This past Sunday, we at Wooly Monmouth were fortunate enough to have Melissa Leapman join us at the shop.  She arrived on Saturday for a book signing, featuring her latest book, Knitting the Perfect Fit.  This gave us the opportunity to talk with Melissa a bit about how she got started in her business and what inspires her to design such wonderful pieces.  We left the shop at the end of the day very excited to learn from such an inspiring person.

Sunday began with a class that was suited to compliment the book.  Aptly named, “Flatter Yourself” is a class designed to show knitters how to create sweaters that flatter all shapes.  Melissa showed students how to use different kinds of increases and decreases to create lines in garments in a manner that highlights curves, adds design elements, and elongates the body without actually reducing the number of stitches.  Everyone learned a variety of techniques to enhance their garments, and left the class full of inspiration and ideas!

The afternoon class focused on one of Melissa’s quintessential creations, “Celtic Cables.”  Luckily, I had done all my work during the morning and was able to sit in on the class.  Melissa began with a simple breakdown of how to read charts.  This was a great refresher for experienced knitters, and a succinct tutorial for novices.  Then the fun began!  We worked from Melissa’s charts and magically began to create cables that went in all different directions.  Two swatches were completed, and we created a gorgeous celitc knot.  Best of all, increases and decreases were carefully inserted in such a way that the surrounding fabric laid flat.  It was an eye opening experience!

During the class, Melissa said that she has a new book in the works, due to be released in about a year.  We hope to bring her back and see what she plans to “wow” us with next!

If you missed this awesome event, be sure to sign up for Kirsten Kapur on Sept. 30th!  We will be tackling Kirsten’s beautiful design, Euphrosyne.  Let Kirsten help you navigate all the tricky turns on the path to creating this beautiful piece!

Call 732-224-9276 for more information!