FAQs

How much does this workshop cost?

For you . . . nothing, nada, zip, outside of the cost of your internet connection. When I teach it in person students pay $115 to $130 per day and that includes the price of the hard bound book.

Do I have to buy a copy of Sweater 101 to take this class?

No. I will give you the written and visual material to succeed with this project without owning Sweater 101.

Why are you doing this?

1) After teaching workshops across the country in 2010 I found there still is a need for this information . . . a simple, empowering, global approach to making sweaters that fit. Many knitters are afraid to tackle sweaters and/or have been disappointed, and even embarrassed by, the sweaters they have knit. There’s no need for this. It’s not nuclear physics. Anyone can learn the skills to make sweaters they’ll be proud of.

2) To get rid of my remaining hard-bound books (just under 2000). I don’t want to schlep 26+ pound boxes any more and my very local warehouse space will disappear soon. I can always rent a storage space 6 miles away but I’m ready to be out of the physical book business. I figure when people see how easy and sensible it is to make a sweater using this approach, they’ll probably want the book. If not, that’s OK with me.

3) I belong to a long tradition of passing on the crafts that make a home and a family. Grandma and Ma invested many hours teaching me skills to create beauty, comfort and pragmatic security in my life. It’s my turn to pass on those skills.

What if I don’t want to make a size 1 sweater? What if I want you to guide me through making a different size and/or style sweater?

Sweater 101 has all the measurements you need to make this sweater in 30 sizes as well as sweaters in different styles. If you want something entirely different, I offer knitting consulting services via Skype. My rate is $60 per hour, one hour minimum for the first consultation, payable in advance through PayPal.

IF YOU HAVE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS PLEASE POST THEM IN THE COMMENT SECTION BELOW. I WILL ANSWER THEM HERE AND THANK YOU IN ADVANCE FOR ASKING THEM.

24 comments

  1. Hi Cheryl, don’t know what I would do with out your videos!! You have really helped me. I am on oxygen 24/7 and it is hard for me to get out unless the weather is just right. I know you have had many sad stories and I am not asking for something for nothing, but I don’t have the money this month to buy the book but I really want it!! Do you think you will have any left the end of next month?? If so will you let me know. My email address is cowgirljl@embarqmail.com Again, I can’t tell you how you have helped me because I always have something I can do now
    Sincerely,
    Joan

  3. I have your book and love it, but would really like video instructions as well. I learn faster that way. When are your video instructions going to be available. PS, I have watched your old ones and am looking forward to what is up coming.

    Thanks in advance,

    Beverly

  4. Hello Sheryl, I have viewed several of your videos and liked your presentations. I’ve been trying to buy your books (hard copy and e-book) unsuccessfully. Links don’t work, what’s happening???
    I live in France and would like both an e-copy for immediate download and the hard copy for when the PC is not turned on. Could you make a special offer for both? I need Sweater 101 really baaaad. Please reply at my email address.
    Thank you so much for your service to humanity.

  6. Hi Cheryl,

    I enjoy watching your video on You Tube Getting to Know Your Bond. I have the Incredible Bond Sweater machine. I now have a table for it and am ready to start using it. The only thing is, the hem weight has 4 rods, 2 for the top and 2 for the bottom of the plastic hem weight they extend beyond the plastic weight. Being like that makes does not make it easy to use. Why are there 4 rods? And can I go to Home Depot and get two rods the length of the plastic hem weight? I think the whole thing would hang better. I don’t recall seeing rods extend beyond the plastic before.

    Thank you.
    Keep teaching.

    WillieMae

  7. Hi WillieMae,

    Without a picture it’s hard for me to give a good answer but I’ll make some guesses here. How far do the rods extend beyond the plastic? Have you checked to see if the plastic hem is fully stretched to it’s width?

    The weighted hem typically does come with the 4 bars and that’s the standard weight. If the rods truly were cut the wrong length, instead of buying new ones why not take the ones you have to Home Depot and have them cut shorter?

  8. Hi Cheryl,

    Can you help me figure out what I’m doing wrong? I’m trying to learn how to e-wrap and all I get is a stuck carriage. I put the carriage on the right side and then I wrap the needles, then put the yarn in the carriage but I get all stuck. I tried to find e-wrap when I looked through your videos but I didn’t find any.

    Thanks for your help.

    WillieMae
    gcefashions@aol.com

  11. Hi Vivian,
    I’m searching for studio space right now and I hope to have at least the first of two new workshops done by mid September. That’s the one that will go up on YouTube. The other workshop will go onto dvd exclusively. I know that lots of people throw things up on YouTube every week, but I work more slowly. Old-fashioned teacher I guess.

  12. Hi- I bought sweater 101 back in the days when it came in a folder! Now I am hoping you can give me some advice about using the Bond Incredible Sweater machine. I bought it on eBay. I am an experienced machine knitter with Brother machines but gave them all away some years back because I wasn’t using them. I thought the Bond would just let me do the boring bits of hand knitting projects. However, I can’t get it to work properly. The fabric guide doesn’t seem to push the fabric in enough with the result that the loops from the previous row do not pass over the latches properly when the needle comes out and do I end up with loops not new stitches. The only way I can get it to knit is by running my hand along underneath the fabric guide to push the fabric further in towards the table. I keep looking to see if I could have mis-assembled the carriage but I don’t think I have. I feel that if the fabric guide just pressed in a little further it would work. Any ideas? Thanks! Love the book and the videos.

  13. Hi Karen,

    Sorry it has taken me weeks to get back to you. My web presence does not have a graceful flow yet. It’s hard for me to track all of it and still live my life. I can’t remember what the ISM carriage is like and I don’t have one. Does it have a wire guide or just the wings? It sounds like a wire guide.

    You have the mechanics figured out already. The guide needs to push the fabric back further under the needles. And I’m guessing that you checked multiple times to make sure the wires on both sides were in the little “channels” that house them. I wonder if you can’t wedge some small thing like a toothpick end just in front of where the wire guide goes into its little holes and then break it off. This would force the wire back just a little bit.

    Don’t be afraid to try all kinds of workarounds like that. Even the Rube-Goldberg color technique with a piece of lathe or smoother piece of wood held in place by c-clamps might work. Good luck and sorry I can’t diagnose from a distance. However . . . know that the machine does not have tight tolerances and you can play with tape, toothpicks, Q-tips . . . any old thing you have around, to try to push that fabric guide back toward the knitting.

    And I’m glad you love the book and videos.

    Cheryl

  14. Thank you, thank you!!!! I am thrilled with your book, and now this wonderful web site. I plan to make the sweater along with you step by step because this is exactly what I’m wanting it learn. I’m anxious to understand each step of the process. I want to confidently knit a garment without the worry of whether it will fit or not. I have many beautiful patterns that I want to change slightly or use a yarn of my choice on, and now, thanks to your book I’ll be able to do that. (I am an experienced, intermediate level hand knitter, and also have owned a Bond for a few years too.–I have re-written a few patterns, but not with confidence that I was doing it right.) So thanks again, Cathy

  15. Cathy you are most welcome. And I’m pretty thrilled for you. Ask questions along the way if you have any. Let’s have you NAIL this process. Once you understand it it will seem logical and simple I bet.

  16. May I ask a question about the ultimate sweater machine? Mine is the newer model with the carriage that does not have the wire in front and the green key plates. I’ve been wondering if I should try to buy one of the older carriages. It looks easy to knit to a specific point, change yarn,etc. then continue on while watching the video with the older style carriage, but with the style I have, I can’t see or stop on an exact stitch. The design hides most of the front of the work. Also, would the clear key plates give another size or two that I do not have in the green ones? Just not sure that the carriages would be interchangeable either. Thanks, Cathy

  17. Sorry for not catching this earlier Cathy. I don’t have any experience with a USM or that carriage so I can’t make an informed recommendation. Do you belong to the USM Facebook group? There are people there who know which carriages are compatible with which versions. I do know that I have a KnitSmart carriage that works on my original BOND bed but I have to use the KnitSmart keyplates because it does not take my old keyplates.

  18. Hello Cheryl,

    Thank you SOO very much for your wonderful tutorial on how to work with the bond machine. I have been attempting to knit some laces on the bond but I am stuck at how do I do a 5 yo and a bobble. Any help would be appreciated.

    Dawn

  19. Hi Dawn,
    I refer you again to that same article. I’m not quite sure how to do a 5 yo and a bobble . . . exact hand=knitting instructions? There actually are some things that can’t be done on the machine, or that are so cumbersome that it’s not worth it, but this might be doable. My machine is over in my studio which is 6 miles away so I won’t be able to try it until I convalesce a bit more.

  20. Cheryl,
    I have just discovered knitting. Haven’t knitted anything yet because I’m not sure which route to take. I was looking at knitting machines and stumbled across your videos (you make it look so incredibly easy). I notice you use the ‘Bond’ knitting machine. While researching knitting machines I read reviews that this machine is ‘cheap’ and there are sites encouraging people to purchase more expensive machines. What is your opinion? Is the ‘Bond’ machine easy to use, reliable and worth the purchase for a beginner and would you recommend another machine instead, if so – why?

    Thank you so much,
    Angie

  21. Angie, I have no experience with the newer machines but I don’t think they are manufactured as well as the original ones. At least that’s what I’ve heard. I don’t do much machine knitting anymore so I don’t know what’s available. I have an old LK 140 that I like. It takes finer yarn than the bond and is better built.

  22. Hi Cheryl,

    I have been commissioned to knit a sweater coat, for pay, for a friend of mine. She wants a hood on this sweater coat and I have no idea how to do such a thing. Is it best to make the hood first and attach it or knit the hood to the coat as you go?

    Thanks!

    Barb Rickman
    Shelton CT

  23. Dear Cheryl,
    I tried to buy your book (hard bound) via internet, but the link failed ( just like in Brigittes case). I live in germany and it is not possible to get your book here. Another problem for me is the currency, we have € here.
    Is there a possibility for me to get your book anyway?
    Thank you very much!

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