Workshops

Fair Isle
Saturday, February 18, 1:00-4:00 p.m.
Cost: $40
Taught by Kimberly O’Keeffe

This is one our favorite classes at Mind’s Eye Yarns. Learn to do two-color work carrying one color in each hand. You will also learn the trick of wrapping the yarns on the back to avoid long carries and puckering. It may sound difficult but Kimberly will take you through step by step and make it easy.

Hand Dyeing
Sunday, February 19 1:00-5:00 p.m. or
March 31, 1:00-5:00 p.m.
Cost: $50 (includes supplies)
Taught by Lucy

Ever admired all the beautiful hand dyed yarns at the fiber fairs? Learn to dye yarn and spinning fiber in your own kitchen. This workshop will take you through fiber prep, safe handling of dyes and several different techniques for dyeing both fiber and yarn. A variety of yarns and fibers will be provided for you to try and you are welcome to bring some of your own to dye as well. Note: this is not a workshop for children.

Knitting & the Alexander Technique
Tuesday, February 21, 7:00-8:00 p.m.
Cost: $20
Taught by Linda Carmichael

Do you have trouble with tension and soreness when you knit? For over 100 years, the Alexander Technique has been used by musicians, dancers and actors to release tension and use the body more effectively. Alexander practitioner and knitter, Linda Carmichael brings this technique to knitters to help us knit better and longer without injury. After a short talk Linda will work with this gentle hands-on technique to guide your body to release unnecessary tension and create deeper breathing. You will work in a circle with your knitting project so that some of the time Linda will be working with you as you knit.

Mittens for All
Saturday, February 25, 1:00-4:00 p.m.
Taught by Lucy
Cost: $40

I haven't used a mitten pattern in years. What I do is draw around a person's hand and use that as a template. After a while, you get an idea of how big people's hands are and don't always have to have thetemplate. Mittens make excellent quick gifts. They take a surprisingly small amount of yarn so are great for using up leftovers as well.

Note: It is helpful for this workshop if you already know how to use double pointed needles. If you don't, you can still take the workshop but would get more out of it if you set up a lesson a few days beforehand to learn how.

Double-Knitting Level 1: Introduction to Double-Knitting
Saturday, March 3, 1:00-4:00 p.m. or
Saturday, March 17, 1:00-4:00 p.m.
Taught by Alasdair Post-Quinn
Cost: $45

Double-knitting is a unique method of making a fabric with no "wrong" side and a built-in reversible colorwork pattern. Significantly different from the standard intarsia and Fair Isle colorwork that are so well known, double-knitting is a labor-intensive but wholly worthwhile technique to have in your repertoire. In this workshop, you'll learn my 2-color cast-on for double-knitting, get comfortable with the techniques involved, then move into colorwork. At the end of the workshop, you should have a motif swatch and be confident that you can tackle a larger standard double-knitting pattern.

Requirements: 2 contrasting colors of plain yarn in the DK to worsted weight range and a pair of straight or circular needles in the proper size. This is an advanced technique, but you need only be comfortable with the long-tail cast-on and basic knit and purl; previous experience with colorwork is also helpful but not necessary.

Double-Knitting Level 2:
New Adventures in Double-Knitting with 2 colors
Sunday, March 4, 1:00-5:00 p.m.
Taught by Alasdair Post-Quinn
Cost: $60

This workshop will get you comfortable with some of the most useful and interesting two color “extreme” double-knitting techniques that I have developed. In a single swatch, you’ll learn two-pattern double-knitting, decorative single and double increases and decreases, and a little bit of double-openwork. You’ll also learn a really clean double-knit edge and a really interesting decorative bind-off.

Requirements: 2 contrasting colors of plain yarn in the DK to worsted weight range and a pair of straight or circular needles in the proper size. Previous double-knitting experience required -- you should either have taken Alasdair’s Introduction to Double-Knitting workshop or have done some other double-knitting colorwork on your own or in another workshop.

Homework: If you’re not already familiar with my cast-on, please learn it before the workshop so we can move right into new techniques. You can find a video tutorial on Youtube at www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQpsC1FKGrU.

Double-Knitting Level 2:
New Adventures in Double-Knitting — now with more colors!
Sunday, March 18, 1:00-5:00 p.m.
Taught by Alasdair Post-Quinn
Cost: $60

This workshop will get you comfortable with some of the most useful and interesting multi-color “extreme” double-knitting techniques that I have developed. In a single swatch, you’ll learn three-color double-knitting and three-color cables. You’ll also learn how to integrate multiple colors into a really clean double-knit edge and work a really interesting decorative bind-off.

Requirements: 3 contrasting colors of plain yarn in the sport to DK weight range and a pair of straight or circular needles in the proper size. Previous double-knitting experience required -- you should either have taken Alasdair’s Introduction to Double-Knitting workshop or have done some other double-knitting colorwork on your own or in another workshop.

Homework: If you’re not already familiar with my cast-on, please learn it before the workshop so we can move right into new techniques. You can find a video tutorial on Youtube at www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQpsC1FKGrU

Introduction to Lace
Saturday, April 7
Taught by Kimberly O’Keeffe
Cost: $40

This class will introduce you to the fun and satisfaction of knitting lace. Adding lace to anything instantly makes it fancy. Kimberly will teach you the basics as well as give you lots of great tips for making your lace extra special. She is the veteran of many lace projects including a full sized lace chuppah and the Forest Path Stole, which is considered a tour de force among lace knitters.

Reading Patterns
Saturday, April 21, 1:00-4:00 p.m.
Taught by Lucy
Cost: $40

Some of you may not know this, but I used to think I had a learning disability specific to knitting patterns. I couldn't make head nor tail of them for years. Finally, I managed to thrash my way through a few and got the hang of how they worked. In this workshop, I'll teach you how to decipher pattern language, clue you into some of the assumptions patterns make and some of the ways to figure out if a pattern is wrong. This is also a chance to bring in patterns of your own that you would like to look through with the group. This is a great workshop for anyone trying to break out of a scarf and/or hat rut and start making more ambitious projects.

In the Shop

We got an order of Malabrigo. There's some Rasta, some Rios and a whole bunch of sock yarn.

We got in a shipment of . There's new Rios and Silky Merino and a couple of colors of Rasta.

We have a lot of pattern leaflets, and we are featuring some of them with a discount every week.

Schacht Sidekick

We now have this folding spinning wheel in the shop. It spins quite well and has nice big bobbins and the firm action you expect from a Schacht. Come over and give it a try!

Latest Patterns

Spiral Rib Hat	Waffle-Stitch Hat

Previous Patterns

Also:

• Take a look at our Knitting How To’s.
• See our Tips for getting rid of moths.

A customer, Laura, asked if we would collect chemo caps here.

She’s collecting chemo caps in honor of Nicky, a seven-year-old friend who recently had surgery to remove a tumor in his brain and is now facing more than a year of radiation and chemotherapy. She plans to let Nicky choose his favorite caps and donate all others to the hospital where he is being treated, for other children who might need them.

Nicky is a former Somerville resident who now lives in Portugal, where it is quite warm during the summer (that’s why non-wool caps are requested).

You can bring donations by the shop. If you have any questions, contact Laura at lkollett@gmail.com (aprilshowers on Ravelry).

Porter Square Books, located right across the street from our shop, in the Porter Square Shopping Center, has a knitting/craft group that meets one Sunday a month. We offer group attendees 10% off anything they buy on days the group meets.

There is now a Mind’s Eye Yarns Ravelry group. Search for Minds Eye Yarns on Ravelry’s groups page. (Notice there’s no apostrophe in the group name.) I’ll be using the group to let people know about dye days and shop events and to answer people’s questions. You can use it to ask me questions, make colorway suggestions (I always love suggestions!) or just to talk amongst yourselves.

You can follow my adventures in the shop and in the rest of my life at www.fullserviceyarnshop.com.

…the Knitting and Spinning Doctor, That Is!
I am always available during store hours to help out with any problems you are having with your projects.

Quick help is always free. If your problem is likely to take more than 10 minutes or so to fix, please call ahead and schedule a lesson. A 45-minute lesson costs $12. Lessons where we are designing a pattern from scratch or significantly altering an existing pattern are $20 for 45 minutes. (Please note that prices are subject to change without notice.)

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