Laura Ricketts Designs

Calendar & Classes     

Online zoom course. American Swedish Institute. “Karesuando Mittens,” November 7 & 21, 2021.

Online zoom courses. National Nordic Museum’s Nordic Knitting Conference. “Beginning Sami Knitting Techniques,” “Advanced Sami Knitting,” “Faroese Slippers.” November 12, 13, & 14, 2021.

Online zoom course. North House Folk School. “Knitting Skolt Sami Socks,” December 1 & 8, 2021.

Online zoom course. North House Folk School. “Forest Pond Sami Mittens,” December 11 & 18, 2021.

Online zoom course. Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum. “Jokkmokk Mittens,” January 10, 2022.

Online zoom course. National Nordic Museum. Mitten TBA. January 29 & Feb 5, 2022.

Online zoom course. North House Folk School. “Sami-inspired hat class,” February 2 & 9, 2022.

Grand Marais, MN. “Knitting Skolt Sami Socks.” North House Folk School’s fiber week. February 17, 2022.

Online zoom course. North House Folk School. “Rings True Mitten,” March 5 & 12, 2022.

Donaldson, IN. Knitters of the Dunes retreat. “Head over Heels: three methods of making knitted heels and toes.” Spring 2022.

Two knitting patterns with companion articles and one crochet pattern with companion article in Defarge Gets Medieval, future release date.

The following are classes I teach.  Please contact me to set up group lessons. 

QUILTING THE NORTH WOODS

North House and the north woods are full of inspiring colors and patterns for the quilter. Laura Ricketts has designed a nine block wall-hanging with thematic blocks, as well as a North House central block. This North Woods quilt class will focus on triangles: dealing with bias in fabric and the various ways to cut and make blocks to lessen bias problems. In class, we will work on our first “block of the month” for this quilt, and leave with the fabric for a second block, and the fabric and pattern for a third, special “North House” central block.

Bean Queen Bean Bag - beginner knitting class

Create a bean bag while learning to cast on, knit and cast off in this informative beginning knit session.  One three hour session recommended.

required materials: size US 8 / 5 mm needles, worsted weight yarn, patience

pattern provided

Next Steps

Take your knitting to the next level by cementing your basic skills and learning purl stitch.  Begin a scarf in one three hour session, or opt for two three hour sessions to finish your work together.

required skills: knit stitch

required materials: size US 10.5 / 6.5 mm needles and yarn

pattern provided (class fee for handout)

Hats off to you! 

Start your first hat project in this class: learn to knit in the round and decrease. One three hour session.

required skills: Casting on, knit and purl stitch

required materials: 16" circular needles, double pointed needles and yarn

pattern provided (class fee for handout)

Smitten by Mittens

Introduction to mittens: double pointed needles and increases. Learn to make a gusseted thumb. Two three hour sessions.

required skills: knit and purl stitch

required materials: 10.5 US double pointed needles and bulky weight yarn 

pattern provided (class fee for handout)

Beauties from the Far North

Learn about the Sámi community, its history of knitting, and begin your own miniature Sámi mitten inspired by Kautokeino, Norwegian mittens in two informative, three-hour sessions.  Learn to make tri-colored "slyngborden," or the leaning braid at the cuff, afterthought thumbs, braids and tassels.

required skills: intermediate knitting ability (casting on, knitting, purling, decreasing), color work, knitting in the round

required materials: 3 mm double pointed needles (or magic circle equivalent), recommended yarn: Rauma Strikkegarn yarn in colors 151, 101 and 174. 

pattern provided

easy knitting for spinners

What can you do with handspun or novelty yarn? When I knit with these luxurious yarns alone, the colors and zest can easily get muddied or dulled. That’s why I created the Annikahat – to show off a special yarn with a neutral base color. An added bonus is that you need only 50 meters of the special yarn for this project!

Let me teach this class to your shop or group, in order for you to create a special holiday gift for someone on your list (or, yourself!). Hats are the best gifts! And, unlike socks and mittens, you need to only knit one. We will learn a few cast ons, work in the round, decrease, talk about a several ways to work projects in the round, and what to do with hats that don’t fit right. 

Irish Crochet Rose, leaf and stamen

Come make an Irish Crochet rose with Laura Ricketts, recent author of the Irish Crochet Cuffs in PieceWork magazine. Get comfortable making a three dimensional flower out of DK Cotton Yarn in this three hour class, with the option of either making the leaf in DK cotton as well, or being bold and making the rose in number 20 cotton thread! Bring your own hook in 7 / 4.5 mm and a size 9 steel crochet hook, if making the fine gauge rose. Another option: make a beautiful stamen to insert into the rose center.

Skill level: students should be able to chain, single, double and half-double crochet.

Materials: one skein each for rose and leaf in dk cotton with appropriately sized hook, one ball no. 20 crochet thread and size 9 steel crochet hook

Provided: handout 

Miniature Skolt Sámi Mittens from the Far North 

The history of the Skolt Sámi people is difficult, beginning with the forced division of their homeland between Russia, Norway and Finland. Shepherding sheep, spinning and knitting mittens and socks is an important part of their handcraft. Learn about the Skolt community, history and their traditional way of life in two three-hour teaching sessions, while making a minature Skolt mitten. This pattern is based on a mitten in the Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum. Participants will learn how to make two-color "slyngborden," or the leaning braid at the cuff, afterthought thumbs, braids and tassels.

required skills:  intermediate knitting ability (casting on, knitting, purling, decreasing), color work, knitting in the round

required materials: 3 mm double pointed needles (or magic circle equivalent), Rauma Strikkegarn yarn in colors 101 and 174. 

miniature and full-size pattern provided

The King's Sweater  

On the night of April 9, 1940, three-year old Crown Prince Harald and his two sisters left their home with their mother. Told they were going on a ski trip, they actually were fleeing the Nazi invasion. In celebration of King Harald and Queen Sonja's 75th birthdays and in preparation for Norway's 2014 Constitution Jubilee, the Norwegian government has organized a touring exhibition regarding this time, and has called it "The Longest Journey 1940 - 1945," acknowledging the five years the royal family spent in exile. 

The original sweater, owned by the royal family, is a part of this tour. The future King Harald used this sweater during this flight. It is also pictured in his passport from that time. 

In this two day class, we will discuss wartime Norway while knitting a miniature version of this sweater.  We will also examine finishing techniques and various color work techniques. 

required skills: basic intermediate knitting skills (cast on, knit, purl, increasing, decreasing, casting off) 

required materials: US 3/3mm and US 4/3.5mm needles, Rauma Strikkegarn yarn in colors 100 and 174. 

miniature and child's pattern provided; child's pattern and photograph used by permission

Skolt Sami Motifs

The Sámi peoples are Scandinavia’s only UN recognized indigenous people. Traditionally, nomadic reindeer herders, their handcraft culture has touched knitting in ways most English-speaking knitters know nothing about. The Skolt Sámi have kept sheep for centuries, and as a result, they have a strong wool tradition, which includes spinning, dyeing and knitting. In this three-hour session, we will explore Skolt Sámi history, typical knitting patterns, and their meaning and significance while making a Skolt Sámi inspired cuff.

required skills: intermediate knitting ability (casting on, knitting, purling, decreasing), color work, knitting in the round

required materials: US 5 / 3.75 mm double pointed needles (or magic circle equivalent), 1 ball Rauma Vamsegarn in natural/ivory (V01)

pattern provided 

Doll Shawl 

Join me in knitting a doll shawl knit with sock yarn based on a pattern knit by my great-grandma. We will begin to explore smaller gauge projects in this class which will meet two times, implementing two basic shaping techniques: yarn overs and decreases.

required skills: advanced beginner skills (casting on, knitting, casting off, and being comfortable knitting)

required materials: a skein of sock yarn with the appropriate sized single-point or circular needles 

pattern provided, or can be purchased in advance on-line (class fee for handout)

Jokkmokk Flowers  – A Swedish Sámi Handgarments Class – (6 hrs)

The Sámi are Scandinavia’s only UN recognized indigenous people. This class focuses on one town in northern Sweden – Jokkmokk, and one family’s interpretation of a common flower motif. Join us as we knit a Jokkmokk Flower swatch to explore how to knit a larger scale motif, how to handle long floats, duplicate stitch, and make a 4-strand braid. Through it all, we will take an in-depth look at the culture in Jokkmokk, and the environmental tragedies close by.

Skill level: intermediate knitting ability (casting on, knitting, purling, decreasing), color work, knitting in the round

Students bring: fingering weight, wool yarn in approximately 10g each of four colors

I recommend Rauma’s Finnulgarn knit on US 0 / 2 mm.

Homework: Cast on 36 sts in the round and work a k2, p2 ribbing for 1.5 inches in whichever of the four colors or stripings you wish. Leave on the needles and bring to class.

twined knitting

Twined knitting is the Swedish specialty technique tvåändstickning, also called two-ended knitting. With this technique, the knitter knits with two strands of yarn at the same time, traditionally from both ends of the same ball of yarn. This technique can use different cast-ons, bind-offs, regular and specialty stitches. They all work together to produce a fabric that feels different from regular knit fabric -- thicker and less flexible, but also, warmer and more wind-resistant. Doubled and twisted stranding means the finished piece takes longer, but also wears longer. This makes twined knitting a great application for any area of clothing that receives extra wear such as sweater cuffs and socks. But today it is primarily used to make mittens.

This class will focus on the central technique of twining knit and purl stitches and the main specialty stitch called crook stitch as we make a wrist warmer. We will also start to experiment with color work.

MATERIALS 

Needles: Size 2.5 mm double point needles, magic loop equivalent, or whatever needle size is necessary to achieve gauge.

Yarn: Hygge Tveband Sport (100% two-ply wool 320 yards (293 m) / 3.53 oz (100 g) per skein); 25g of two colors, and 6 yards of a third color

Gauge: 7.5 sts = 1 in [2.5 cm]. 

Finished size: 8 ½ in [21 cm] circumference and 3 ¼ in [8.25 cm] height

Twined Knitting 2 - squared off

In this second Twined Knitting class, we build on the skills the basic class and then focus on Ytvåändstickning's specialty stitches, Crook stitch and Deep Purl while we create another wrist warmer / cuff. 

MATERIALS 

Needles: Size 2.5 mm double point needles, magic loop equivalent, or whatever needle size is necessary to achieve gauge

Yarn: Hygge Tveband Sport (100% two-ply wool 320 yards (293 m) / 3.53 oz (100 g) per skein); 25g of two colors, and 6 yards of a third color

Gauge: 7.5 sts = 1 in [2.5 cm]. 

Finished size: 8 ½ in [21 cm] circumference and 3 ¼ in [8.25 cm] height