more on the Alice Starmore workshop

Just a bit more about my trip to Nieuwpoort (Holland), where I attended an Alice Starmore workshop. Nieuwpoort is a lovely small town in Zuid-Holland. I especially enjoyed the bus ride over the 'Lekdijk' (along the river Lek). I saw lots of old giant farmhouses with thatched roofs.
I appreciated how 'de schapekop' organized everything. The shop was very organized and inviting too !
And the workshop : what did I learn ? You can see my swatch. We were asked to pick out our own color scheme, and write out line by line what we were planning to knit. Alice Starmore told us to pick one color family for the background colors, and another one for the pattern colors. The central row (row 9 in this pattern); could be something else completely, that would still work with both color groups. She also pointed out that the pattern is very symmetrical, it is mirrored around the central row.
I had a difficult time selecting colors. I had a big bag of leftovers of my crochet blanket, but several of those yarns are very bright. I liked the muted colors Alice Starmore uses in most of her designs, and was trying to achieve the same in my swatch. Selecting colors, knitting 2handed fair-isle and following the chart at the same time was a bit much to handle, so I am not too pleased with the outcome, but I have learned a lot from it.
This is what I used (B = background and P = pattern)

row 1 = plain row - dark eggplant
row 2 = P = green/blue mix - B = dark eggplant
row 3 = P = green/blue mix - B = dark eggplant
row 4 = P = green/blue mix - B = light eggplant
row 5 = P = sand - B = light eggplant
row 6 = P = sand - B = light eggplant
row 7 = P = light khaki - B = nutmeg
row 8 = P = light khaki - B = nutmeg
row 9 = P = orange - B = salmon
and reverse everything

Alice Starmore advised to change the background and pattern colors NOT on the same row, to get a very gradual change of colors. Unfortunately, I started with 2 background colors that were so close, that you cannot see the changes (2 shades of eggplant).
I also don't like the transition of the green/blue mix into the sand color. Maybe I should have used the light khaki there instead, because it has a little bit of the green in it.
And the centre row has to stand out, but this one stands out far too much. I am pleased with the general feel of the swatch tough (not with the knitting). I wanted rich, muted colors, and that's what I got. I would need to knit several more swatches to come out with something that works, but it is do-able. I haven't asked how many swatches Alice Starmore knits, but I bet she doesn't stop after the first one. And she mixes her own yarn, so she has her own palette.
Back home I went back to my bookshelf to see what I have on fair-isle and color theory. I don't have Alice Starmores book on fair-isle knitting, but I do have her 'Celtic collection'. And another fabulous book on my shelf is Ann Feitelsons fair-isle knitting book , with a very good chapter on selecting colors.
Also on my book shelf : Sheila McGregors book on fair-isle . It has a lot of patterns, not for garments, but just black-and-white charts.

alice starmore workshop

I was away the last 2 days, so I am a bit late to blog again.
Actually, it was 2 days filled with knitting. I traveled to the smallest city in Holland, called Nieuwpoort. The strange thing is that they have the most amazing yarnshop there, called the 'schaapskop' (the sheeps head). You can check it out at ' www.deschapekop.nl'.
They organized a workshop with Alice Starmore. In the morning she gave a workshop about 2color knitting. She taught us how to plan a color scheme, and how to knit 2handed fair-isle. Then she showed us the construction of a traditional fair-isle garment knit in the round. It was the very first time that I saw somebody actually cut a whole sweater ! In the afternoon she held a lecture about her influences, the landscape of the isle of Lewis, the Celtic heritage ... Interesting, but I would have to preferred more worktime, and less lecture. Anyhow, it was very good. Also the organisation of the workshop by the yarn shop was excellent. It was held in a beautifull old building, and there were tea and scones and sandwiches ... I had to travel 3 hours to get there (by public transport) but it was worth it.


Ben een beetje later dan gepland, maar dat heeft te maken met een reisje dat ik net gemaakt heb. Ik ben naar de kleinste stad van Nederland gereisd, nl. Nieuwpoort. Ze organiseerden daar in 'De schapekop' een workshop met Alice Starmore, een Schotse brei-ontwerpster. Ze leerde ons hoe een kleurenschema te plannen, en hoe 2kleuren breien te doen met een kleur in elke hand. Dan toonde ze hoe de traditionele fair-isle truien in het rond gebreid worden. Eigenlijk brei je dus een grote buis, en daarna worden ze opengeknipt waar de mouwen en de halsopening komen. Ik had er al over gelezen, maar nu heb ik dus live iemand een hele trui zien openknippen !
's Namiddags was er een diashow over de invloeden die ze gebruikt bij haar ontwerpen - het landschap op het eiland Lewis, de Keltische cultuur ... Erg interessant, maar ik had liever nog wat meer 'breitijd' gehad. De ganse organisatie van de dag door de Schapekop was buitengewoon verzorgd. Het ging door in het Arsenaal aan de buitenhaven, een mooi oud gebouw. En er was voortdurend eten : cakejes en sandwiches en scones; en grote potten thee - ze bleven dus wel in het Schotse thema. Met het openbaar vervoer was het 3uur rijden, maar het was heel erg de moeite.