Updated 09/21/11. PDF download now available with modifications for MyJewelThief’s color block version.

Originally published at Detroit News Online*
Fingerless gloves by Ann Brogran
There’s a certain bonding that occurs among a group of crafters sitting together creating their handwork. It was that feeling which led Anne Brogren of Bloomfield Township to open her own knit shop back in 1995.

“I love getting together with groups of women where there’s a common sort of handcraft -- something more happens,” explains Brogren, owner of Right Off the Sheep in Birmingham. “It’s like a quilting bee. The connection gets you together, and then something sort of happens. That’s the feeling I’ve always wanted to get in my shop.”

Along with that close-knit feeling she enjoys with other crafters, Brogren feels her weaving skills also led to her craft-related business venture. “I think my background as a weaver just sort of evolved into opening a knit shop,” she says.

Classes in “open knitting” are available at Right Off the Sheep. “I find that’s the best way to do it because the less experienced can learn from the more experienced knitter,” she says. “I like to take a person from where they are to where they want to be. I have six-week sessions and you sign up for classes -- a two-hour period every week. It evolves into what you want to learn to knit.”

Brogren says everyone working in the shop knows how to write a knit pattern. Right now the most popular one is for a cool pair of fingerless gloves. “It’s so popular among 20- to 30-year-olds, high school and college kids, or someone who has cold hands but wants their fingers free,” she says.