Learn how to extend the life of your knits!

Teacher: Julia Billings

Workshop Duration: Half Day

Description:  Through the use of traditional darning methods, you can not only prolong the life of your knits (and wovens) but also reinvigorate them through the addition of colour and texture.  In this class, you will learn to darn holes both large and small, using a variety of knitted and woven techniques such as grafting, simple and advanced swiss darning and scotch weaving, as well as also explore ways to fix or replace worn areas, such as elbows, necks or cuffs.

Most of the workshop will be dedicated to practicing on knitted swatches but we will also spend some time looking at damaged pieces in order to assess how to deal with holes and problems in your own well-loved projects. Please feel free to bring in your damaged knits but, please, no items with moth holes!

Materials:  Please bring a stocking stitch swatch measuring approximately 25cm x 25cm. You will need to block your swatch before the class so that it lays flat and is easy to work on. Gauge is not important but I would recommend using smooth, light-coloured wool in 8ply or thicker to make it easy to see your stitches.

You will also need a small amount of the same yarn or similar yarn to darn with, the knitting needles you used to make the swatches, two double-pointed needles (the same size or smaller), a pair of small, sharp scissors and a blunt-ended wool needle. Please feel free to bring in pieces that need repairing (but only if you are certain they are not moth eaten as they can contain eggs).

Takeaway:  Students will take away the knowledge and confidence to repair holes and worn areas safely, as well as comprehensive notes on the techniques and processes covered.

Level: Beginner -  no knitting or sewing experience is required.