Knitting for Beginners – daytime (3-weeks start 9 Mar)
Price: £90 (total for 3 weeks)
Knitting for beginners
Our Beginners Knitting course will take you from your very first stitches to making your own knitted projects. Knitting expert and tutor Debbie Tomkies will be teaching you all the essentials as well as sharing some of her top tips, tricks and hacks!
You will learn:
- Holding the needles
- Casting on
- Knit stitch
- Purl stitch
- Increase
- Decrease
- Cast off
- Professional seaming
- Understanding and following a knitting pattern
- Measuring tension (gauge) and why it matters
- Each week you'll also have a small project to take away and complete at home
You will need:
Needles and all materials are included so just bring yourself!
What's included?
As part of the course you will receive a pair of knitting needles and yarn to take home, fully illustrated handouts and a selection of Debbie's exclusive knitting patterns. Tea, coffee and biscuits are also provided during the classes.
Price:
The price for this 3-week course is £90 and includes all materials.
Course level:
This course is suitable for absolute beginners and as a refresher for knitters who may not have picked up the needles in a while. This is a course aimed at adults. Where possible we welcome accompanied younger knitters but please let us know before booking.
Where?
This is an in person course and will be hosted at Debbie's studio at A4 studios and AIR Gallery in Altrincham, Cheshire.
When?
The Beginners Knitting course runs over 3 weeks on consecutive Tuesdays, 10am-12.30pm, just in time to drop off the kids and have a couple of hours 'me time' before pickup!
About the classes
Debbie likes to be able to give students individual attention so we keep our classes small and friendly. This class has a maximum of 4 students per class meaning there's plenty of time for your questions and to pick up valuable tips and tricks as you go. Debbie is adept at teaching both left and right-handed knitters (being a natural left-hander who taught herself to knit right-handed!).
Keen to learn to knit but can't attend in person?
No problem! We are planning to offer online knitting classes live via zoom where you can enjoy the course from the comfort of your own home. As the course is live you'll be able to ask questions and Debbie will be demonstrating techniques on screen. You'll also be able to chat with other students and share your progress if you wish, during the course. Details of zoom classes will be available soon. To keep up to date with the latest workshop and DT Crafts news, please sign up to our newsletter!
For more in-depth tuition with formal accreditation, you may also like to visit our sister site, Making Futures CIC, where Debbie teaches City & Guilds Creative Studies in design and handknitting via distance learning.
Debbie says... I love teaching workshops and courses – part of the pleasure of doing something I love for a living is in knowing that other people have shared my passion and enthusiasm, learned something new, had lots of fun and generally had a good time! Teaching is a learning process for the tutor as much as for the students so I like to keep a comments book for feedback. Here are some of my favourite excerpts…
What our students say....
Where to find us:
This workshop will be held at:
Studio 19
A4 Studios
30 Grosvenor Road
Altrincham
WA14 1LD
Public transport:
We are a short, level walk from Altrincham Metrolink station, Altrincham rail station and the Altrincham bus interchange.
By car:
There is limited free, on-street parking nearby and parking in the restricted spaces is free in the evenings (but do check the signs!).
There is a multistorey carpark in Altrincham centre, 8 minutes level walk from the studios
About A4 studios
A4 Studios is a not-for-profit organisation that has been founded by a group of disabled and able-bodied artists and entrepreneurs who recognised a need for good quality affordable studio spaces within the locality of Trafford.
- Debbie TomkiesOrganizer of Knitting for Beginners - daytime (3-weeks start 9 Mar)Debbie is a knitting & crochet expert with over 30 years' teaching and designing experience. Debbie is on the in-house knitting expert team for Knit Now magazine and Craftworld and has been producing their how-to features and videos since the magazine started over 10 years ago, prior to which she wrote the technical features for Simply Knitting magazine. Debbie is the author of 5 internationally published books, Hand-Dyed Yarn Craft Projects, Complete Knitting Skills, 250 Knitting Stitches, Knitting.Learn it.Love it and How to Knit. Debbie has been a hand dyer for over 25 years, working with both synthetic and natural dyes, indigo & woad. She teaches dyeing with yarn & fabrics, printing, botanical (eco) printing, tie dye and more. In addition to teaching knitting, crochet, felting and dyeing throughout the UK, Debbie also teaches City & Guilds accredited programmes in design and handknitting at Making Futures CIC. Debbie has had over 100 designs published in major magazines over the last 10 years. When she's not crafting, you'll find Debbie in the garden, tending her dyeplants, enjoying a nice craft beer or hugging a big mug of builders' tea. And if you're out and about, she can often be found in the mosh pit at a gig or enjoying some folk music!