Classes

Classes

Zigzag Crochet: A Beginner’s Guide to Ripples & Waves

Learn how to bend stripes into cool shapes, from spiky chevrons to gentle waves. With texture or lace, and always with colour! I designed this class around a baby-blanket pattern, and I walk you through the project from beginning to end. There’s loads more in class, too! Learn how to use a zigzag pattern to make a project of any size, from a scarf to a king-size blanket. Explore how yarn weight and gauge affect the size of your projects, play with loads of colour, and learn how to handle all the pesky ends you have to deal with when you work in stripes. Discover how to make a wide variety of patterns, including feather and fan, and learn how to introduce variations into patterns so you can alter the way they look.

〝This class was a great overview and inspired me to make or design something fun and colorful. I always appreciate learning about the mechanics of why a crochet stitch pattern does what it does. Thank you for another great class!

Liz

Zigzag Crochet student

Crochet: Basics & Beyond

Craftsy Crochet Basics & Beyond title card

In this online class at Craftsy, go at your own pace to learn all the basics of crochet. I cover the stitches, tools and techniques you need to get started with crochet, from selecting the right yarn and deciphering yarn labels to properly holding your hook and working yarn. You’ll learn the basic chain stitch along with single, half-double, double and treble crochet, and the slip stitch. Then you’ll move on to learn how to work in rows, and how to keep your crochet on track and troubleshoot rows gone wrong. You’ll also learn three different ways to get started working in the round, and you’ll become comfortable reading patterns. Finally, combine your new skills to create a charming granny square blanket you’ll be proud to display or give. Craftsy has an amazing online classroom that allows you to re-watch the same 30 seconds of video over and over again if you need to really see something, and you can speed up or slow down the video at any time, too. I check in on my class regularly to answer questions – as with all Craftsy classes, access to the teacher is included.

Next Steps in Crochet

Next Steps in Crochet class image

In the follow-up to my first, beginner, Craftsy class, build on your basic crochet skills to make classic fabrics like shells and ripples (AKA chevrons or zigzags), textured fabrics like bobbles and popcorns, and learn the basic concepts behind cables and lace, including how to make post stitches and why math is important (and not scary). I spend a fair bit of time in class outlining how sweaters are constructed, so you’ll feel comfortable and confident choosing your first sweater pattern to follow. I’ve even included a simple baby-sweater pattern in the class materials so you can get your feet wet with my hand to hold if you want it. Along those lines, I also cover basic seaming and edging techniques, how to make buttonholes, and how to block your projects so your finished items look fabulous. Craftsy has an amazing online classroom that allows you to re-watch the same 30 seconds of video over and over again if you need to really see something, and you can speed up or slow down the video at any time, too. I check in on my class regularly to answer questions – as with all Craftsy classes, access to the teacher is included.

〝I love every class you teach on Craftsy. I didn’t fully understand how to crochet until I found your class.

Kenyata Miller

student

〝Your enthusiasm is contagious! I’m still a fairly new crocheter (thanks to your beginner class) and would be excited to learn this technique. Beautiful results!

Kay Belzner

Crochet: Basics & Beyond student

Crochet in the Round: Basics and Beyond

Learn all about crocheted circles, hats and pillows in my class Crochet in the Round: Basics & Beyond!

I designed five projects for this class that’s all about circles and things you make from them. Not only will you get all five patterns with your class registration, I’ll also teach you how to make each one. There’s a basic hat (which, with a bit of imagination, could be made into a million different hats), a beret, a mandala, a floor pouf and a pillow. In class, we’ll explore finding a good rhythm when working round after round of increases, what to do if your circle starts to warp or ruffle, and what to consider when you crochet projects that will be stuffed. As with all Craftsy classes, you’ll be able to slow down any parts of the video you want to see in more detail, you’ll be able to put sections onto a 30-second repeat so you can easily watch them again and again till you get it, and I’ll check in regularly to answer any questions you have as you go.

〝I love this class. Kim is so fun, easy going she makes me laugh and smile. Kim is a great instructor. She shows her students, very slowly how to crochet new fabric with any of the basic stitches we learned in class. Thank You Kim, for sharing the world of knowledge, at least some of what you have learned.

Edith Braun

Next Steps in Crochet student

〝I’ve taken your course Crochet: Basics and Beyond and learned so much from it! Thank you!

Vanessa

Crochet: Basics & Beyond student

Embrace the Ugly: How to Break Through What’s Holding You Back in Business

Embrace the Ugly CreativeLive header image

You’ve got a problem. We all do. Every single one of us is walking around certain that if other people knew about shortcoming X, Y, or Z, they’d think less of us. And that negative thinking is a major hurdle on the road to real success in business.

Embrace the Ugly: How to Break Through What’s Holding You Back in Business is all about shedding light on the stuff you don’t want to say out loud and transforming your negative thoughts into creative catalysts that benefit your business.

In this class you’ll learn about the concept of Mighty Ugly, a framework that celebrates the benefits of failure. Through interactive lessons, you’ll identify and embrace the ugly parts of your business – you’ll get help addressing what holds you back so you can shift “the problem”, and resolve it. You’ll learn tools that will help you:

  • Overcome self-doubt as an entrepreneur
  • Abolish professional perfectionism
  • Dismiss your fear of failure
  • Eliminate irksome business blocks
  • Conquer procrastination

You’ll do exercises that will keep you creative even as you struggle with balancing your books, promoting your work, managing social media, or whatever else holds you back.

Embrace the Ugly: How to Break Through What’s Holding You Back in Business will empower you to confront the most personally challenging aspects of being a working creative. You’ll identify the problems that are unique to you and learn universal skills you can use to embrace and, ultimately, overcome them.

Embrace the Ugly on CreativeLive

〝I’ve been crocheting for years and this is the first class I’ve done. I learned more in this class than I have from any book or internet blog out there.

Meg

Next Steps in Crochet

〝I want to say “Thank You” to Kim and to Craftsy for letting Kim teach me how to crochet. I have been wanting to learn for decades (literally), but it was during this class, the techniques, the closeups and instructions finally gave me a light bulb moment. So far, I have crocheted 2 “dish cloths” while practicing my stitches. I can now easily count my stitches at the end of the row.

Kathy

Crochet: Basics & Beyond student