I was just down in Manchester, NH, to teach at the Interweave Knitting Lab (Oct 4-7). It was really a wonderful event – all sorts of classes with all sorts of instructors, all concentrated in one hotel/conference centre.
I taught two different classes – Lace Design and Shawl Construction. It was a lot of fun.
In the Shawl Construction class we talked about how to work the increases and decreases in order to shape the canvas of your shawl – a lot of what is covered in my Shaping Shawls book, but we also branded out and talked about how to construct a number of other shapes as well.
In the Lace Design class (which I taught twice), we then talked about how to fill those canvases (shawls) with lovely lace patterns. 
Everyone was hard at work. Some parts were an individual effort, since as a designer, you have to make sure that you understand how the increases and decreases work together, and how it affects the overall shawl. And some parts were done in groups, so that people could feed off each others’ creativity, and also to make it go a bit faster. All in all, I was impressed with the designs and hope to see some of them in the future. 
I also brought a ton of samples to use as examples and teaching props. It’s quite remarkable how many I’ve amassed over the years.
All sorts of colours. All sorts of shapes. All sorts of yarn weights and fibre contents. Together they become a colourful medley of shawls.
It was also great to see so many lovely knitters, designers and instructors. I hope to see some of you this weekend at Rhinebeck. If you’re there, come say hello. I’ll be in the Cooperative Press booth, in Building C.
I was in one of those Shawl Shaping classes. It was great! Well organized, good pace and very informative. And I have just snagged some Madtosh Pashmina to use in a shawl design. So thanks, Anna.