Next up it was Ellen Turner, who won last year's competition by knitting a lace tablecloth in a bronze lurex yarn. She showed us how she'd made it - a simple lace card that transfers for x rows to the left (which produces a bias) and then transfers for x rows to the right (this class was on a Knitmaster machine. It produces a zigzag that can be sewn into a circle or used for a scarf. She demonstrated that ignoring (or following) the arrows on a card can make quite a difference to the pattern.
Eileen Turner in the wool room
The last class of the day was a hands-on with Iris Bishop. We had a go at using a very thick yarn to produce knitweave, and then vertically weaving with that yarn to produce a fabric that looks like a proper woven tweed. Also there was a technique using odd needles on the left and even needles on the right, to get two patterns from one fairisle card. The machines had been donated by Silver Knitting for the purpose - it's a pity they hadn't had a service beforehand, unfortunately, because a lot of people struggled with them. I learnt how to lock an electronic on row 1 (press the inspection switch off and then on again).
Knitweave with vertical weaving
EON technique with 2 needles out of work at 0 - two fairisle patterns from one card.
Knitweave with cut floats
Knitweave with fancy ribbon yarn
(I was so keen to get knitting, didn't think to take a pic of Iris!)
When I got back to the hotel, I did an hour in the hotel's gym. I didn't sign in though - they didn't tell me I had to! Had it all to myself, just the ipod for company. After dinner, Marit Buset gave an impromptu presentation about Norway. She runs a textiles course at the Institutt for Folkekultur and had come with two of her students. They had done some beautiful work, all using knitting machines.
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