The local yarn stores TitiTyy and Kerä decided to combine their resources and organize an Ysolda & Stephen Finland Tour, bringing them both to Jyväskylä and Tampere to give classes and offer Finnish knitters a chance to meet some international knitting designers. As soon as I heard this is happening, I decided this cannot be missed! I've been a fan of both of them for years, and of the classes available, I picked Ysolda's Beyond the Raglan and Stephen's Color Play the Westknits Way classes. In hindsight, I wish I had picked a few more of them, but initially I just wanted to make sure I get to take part in at least one class by each.
On Wednesday October 21st I arrived at Kerä in Tampere for Ysolda's Beyond the Raglan class. It was apparent she's a genius at knitting design, which wasn't news to me, because I've thought that way ever since I first knit Rose Red back in 2009. And while I've knit relatively few sweaters and cardigans, I've knit her Cria pattern twice, because it has, by far, the best fit of any garment I've knit. She gives a lot of thought to how knitted items fit the human body. Her class inspired me to get back to sweater knitting again. Which also makes me realize my stash isn't really built for sweater knitting, which, naturally, means I need to buy some more yarn!
On Thursday October 22nd it was time to meet Stephen. Based on my online experience of him, I knew to expect a ball of energy, but I still didn't know exactly what I was going to get into! His class was all about the joy of knitting, and I can't remember having spent a more entertaining set of three hours any time recently. He's such an artist and a personality, and has something nice to say to everyone. One of those people who light up the room. It's hard to imagine him doing anything else, because he's such a perfect fit for his current job, a knitting icon.
For some reason I hadn't brought along any of my Westknits finished items, so for this photo I borrowed one of Stephen's samples, which is why I'm wearing a bit of peach. I believe this is his Jag in Garter Stitch, which I now absolutely have to knit for myself (in non-peach colors).
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