An Introduction to Top-Down Sweater Knitting with Gotland Yarn: The Freya Sweater
Fiber Tales | Live, Hands-On Virtual Class | 4 Sessions | 8 Hours of Live Teaching
Taught by Sarah Solomon, hosted by Six Dutchess Farm ⏤ February 5, 12, 19 & 26, 2024, 6:30pm - 8:30pm.
New Year, New Knitting Goals! Learn how to make your very own gorgeous heirloom Gotland sweater, from start to finish, in four weeks.
Join New York-based knitwear designer, Sarah Solomon, and the shepherds at Six Dutchess Farm, for an immersive, online sweater-knitting journey every Monday in February. Our aim is to teach you how to knit a beautiful, quality garment, using luscious single-source natural farm yarn.
The Freya Sweater was designed by Sarah specifically for Six Dutchess Farm’s fiber program. It was conceived as a piece to introduce new sweater knitters to garment making and as the perfect medium to showcase the very special properties of Gotland wool. The Freya pattern is simple and approachable and yet the result is an heirloom quality sweater that will last you many, many years. The sweater is knit from the top down, using a combination of flat knitting and knitting in the round. Options abound for the length of the sweater body and sleeves, and a sumptuous collar is added at the end with the option to make a turtleneck or a folded collar.
Whether for the novice sweater knitter or the more experienced, this course will include much useful information about sweater knitting, in general, as well as tips for knitting with Gotland yarn and other similarly-textured fine natural yarns.
In our four sessions together (and through an optional fifth meeting on the farm!), we will work through the entire sweater, address your questions about sweater knitting, and also talk about raising sheep and turning their wool into yarn. Check out our Freya Sweater Yarn Bundles here.
EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:
This class is recommended for novice knitters and beyond. Basic knitting skills are required. You should be comfortable knitting in the round and with increasing and decreasing as well as have completed a few knitting projects already. While conceived for the adventurous beginner, even if you are not new to sweater knitting, the construction of this top-down sweater may prove new and exciting to you. If you have a question about whether this class is right for you, just ask!
YARN REQUIREMENTS:
We encourage all participants to use Gotland yarn for this class or a yarn of similar quality and character. We'll be exploring the unique qualities and demands of this special fiber throughout the class. You can check out our blog post on Gotland Sheep, read more about our Gotland yarn here, and purchase a Freya Gotland sweater bundle in a color of your choosing here. From five to ten skeins of DK-weight yarn are required for the Freya sweater, depending on your sizing selection.
CLASS SCHEDULE:
Session 1 — February 5: Overview of sweater pattern and Gotland Wool. Casting on. Shoulder shaping. Knitting the back. Understanding gauge.
Session 2 — February 12: Pick up stitches for the front shoulders. Shape Armhole and Neck.
Session 3 — February 19: Join in the round to knit the body. Demonstrate picking up stitches around the armhole for the sleeves. Discuss the order of knitting in a top-down garment.
Session 4 — February 26: Working the body and hem. Shaping and length considerations. Possible modifications. How to block your final project.
Session 5 (Optional Add-On Class — Date TBD): On-Farm Wrap-Up + Meet & Greet with the Sheep. Now that you have knit a whole sweater what additional questions do you have? What might you want to tackle next? Date and time will be decided by students in Session 4.
This class will be limited to 20 registrants, first-come, first-served.
CANCELLATIONs
Please note, no refunds are given should you decide to cancel your registration, but we do provide class credit up to ten days prior to the class (for use in 2024). After this time, if you are unable to attend, we encourage you to gift your class to a friend or loved one, who can share the experience with you.
About the Instructor | Sarah Solomon
Meet Sarah—a knitwear designer, writer, and teacher based in New York City.
Sarah Solomon is a knitwear designer, writer and teacher based in New York City. With a background in woven construction and dressmaking, Sarah brings a love of details and fine finishing to her hand knitting designs and enjoys creating and teaching techniques that are simple to master but yield beautiful, long-lasting results. As someone who learned to knit as an adult, she still remembers the frustrations of the learning process and loves helping people to improve their knitting skills and explore new techniques.
Her interests range from all aspects of traditional hand knitting to re-imagining ready-to-wear and machine-knit details for hand knitters. Sarah’s patterns and articles have appeared in Interweave Knits, Knitscene, knit.wear, Pom Pom Quarterly, Vogue Knitting and Amirisu, and in collections by yarn companies large and small.
In addition to her self-published work, Sarah has worked as part of the editorial team of Vogue Knitting Magazine and as Director of Knitwear Design for Harrisville Designs, a historic woolen mill in Harrisville, NH. In her design work, she enjoys creating garments and accessories from exceptional yarns that are knittable, wearable and designed to last. Sarah is also an avid sewer and spinner and loves handwork in many forms.
Find Sarah’s patterns on Ravelry or her website, sarahsolomondesigns.com and follow her work on Instagram as @intothewool.