Sarah and I had a fabulous time at Red Alder Fiber Arts Retreat earlier this month. It was a 5-day extravaganza for us — as we helped out with registration for 2 days before our weekend classes.  This was the inaugural Retreat for the Red Alder crew — and everything was beautifully organized and well-run.  Congratulations to everyone involved!

We made it something of an immersion in Double-Knitting — all our classes were taught by Alasdair Post-Quinn who has done some amazing things with the technique.  I had 2 of his books before we even registered for classes and was delighted to have the opportunity to learn from him first-hand.  

In Double-Knitting, we knit 2 layers of fabric at once by working alternate stitches — one forms the front layer and the next forms the back layer.  Using 2 colors, we get the same pattern on both layers, but in alternate colors! One side is like a photographic negative of the other.

I have started a stole using a pattern from his Paralax book.  Here is one layer:

And I flip it over to show the other layer:

Pretty cool, right?!  In our last class on Sunday, we learned how to make cable this way!  Talk about a mind-twister!

We also obtained yarn for some Spring knitting at the Market 🙂 And yarn for Baby knitting — as my newest grandson is due mid-May!  So, there is much too be done.  

And The Studio is making progress — a little haphazardly as family life (rightly!) tends to take precedence with the sorting and organizing and arranging.  But here are a few sneak-peeks.  It is a joy to have my yarns, projects, needles, etc. all in place!

And the Knitting books are all out and organized on the shelves! Hooray!  I still have the crochet books, embroidery books, sewing books, painting books, etc. to do.  And then there is all that artisan gear too.  So, I really can use that extra day!