief chart (not really a written-out pattern with complete instructions - you'll need to watch the video - with some different sizes you can make. I'm not going to give gauges and measurements, because you could do this with a bulky gauge, mid-gauge, or standard gauge and use various yarns.
Stuffed Heart Chart | ||||||
Cast on with waste yarn | ||||||
over ____ stitches | 16 | 20 | 30 | 40 | 60 | 100 |
Chain to main yarn | ||||||
Knit ___ rows plain | 4 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 12 | 25 |
Short row decrease | ||||||
to ____ stitches | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
Short row increase until | ||||||
all stitches are back in work | ||||||
Rows to knit plain | 4 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 12 | 25 |
Put half of needles in hold | ||||||
Short row down to | ||||||
___ stitches | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 14 | 24 |
Increase until all | ||||||
stitches are back in work | ||||||
Do other side | ||||||
Take off on waste yarn | ||||||
Kitchener stitch |
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Inspiration at Rhythm of the Needles
Great lookin' Fair Isle (hand knit):
http://www.rhythmoftheneedles.net/2016/02/conquering-machu-picchu.html
http://www.rhythmoftheneedles.net/2016/02/conquering-machu-picchu.html
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Inspiration at Rhythm of the Needles
More great looking Fair Isle!
http://www.rhythmoftheneedles.net/2016/02/fair-isle-friday-winter-snows-mittens.html
Note how good her tension is! I often see hand knitted fair isle where the stitches are just TOO uneven for my liking. Seems like it's great to have it look hand knitted, but not sloppy.
http://www.rhythmoftheneedles.net/2016/02/fair-isle-friday-winter-snows-mittens.html
Note how good her tension is! I often see hand knitted fair isle where the stitches are just TOO uneven for my liking. Seems like it's great to have it look hand knitted, but not sloppy.
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Darling Baby Pants at Eli's
Check out these cute cabled baby pants
http://rettogvrangstrikk.blogspot.com/2016/02/babystrikk-pa-pinnene.html
http://rettogvrangstrikk.blogspot.com/2016/02/babystrikk-pa-pinnene.html
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Darling Baby Set at Yarn Harlot
Yep, I do watch the Yarn Harlot blog. I watch logs of HK blogs; don't often link to them, as they contain so much non-knitting material.
This is a clever use of beads:
http://rettogvrangstrikk.blogspot.com/2016/02/babystrikk-pa-pinnene.html
Beads are easy to add on our knitting machines! And easy to sew on later, too.
This is a clever use of beads:
http://rettogvrangstrikk.blogspot.com/2016/02/babystrikk-pa-pinnene.html
Beads are easy to add on our knitting machines! And easy to sew on later, too.
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Look at the heart pillow pattern - made into an ornament by Eli!
Eli commented that she was making ornaments out of the little Valentine's pillows for which I recently put up a video and pattern. Aren't these cute? She's hand knitting them as well as machine knitting them.
http://rettogvrangstrikk.blogspot.com/2016/02/strikk-et-hjerte-knitting-hearts.html
http://rettogvrangstrikk.blogspot.com/2016/02/strikk-et-hjerte-knitting-hearts.html
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Cute Color Block Poncho at Mar's Site
There's another fun pattern at Marzipan Knits:
http://rettogvrangstrikk.blogspot.com/2016/02/strikk-et-hjerte-knitting-hearts.html
http://rettogvrangstrikk.blogspot.com/2016/02/strikk-et-hjerte-knitting-hearts.html
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Cute Slouch Hats at MK Is My Life
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Tom's Teaching an MK Group in Las Vegas
This post from Tom Machine Knitting Guy has a list of his upcoming seminars, but there's also some very good news here. With his friends, they've got a weekly group in Las Vegas now! If you live there you ought to jump aboard.
Tom's going to be teaching in Austin at our very own club April Fool's weekend of 2017. I'm really looking forward to it.
http://tommachineknittingguy.blogspot.com/2016/01/updates.html
I'll be teaching a seminar in Denver in April, one in Austin in August, and in Milwaukee in September. There's a good chance that I'll teach sometime this year in Anaheim, but I don't have dates yet. Interested? Email me.
I've been writing a do-it-yourself seminar booklet. Lots of demos, and I plan to film videos of each this will be included. Could someone please send me some clever names for a book and video of this nature? The idea is that these are demos that can be done on almost any flat bed machine, and they're from my repertoire of seminar demonstrations that are most popular. Meanwhile, I am working on a mid-gauge progressive project book - same idea as The Goldilocks Challenge but mainly new and different projects.
There's an email icon down a ways on the left-hand side of this blog. I can be slow and get behind, but I answer nearly every email.
Tom's going to be teaching in Austin at our very own club April Fool's weekend of 2017. I'm really looking forward to it.
http://tommachineknittingguy.blogspot.com/2016/01/updates.html
I'll be teaching a seminar in Denver in April, one in Austin in August, and in Milwaukee in September. There's a good chance that I'll teach sometime this year in Anaheim, but I don't have dates yet. Interested? Email me.
I've been writing a do-it-yourself seminar booklet. Lots of demos, and I plan to film videos of each this will be included. Could someone please send me some clever names for a book and video of this nature? The idea is that these are demos that can be done on almost any flat bed machine, and they're from my repertoire of seminar demonstrations that are most popular. Meanwhile, I am working on a mid-gauge progressive project book - same idea as The Goldilocks Challenge but mainly new and different projects.
There's an email icon down a ways on the left-hand side of this blog. I can be slow and get behind, but I answer nearly every email.
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