Meet the teachers for Spindlicity's Alaska Cruise!

Knitting Instructor: Cookie A. Cookie is an expert knitter and designer and is well known for her very popular sock designs in Knitty.com. Cookie will share some of the secrets of her success with us as we journey into designing our own socks! Below are a few of Cookie's sock patterns.

Class name: Sock Design 101
Skill level: Must have knit top-down socks before. 
Project: Top down sock
Materials: Yarn will be provided.

Take your sock knitting to the next level by mastering the skills to customize socks to fit your foot, your gauge, and the stitch pattern(s) of your choosing.  Make it as easy or as hard as you want from stockinette to complex cabled lace.  Learn how to calculate the numbers without a headache, how to choose the right stitch pattern, the challenges with allover stitch patterns and how to address them, unique ribs as design elements, the perfect heel - where all the sock magic comes together, and about extra touches that can make your design special. 

Spinning Instructor: Janel Laidman A fiber artist with over 25 years experience in various fiber arts including spinning, knitting, crochet, quilting, dyeing, surface design and embroidery, Janel is also the editor and owner of the online magazine Spindlicity , a quarterly publication dedicated to hand spinners and fiber enthusiasts. Janel owns her own dyeworks and fiber studio, Chameleon Colorworks , specializing in hand dyed fibers and yarns. She is currently working on her first book, The Painted Skein, due out in 2007.

Class name: Getting the most from handpainted rovings
Skill level: All levels  
Project: Fiber Samples
Materials: All fibers will be provided. Bring spindle or spinning wheel. We can arrange for rental of a portable wheel if notified in advance.

Have you ever seen a painted roving that you love, only to spin it up and be disappointed? Janel will unlock the secrets to spinning painted rovings to get the results that you want. Learn why they stripe and how to control the striping. First session includes information for knitters on working with handpainted yarns. Beginners welcome.

Students need to bring a spinning wheel or spindle and a sense of adventure. All else will be provided by instructor.