The Woolie Ewe is having free "Building Blocks" classes where each Friday, someone (me) sits at the back table and teaches everyone who comes in whatever the theme is for that week. Friday-before-last was for different cast-on methods (long-tail, cable, tubular, and provisional), and this past Friday was about fixing your mistakes (unknitting, ripping out rows, dropped stitches, accidental yarn-overs, etc). I was worried about my ability to teach in a group setting since most of the lessons I have done in the past have been one-on-one, and also because I didn't have a lot of prep-time. It turns out I am totally made for this. I had my demonstration swatches finished in time and I think everyone who came actually learned something. One attendee even picked up the tubular cast-on and did some two-color double-knitting on the first try (which I didn't really expect of anyone; I was just teaching it to show off.)

Next Friday will be about finishing techniques like weaving in ends properly, mattress stitch, three-needle bind-off, and possibly invisible grafting if I can get the hang of it in time. (I'm already attempting to prepare to put aside my personal feelings about how ugly I think the three-needle bind-off is. It makes the "dreaded number elevens"!!)

We had a request for a class on cables, and also I'd love to be able to teach everyone to knit backwards because it makes entrelac and short row shaping so much faster and easier. Teaching is so much fun!