When Franklin Habit says he will come to your town, you don’t want him to leave. So, we had Franklin here for three days!
On Thursday night, 55 lucky yarncrafters were on hand to hear his hilarious, fascinating and occasionally bizarre talk, Impractical Magic: Oddities and Curiosities of Nineteenth-Century Handwork, about Weldon’s Practical Needlework. We got to look at images of the strangest knit and crochet patterns you’ve ever seen. One of our favorites was a knitted child harness with jingle bells (no, we’re not kidding).
On Friday, we learned how how to photograph our fiber and knitwear in Photographing Your Fiber. Franklin, who is a professional photographer, shared all sorts of tips on white balance, light, focus and staging. We got to play with a light box to pose all kinds of wonderful finished objects.
Sunday, Franklin walked us through two of his favorite subjects: The History, Methods and Styles of Lace Knitting and Working with Antique and Vintage Patterns. In both classes we got to see incredible samples along with up-close-and-personal demos, thanks to our handy video camera and monitor.
It was a wonderful three days, and we can’t wait for him to come see us again next year!
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- Doing some stitching before the show
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- Franklin even has fans in doggie world!
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- Our friend Anna Hrachovec came to the event
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- An excited fan almost finished with her project!
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- Franklin Habit takes the stage
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- Are you ready for the world of Victorian crafts?
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- General cussedness.
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- Weldon’s Practical Needlework — a misnomer?
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- An “Invalid’s Knitted Boot”…
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- …elicits confusion from the audience.
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- But when it comes to a “Hat for a Baby Boy”…
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- …we can’t help but laugh!
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- Practical Tissue Paper: definitely not practical.
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- A “Coronation Pot”? The face says it all.
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- Franklin knit his own “Reins for Children”
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- Again: the face says it all.
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- Vintage Lion Brand patterns made it into the show!
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- Our first raffle winner with her prize
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- Our second raffle winner takes the stage
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- Franklin signed copies of “It Itches”
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- A wonderful time was had by all!
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- In Photographing Your Fiber, we learned…
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- …how anyone can use basic photography skills!
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- We used different stands and models…
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- …and learned how to compose shots.
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- Staff member Gretchen uses a light box
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- The History, Methods, and Styles of Lace Knitting
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- Knitted lace or lace knitting?
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- It’s all about where the yo’s go!
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- Franklin showed off a beautiful lace shawl
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- Everyone got a close-up look at the lace
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- Franklin shared various types of traditional lace
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- We talked about fiber weights (and sheep)
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- Then everyone tried out their own swatches
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- With Franklin’s help, chart reading is a breeze!
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- With our monitor, the class got a detailed view
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- Working with Antique and Vintage Patterns
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- An antique needle sizer is a lifesaver
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- Why WOULDN’T you need a tiny knitted pitcher?
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- Edita gets an up-close look at a tiny pitcher
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- So cute!
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- Vintage patterns: in a different language?
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- We passed around examples of vintage lace
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- Franklin explained how to read vintage charts
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- We checked out the beautiful details up-close
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- We had a great time seeing a piece of the past!
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- The best antique patterns are perfectly timeless.
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- Looks like Edita got her holiday wish!
