Want to learn something new?

It's nearly September and the kids are going back to school. It's that time of year where we think about learning new things. Or at least I always think of school start as a fresh start and learning new things.

Fancy learning some new knitting techniques? Well, I've got a HUGE schedule of classes for this autumn. You can find them all here. But let me give you some highlights.

Kicking it off in September is a 4 week course for those wanting to learn to knit or who've not knitted for a while and need a refresher course. The first week you'll learn to cast on, knit, purl and various combinations of knit and purl patterns and cast off. For the remaining 3 weeks we'll knit a mini sweater teaching you various shaping techniques, basic sweater construction and how to sew up your sweater and do the neck band.

Do you know how to knit but never knitted a sweater, then come along and learn all the basics you'll need to knit a fashionable sweater for yourself.

The course is held over 4 Tuesday mornings from 10am to 1pm starting on 13 September at The Cornwall Yarn Shop in Launceston, Cornwall. Contact the shop to book. The last group who did this course in January loved it and all bought a sweater pattern and yarn to knit at the end of the course. I met one of the ladies a few weeks ago and she'd finished her sweater.

Fancy knitting lace? I'm teaching Easy Lace at both The Cornwall Yarn Shop and Spin A Yarn, Bovey Tracey, Devon this autumn. This workshop will give you the confidence to tackle easy lace patterns. You should be able to knit any of my shawlette patterns and some of my lace weight shawls too. We'll cover topics such as yarn overs, directional decreases, how to use stitch markers and lifelines, how to read charts, how to shape while keeping your lace pattern correct. At the end of the workshop I'll give you a shawelette pattern to take away. This is a popular class so make sure you don't miss out.

Already take one of my Easy Lace classes or feel ready to take it a step further? Then my Lace Improvers class at Spin A Yarn is perfect for you. You'll practice knitting from lace charts using slightly more difficult lace patterns, you'll learn provisional cast on and how to work a knitted on edging. After this workshop you'll be able to knit any of my shawls with knitted on edgings.

Seen my new Daisy Shawlette? Think the stitch patterns look difficult? I'll teach you everything you need to know to knit this shawlette. We'll practice different dropped stitches and how to add beads in the morning and in the afternoon we'll work on a swatch of the shawlette focusing on the stitch patterns used and the shaping for this crescent shawl. I'm teaching this workshop at Spin A Yarn and The Cornwal Yarn Shop.

Ever knitted cables? Cables are a fantastic way to add texture to your knitting and much easier to knit than they look. I'm teaching a Fabulous Cables workshop at The Cornwall Yarn Shop which will teach you to knit cables, simple and more complex, with and without cable needle, how to knit from cable charts & written instructions, and how to knit reversible cables, so the fabric looks good from both sides.

This is only a taster of what I'm teaching. There is basic socks, toe up socks and continental knitting as well. See them all on my workshop page. Contact the shops to book.

I'm also teaching two workshops for The Liskeard Knit & Knatter group which meets at Stuart House, Liskeard, every Thursday morning. We're doing Professional Finishing Techniques over 2 Thursday mornings starting on 15 sept. This workshop is sponsored by the knitting group and costs £20 for non-members. Please e-mail me on ahallis@yahoo.co.uk or call me on 01579 340558 to book.

I'm also teaching Basic Crochet on 10 November. You'll learn basic crochet stitches such as doubles, trebles, double trebles, clusters and more. We'll also practice shaping and crocheting various shapes such as squares and circles. This workshop is also sponsored by Liskeard Knit & Knatter and costs £15 for non-members. See above for contact details.

Dont' live in Devon or Cornwall? Then give my details to your local yarn shop or knitting group and ask them to book me for a workshop. My current list of workshop available is here. I can also do combinations of those workshops and teach a project workshop on any of my designs.