I’ve been quiet – but I’ve been WORKING!
Putting together short little informational videos is a lot harder than I remembered. Getting used to the new imovie has been a sharp learning curve, though.
I generally like video editing. I took some classes in Avid editing about 15 years ago, and I felt pretty good on the old imovie. However, the new & improved one is a little too user friendly – trying to be idiot proof – and that makes it really hard if you want to do anything beyond the pre-packaged “themes” they make available.
It makes me sad when Apple apps go MS.
Anyway, here’s one of the videos I’ve been working on. I’m putting them together for an online class I’m thinking of teaching, and I’m REALLY looking forward to it!
Stephanie Japel teaches online classes, I’m currently taking an online class with her on how to teach an online class. I’m expecting some mighty speaker feedback from that last line – how may times can I use on and online in a sentence?
Folks who would want to take a class with me would have to register with an online networking site called NING.com, which is free and rather easy to use. Each class will have it’s own network within the Ning website.
I’ll be offering my classes in 3-week periods, during that time the class participants will have 24/7 access to videos, handouts and any other teaching materials I have up at the Ning site.
I’ll schedule a couple of live chats per week, and there are also discussion forums for each network so when folks ask a question they can get answers from me, and feedback from other class participants.
Best of all, folks will be able to upload images in class of their swatches, their problem pieces, and their little victories. We can have class galleries and see how everyone’s doing.
I know that one of the first classes I’m going to offer is Combination Knitting. I also want to offer my colorwork class and my lace class.
Aside from these three classes, is there one of my classes you’ve been wanting to take? Or maybe there’s a project I’ve designed that you’d like to see me offer as a work-along class? I generally don’t teach project classes live, but this online class set up seems PERFECT for project classes where folks can work at their own speed.
Maybe I’ll FINALLY offer a millinery class where folks can get done what they need to get done from class session to class session – wouldn’t THAT be a kick!
So here’s a video from the Combination Class. Let me know what you think!
(I’ll be adding a voiceover as soon as my nose stops being so stuffy, I promise! Right now there’s text to read, that’s what my voiceover will be…)
Thanks for all the good comments – here’s a new, improved video!
Oh, boy. The video is terrific, but … you are mixing up your clockwise and counterclockwise. For the Western and Combination knitting and the Western purling, you are wrapping the yarn counterclockwise; for the Combination purling, you are wrapping the yarn clockwise. Also, rather than stating that the needle enters from right to left, which it normally does, at least for right-handed knitters, I think that you should be pointing out that the location of the leading part of the loop can change between Western and Combination knitting. So, you should be pointing out that in Western knitting, you knit into the loop on the front of the needle, whereas in Combination knitting, you knit into the loop on the back of the needle. I otherwise think that the video is terrific, very clear with great illustrations. I suspect that you caught too caught up in the editing.
No, Tony, you’re mistaken.
The yarn is wrapped exactly as I’ve described it in the video. I haven’t confused the clockwise and counter clockwise.
Please rewatch the video, watch the animated clock, and think of the direction of the wrap from the perspective of the needle.
That’s why I put the animated needle and clock in the video, so that students can see that I’m describing the wrap based on the tip of the needle POINTING at the clock face.
I’ve generally not discussed wraps in my classes as clockwise and counterclockwise exactly for this reason, there’s generally one student who just will not understand that I’m describing it from the perspective of the tip of the needle.
One strong voice calling out the teacher for being wrong can be terribly confusing to students who ARE trying to understand what the teacher is saying.
I think you’re looking at the wraps as if the BACK of the needle were pointing at the clock face.
It can be confusing, I understand, but I would really appreciate a very careful viewing of the video before you firmly state that it’s wrong.
As for my description of the needle entering from the left or from the right, that’s how I choose to describe it at this point in the class – and I have good reason for describing it in that way.
Folks will just have to trust me, trust that after teaching this for 8 years through hundreds of classes, I have good reasons for teaching the orientation of the stitches in this way.
oh, boy, am I embarrassed! I was seeing it in my head with the needle pointing towards me, which of course made everything backwards. Mea culpa, mea culpa. I don’t consider myself an experienced knitter; after reading your Heretic, all I worry about is where the leading leg of the loop is and knit, or purl, into that. So, I should have kept my fingers off the keyboard.
I love the idea of online classes. I am disabled with an autoimmune disease which means I never know from one day to the next if I’ll be able to attend a class, so for me the idea that I might get to take a class from you without leaving my home is FABULOUS! I’ve been an admirer of your knitting for quite a while, and your blogging about your latest book has been incredibly interesting to me, while demonstrating what a GENIUS you are. So, thank you!