Design & Knit a Colourwork Beanie

If you know how to knit and purl but are new to Fair Isle, this is the place to start. A beanie is the perfect small project to learn new knitting techniques. Work at your own pace, learn new skills and create a beanie that expresses you.

You’ll learn how to work out the schematics of a beanie, place patterns together and graph your design. Kerrie will walk you through how to read a chart and knit with two colours in a row to create Fair Isle motifs.

You’ll participate in detailed discussions on colour and how you can use it to create your desired effect in your beanie.

Discover the different techniques and tips to make Fair Isle fun and easy. Learning these skills by knitting a beanie allows you to apply them to a larger project like a jumper.

Enrol

Course Info

During this course, you’ll dive into the many patterns of Shetland, learning techniques and tips to get the best experience when knitting.

Get creative and learn how to play with colour, using the botanically dyed yarn ‘Joseph’s Coat’ and discuss how colours can compliment each other.

As part of this, you’ll discuss in detail how combining colour and motifs can create the desired effect in your knitting and how to place your colours to make your fair isle glow, stand out, fade or stripe.

To complete this course, you’ll need to know how to knit and purl.

To be supplied by participant

If you have them, 3.5mm and 4mm circular knitting needles – 50-60cm long. These will also be available for purchase, $10 per set.

Lead and coloured pencils or pens

Eraser

Clipboard

 
Supplied by the tutor

Joseph’s Coat 5ply yarn in various naturally dyed colours

Graph paper

Various patterns to keep

 
Cost

A $40 materials fee will be payable to the tutor on the first day.

Techniques covered
  • Casting on with various stretchy cast-on methods
  • Joining work in the round on circular needles and how to magic loop
  • Understanding your knitting – it is crucial to know how to read your work to fix mistakes – which we ALL do
  • Knitting using both hands holding the yarn – mastering this technique streamlines your knitting
  • How to weave ends in as you knit and to trap floats
  • With the crown as the crowning glory of a Tam – so you’ll design and discuss colour placement and motifs within the crown
  • How to keep track of your knitting, tips to make keeping in pattern easier whilst decreasing
This course is self-paced – everyone is capable of knitting a beanie to a high standard.
Kerrie Schreenan
Course Tutor

Kerrie Schreenan

“Living in the depths of the Thora Valley, surrounded by an abundance of green beauty, immediately allows my mind to rest, allowing what needs to come forward without effort.

My primary focus has always been the family, centred around keeping the hearth fires burning. Now with four teenagers and more time, I can look more outwards and inwards.

I’m now inspired by the quiet moments of my days, where I can settle into my craft and allow it to share its own story. Knitting has always been a joyous part of my everyday life. My Dad taught me to knit when I was five. Dad was a sheep farmer and shearer on the banks of the Murray River, as was his father.

I always have a variety of projects on the go, depending on my mood. There’s always a portable one that goes wherever I go, that is soothing and mediative to knit, perfect for watching the kids play sport and catching up with friends. I also enjoy really challenging projects where I need to count and follow a detailed graph. These projects are riveting and constantly exciting as the patterns and pictures emerge. I have been known to stay up all night to see what happens next.” Kerrie