Day I: Swatching and Blocking
Swatching and blocking are as crucial to the production and final appearance of a couture garment as the knitting and construction of the garment pieces; proper swatching and blocking figure among the most important of the techniques of couture knitting. Participants learn why it is essential to work large swatches, how to work and dress a swatch for the most accurate results, what the risks of improper swatching are, and what can be learned from the swatch that may be essential to the garment’s knitting and construction. The relationship between needle size, gauge, fiber, stitch pattern and garment shape are also discussed, as are the importance of and the appropriate methods for swatching border and edging patterns, including ribs. Blocking methods are detailed with respect to tools, fibers, measurements and the stage of garment production and construction at which the blocking occurs.
Day II: Reading the Stitches
Tension not only affects the appearance of the knitted fabric; more important, it determines gauge; and gauge determines the size, shape and fit of the finished piece. Knowing one’s technical idiosyncrasies enables a knitter to make critical decisions before beginning to knit that will transform a garment from ill-fitting and disappointing into one that is perfectly shaped and beautifully finished. Workshop participants learn how to read a piece of knitted fabric, how to analyze its characteristics, especially with respect to the tension at which it was knit: is the tension tight or loose; does it change over the course of the row, from one row to the next, from one stitch pattern to another; if so when, how and why. Subsequent discussion focuses on how any anomalous characteristics should or may be accommodated either in the course of knitting the garment pieces or in the construction of the garment.
2 days / 8 hours per day
Fee: $325
Scheduled: there is currently no Tension, Gauge and the Knitted Fabric workshop on the schedule.