The Glitterati

I’m a big believer in continuing ed for knitters.  You take a class and you get so much more than just the skills to make a particular project.

• Tips and tricks for better knitting/finishing/etc.
• Inspiration
• Comraderie with other knitters
• And sometimes, just a good old fashioned wake up call.

I had the pleasure of taking 2 classes from Stephen West and Steven Be this last weekend.  Yep, it was fabulous.  Yep, it was extremely high energy.  Yep, I was wiped out at the end of the weekend and just wanted to curl up in a ball without anyone throwing anything neon or glittery at me.  (And that’s ok because that’s just how I roll – as an outward extrovert, I need alone time to process.)

BUT….

And it’s a big BUT.

I came away with a ton of inspiration.  Like, it’s ok to use color.

Let that one sink in folks.  Because here in the Midwest, we tend to use a lot of greys and blacks.

• Color makes our eyes pop.
• Color gives us (yep, you guessed it) Color in our cheeks.
• And lets face it, color is just fun.

So I started a project that I am stunned that I love.

It’s a Ponchini by StevenBe out of Be Sweet Bamboo and lace weight Noro.

And I bought yarn for a yet to be determined Stephen West pattern.  In colors that would normally be “too bright” for me.  Somehow, surrounded by neon and glitter in the classroom, this didn’t seem so bright at the time.  But they’re beautiful and they remind me of the Gulf of Mexico.

And I’ve decided that I kind of want to take Stephen West home and feed him pasta and chocolate chip cookies.  He’s just that NICE.  Seriously sweet and nice.  And talented to boot.

So my dear readers, don’t be afraid to take a class.  You might just come away with something that you forgot you knew!