Oh that Wonderful Wallaby.  Woolbearers had another wallaby class.  I always like to teach a new technique, so this time I wanted to everyone to learn how to do a tubular cast on. 

First thing you do is an e-wrap cast-on with waste yarn. Cast on half the amount of stitches you need. I prefer to use cotton as my waste yarn so it is less likely to stick to the "real" yarn.  Next you take the yarn you will knit the sweater with and purl all of your stitches.

Do 3 more rows in stockinette. Now the "purl" side should be facing you.  Purl the first stitch, then pick up the loop of the first purl stitch you did on the very first row and bring it up to the left hand needle and knit through the back loop. Purl the next stitch and then bring the next purl stitch from the first row up to the left needle and knit through the back loop.  Keep repeating this until all stitches are knit - you will have to pick up the last loop from the selvedge edge.  You now have double the amount of stitches you started out with.

You can pick out the waste yarn anytime after you knit a few rows.  For ribbing, it has a nice professional finished look.  I will probably use this cast on everytime I start a project out with ribbing.

Jackie is hard at work kitchenering the hood together, while Katie's is still on the needles.

Here is Jackie's finished Wallaby, underneath hers, is Clare's. 

Clare did a great job with striping hers.   There's one more gal in my class, Janet,  who is working on two Wallabys at once.  We had to do quite a bit of ripping this week, but she's doing a great job for someone who has only been knitting for 2 months and I hope to have pictures of her finished product next week.  I just realized that everyone in the class knit theirs out of Berroco Vintage -- a great superwash yarn, especially since all of these Wallabys will be worn by kids.  Mine (up top) was knit out of Classic Elite's Solstice - a merino/organic cotton combo and it knit like a dream.

I love when folks come in with a project made out of my hand dyed yarn.  It's really special to see these beautiful projects.  I almost feel like Sally Field crying "they really like my colorway".  Joanna is modeling her finished Whisper Cardigan out of Woolbearers' Merino/Silk/Cashmere laceweight yarn in cornflower.  The ribbing is out of Plymouth Baby Alpaca Lace.

This week must have been Woolbearers hand dyed finished project week.  Rebecca knit a feather and fan scarf out of the hand dyed Sterling Silver sock yarn -- colorway Deep Magenta and Bonnie knit a Summer Flies shawl out of of Baby Llama Glow in colorway Colonial Blue

Joanna also knit a Summer Flies shawl out of Plymouth Royal Bamboo

And Katie knit an Andrea shawl out of Claudia's Fingering 55 (merino and silk) with a border out of Plymouth Buckingham

Will's Traveling Woman shawl is out of Blue Heron Sock Plus

Gary's sweater is a top down sweater of his own design.  He double stranded Karaoke and Plymouth Llama Linen for some fabulous results!

Judy is going to be teaching a class for Woolbearers in the Fall. We'll be knitting this lovely modular lace shawl.  I can't wait for the class. She knit this shawl out of Koigu, but I think the possibilities are endless.