Over the first series of sea days, Judy will teach her 5 class series: Knitting 101 - The Basics. The class will be taught hands on and you will be knitting during the very first class. By the end of the fifth class, you will be ready to practice on your own. And best of all, you won't be on your own after the 5th class.

During most sea days, Judy will be available for one on one coaching and assistance to help you gain confidence and learn how to solve the inevitable problems that crop up from time to time. You will be ready to tackle more advanced projects in no time. Below is the outline for the classes.

• Lesson 1: Getting Started. Learn how to hold the needles and hold the yarn and get introduced to some basic terms. Once you are comfortable with holding the needles and yarn, you will progress to learning the basic knit stitch. Judy will have already cast on your first row, so you can learn the basic technique more quickly. You will get started on your first project - a simple washcloth, and learn how to turn your knitting and change directions. The class wraps up with an introduction of the basic purl stitch.


• Lesson 2: Knit and Purl. Once you are familiar and comfortable with the basic knit stitch, this class will further explore the Purl stitch. Becoming comfortable with the knit and purl stitch are required to build the foundation for all future knitting techniques. Class 2 concludes with an introduction of how to start a new project - called the "Cast On"


• Lesson 3: Cast on and Bind Off . Getting the project started is called "Casting On" and finishing your project is called "Binding Off". Now that we are familiar with the basic stitches we can start to learn how to Cast On and Bind Off. These can be a little tricky at first, but this is why we didn't go into these until you are already comfortable with the basic stitches. Trying to learn the basic stitches while learning to Cast On or Bind Off makes everything a little more complicated than necessary when you are just learning the basics. At the end of Lesson 3 you will be comfortable with a basic "Cast On" and "Bind Off".


• Lesson 4: Increasing and Decreasing. In this lesson you will learn how to change the width of your project as you knit. Understanding how to perform an "Increase" or "Decrease" is fundamental when you start to knit anything more complicated than a scarf.


• Lesson 5: Combining Basic stitches. The final class will introduce you to a variety of different stitches that will be useful and you gain experience and want to tackle more complicated projects. These include: Garter Stitch, Stockinet Stitch and Basic Ribbing. You will not become proficient with these stitches after this class, but you will learn the basics and you will be able to practice on your own afterwards.

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Once you know the basics the onboard seminars will help you take your knitting to the next level with more advanced techniques and skills to give you the tools needed to enjoy your work and create beautiful garments. About once a week, Judy will conduct a seminar on one of these topics and more. Best of all - all of these seminars are included at no additional charge with your Craft Cruise!

• Tension: It's not a headache, but it can become one if you don't follow some basics. This seminar will discuss the importance of swatching and how to adjust your own tension and make adjustments.


• Avoiding the "Frog" or Correcting Common Mistakes: Everyone makes mistakes and many can be fixed without starting over or having to accept the imperfection in the final project. When you undo your project and start over, that is called "frogging" your project. It's always a little unnerving to tear out all your work and start over, but sometimes that is the only option. In many cases, you can correct your mistakes and "avoid the frog". In these seminars, Judy will discuss common mistakes and how to fix them - for example: Twisted Stitches, Picking up a dropped stitch, Incomplete Stitches, having an extra stitch at the end, dropping a stitch at the end of a row and how to use "Lifelines" in complicated projects.


• Sizing: How to knit projects that fit! This topic will be covered in a series of seminars on various topics to help you knit clothes that fit!


• Swatching: Find out how many stitches and rows per inch you are knitting.


• Blocking: How to take the kinks out of your project and adjust the final size


• Charting: Knitting projects that fit requires planning. Judy will explain her charting technique that she has successfully used for years to successfully knit projects that fit!


• Adapting the Pattern: Knitting projects that fit usually requires making some adjustments to the pattern. Learn how to make these adjustments and understand which types of patterns can be adjusted more easily and which ones cannot.


• Joining: How to join yarns together. Learn the "Russian Join", "Spit Splicing" and other techniques to join the ends of yarn.


• Shopping: What is almost as fun as knitting is buying yarn! This cruise will have numerous opportunities for yarn shopping in various ports around the world. These shopping trips are commonly referred to as Yarn Crawls. In ports where there are interesting yarn shops, Judy will lead Yarn Crawls and help you learn how to shop for yarn, select yarns, select patterns and make the most of your time in your local yarn shop.

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