How To
Announcing: We’re Knit Stars Teachers!
Dear friends,
In our never-ending quest to bring you the fun in knitting, this is going to be Big Fun.
We’re bursting to tell you about a project that is basically a knitter’s wonderland that comes straight to you, wherever you are.
It’s called Knit Stars. We’re delighted to be a part of it.
It’s a virtual knitting experience unlike anything we’ve seen. Knit Stars makes it possible for knitters everywhere to join a three-week online adventure in learning and inspiration.
It will take place in November, during what we call the Golden Season of Knitting.
It’s three weeks of classes (every other day) with 12 teachers and designers who are working at the top of their game.
All online.
All available to you without the need to travel, without the expense of a hotel—but with in-depth teaching and yarns and live chats that will make for a rich experience of learning and inspiration.
Basically, it’s a delicious knitting retreat that you will enjoy in the comfort of your own home.
Shelley Brander is the brain behind Knit Stars. Her production team travels to each teacher’s home town to create these online classes—so Knit Stars is basically a giant field trip all over the world.
Having watched the previous seasons, we promise you that these are rich, immersive classes that provide a unique view of each teacher’s world and point of view.
Our class?
“The Secrets to Knitting Happiness.”
We’ve been daily knitters for two decades each. We’ve been blabbing about our knitting here for nearly 15 years, which is sort of unbelievable to us, but there it is.
We’ve been asked many variations on this question: how do you keep your enthusiasm for knitting so high? Why is knitting such a constant source of happiness for you?
For us, knitting is an ever-expanding journey of joy. That sounds corny, but it is the absolute truth.
We’ve thought a lot about the Secrets to Knitting Happiness. There are quite a few of these secrets, and some may be new to you. We are dying to share.
We’re going to dig into what makes a pattern great, how to tap into your own tastes and aesthetics to find the sort of knitting that suits you.
And we’re going to talk about how to find the patterns and yarns that you will love.
We’ll share just about everything we can think of that will help you think about your knitting in new and inspiring ways.
Our fellow teachers?
It’s a gang of talented teachers and designers we admire so much.
We’ve published their patterns here at MDK. We’ve reviewed their brilliant books. We’ve knitted their patterns. And they’re all people we want to learn from ourselves, so we’ll be tuning in as closely as you will.
One thing you’ll notice: everybody lives all over the world. The only place in the universe you’ll find us together is during Knit Stars. Which is so cool. (And saves about a jillion bucks in airfare.)
Andrea Rangel: Victoria, British Columbia
Ann Budd: Boulder, Colorado
Ann and Kay: Nashville and New York City
Arne & Carlos: 170 km north of Oslo, Norway
Carson Demers: San Francisco, California
Cecelia Campochiaro: Silicon Valley, California
Christel Seyfarth: Farø, Denmark
Lorilee Beltman: Seattle, Washington
Mary Jane Mucklestone: Portland, Maine
Veera Välimäki: Helsinki, Finland
How will the classes work?
Knit Stars unfolds over a three-week period. Every other day, a new class will appear on the Knit Stars site, where you’ll be enrolled. You’ll be able to watch classes on your computer, your phone, your iPad—at any time of the day. You’ll have access to the classes and resources (including patterns and information downloads) forever, so you can return anytime to watch them. It’s immersive, and addicting, and fun.
How to enroll?
You’ll find all the details on our enrollment page by clicking here.
Why enroll now?
Because there’s a special early bird rate available right now, but only for nine days, through April 20.
Will there be yarn?
Absolutely. We will be offering special yarns, exclusive to MDK, to those enrolled in Knit Stars. And there will be other yarns available as well.
In conclusion . . .
We’ve never taught an online class of any kind. A top-quality online class takes vision, and a village of talented people. It takes a deep understanding of both the subject matter and of video storytelling. When we met Shelley Brander, and saw what she and her team have done with Knit Stars, we were thrilled to be a part of it.
Knit Stars is something special: beautiful to watch, with terrific production values, so this is a really big deal for us.
We are going to look so fabulous: Ann’s going with a smoky eye, and Kay’s watching YouTubes on how to contour. (At the very least, we will have on lipstick, we promise.)
We could not be more wound up and full of ideas for what we’ll share in our class. We hope you’ll join us.
Love,
Ann and Kay
PS Here’s the link for enrolling. Early bird pricing runs through April 20.
Ladies this is so exciting! I registered as soon as KNITSTARS 2 was done. So glad you’re both teaching! Shelly had an amazing idea, go to the experts, bring them to we knitters. I don’t travel any longer, so this is like heading to STITCHES and getting all the instructors you want. Bonus….no travel, hotel, meals out and save a big chunk of $$$. And you have lifetime access to the videos, patterns, transcripts and yarns available for most of the projects. Ya ya ya I sound like a commercial. But this is brilliant!
Stitches AND VK Live AND YarnCon AND the Madison Knitters Guild Knit-In, all at the same time! 3.0 was bought & paid for before even finishing 2.0 (secret admission: and all of 1.0).
I love the ability to download the videos and keep them forever.
So glad you’ve enjoyed Knit Stars! We’re so excited to be in the company of these designers and teachers—it’s going to be inspiring for us as well.
This is exciting! I’ve never done Knit Stars before; maybe this is the time! Can’t wait to see the smoky eye and contouring!
It will be spectacular, we promise and by spectacular we mean kind of like when your four-year-old gets into your lipstick drawer.
You have a lipstick DRAWER??!! I’m lucky if I can even find one sticky old nub. (These days of video conference meetings must be doing wonders for the lipstick business.)
Lipstick Graveyard, actually. Where lipstick goes to die.
Glad you joined the Knit Stars team as presenters—it is a great concept and well done. If you haven’t experienced Knit Stars before, classes are broken down into segments, so you can watch for a few minutes or watch the entire presentation if you have more time! I have been watching since the first Knit Stars. I signed up for Knit Stars 3 as soon as Shelley opened registration to those who had been enrolled in Knit Stars 1 and/or 2! I’m so excited to learn the timing for Knit Stars 3 and can’t wait to see all the new things I need to learn!!
It really is a clever structure–the videos are available any time, and the bite-sized segments make it easy to find the topic you’re revisiting. So glad you’re coming back!
Wow! Yesterday was my birthday. Thanks for the present
Y’all just never cease to amaze me.
I’m right there with you, Judy.
I participated in Knit Stars 1.0 and 2.0; Very excited to see that MDK will be part of Knit Stars 3.0. Can’t wait until next fall when it debuts. This year has an All Star line up!!!
Just signed up! Gift to myself. Thx for letting us all know. And congrads on the well-deserved stardom.
Carole! Welcome to the Arctic Circle! and Nashville!
I, too, have participated in Knitstars from the beginning and will definitely sign up again! For anyone who is unsure, you will not be disappointed!!! The teachers, free patterns, exclusive yarns, and so much more are a knitter’s dream!
Thanks for the good news in my inbox.
I did 2.0 and loved it – so happy with 3.0’s line up! You ladies AND Ann Budd?!? My favs 🙂
I already signed up for Knit Stars 3 as soon as 2 was over and am so excited for this line-up. It really is such a wonderful event!
I so wish I could afford it! I would sign up in a heartbeat if I had the fee.
Sigh.
Congrats! Looks like the perfect topic and you two are in great company for the endeavor.
When I first saw the dates, I thought “the last thing I need during that time is another to-do list item.” The fact that registrants maintain access to the material is perfect! Doesn’t matter if that is someone’s busy time or their time to ignore the madness that is beginning to build around them.
Yes, as you can tell, I’ve been living under a rock and wasn’t aware that Knit Starts existed.
I must ave been under that same rock. How did we miss each other? I am very intrigued.
Ann and, Kay! I’m so excited you will be a part of KnitStars 3.0! It has been an incredible experience so far and the list of teachers for this year is also inspiring! Looking forward to even more happiness knitting!
Great news, and what a terrific panel of teachers — knit STARS indeed! I splurged last Fall and enjoyed KS2. It made up very nicely for missing Stitches West, for all the reasons you mention (although nothing will make up for a large hotel bar packed full with knitters). Must sign up now!
Waiting for the virtual hotel bar…WHEN will technology solve this one?
I was unaware of KnitStars until now, and have just signed up. You two were a huge selling point for me.
Aw thank you Melanie!
Curious to know if they are captioned. Thank you
Hi Tiny!
Thanks for your question. The classes are not captioned, but they are transcribed.
Wow! What a great idea this is! As it happens, it’s coming at the perfect time for me, as I have just sorted through the yarn accumulation of three years. Even though I’ve done some de-stashing, any sane person could see that I still have enough yarn of all colors and fiber types for at least three knitters, so I will definitely be Knitting from Stash this coming year. It might be time to apply my 2018 Fiber Festivals yarn budget to education, instead!
I have no idea how to knit is this for beginners as well, I don’t know how to hold the knitting needles is that what they r called?
I was also unaware of Knit Stars. Very cool, I will be signing up. And congratulations on the designation of Knit Star! Maybe someday….
Kay and Ann – So very thrilled you will part of the faculty for Knit Stars 3.01 I happened upon a pop up message about Knitters 1.0 and was so fascinated that I signed up and now excitedly waiting for 3.0. I’ve love you daily e-mails and read them faithfully so I know you both are going to be great – can’t wait
I love that you are teaching ‘the secrets to knitting happiness’ – no two people are better qualified.
I just enrolled! Yay!
Well who thought I would wake up in a Saturday morning and register for a knitting extravaganza before even leaving my bedroom!! This sounds intriguing. It will be fun to see you online but not as much fun as attending your Pie Party at NYSW. ☺️☺️
So, I finally caved and signed up. Somehow in v 1 and 2 I did not realize you could download and save the classes. I just knew the schedule would never work for me. You made me look again. I don’t know if the rules have changed or if I just read more. Thank you for expanding my horizons!!