Bang Out a Sweater: Waffle Pullover with Lorilee Beltman

Bang! Zoom! We’re hosting a multi-session workshop to guide knitters through making a sweater, start to finish. Whether it’s your first sweater or your fiftieth, having Lorilee Beltman leading the way will make for a rich learning experience—and an amazing new sweater.

This will be a virtual workshop series on Zoom. No kit is included, but we provide the pattern so you can get the yarns you’ll need to knit your Waffle Pullover. Read on for all the details and to reserve your place.

SCHEDULE

Session 1: Friday, January 30, 2026—Starting Off Right

Time: Noon-2 p.m. Eastern time

Location: Zoom—this is a virtual event.

Lesson:

1. Materials and gauge swatch checkup.
2. How to choose a size.
3. Learn the techniques: mosaic knitting, slip stitch pattern using two colors, and German short rows.
4. Tips on shaping with the mosaic stitch pattern.
5. Learn how to avoid errors by marking certain stitches.

Lorilee will send us off with homework: how far to get and what to have ready for Session 2.

Session 2: Friday, February 13, 2026—Into the Thick of It

Time: Noon-2:00 p.m. Eastern time

Location: Zoom—this is a virtual event.

Lesson:

1. Check in and troubleshoot our work since Session 1.
2. Sweater try on with fit strategies.

Session 3: Friday, February 27, 2026—Celebrate

Time: Noon-2:00 p.m. Eastern time

Location: Zoom—this is a virtual event.

Lesson:

1. Check in and troubleshoot our work since Session 2.
2. Bind off demo.
3. Blocking tips.
4. Time to ask Lorilee about any remaining issues that require help.
5. Designer Amy Christoffers will join us!
6. Joyful celebration: we’re there—or nearly there! Show and tell!

Your order confirmation email will include a link to a PDF with the Zoom meeting link for all sessions.  

Our Workshop Leader

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After leading scores of knitters in last year’s Bang Out a Sweater sprint, legendary knitting teacher Lorilee Beltman returns to guide us through the beautiful texture stitch and lovely shaping details of Amy Christoffers’s Waffle Pullover.

Lorilee sees no end to where knitting curiosity can take you, and she loves to help knitters make new discoveries. Patient with students, Lorilee packs her classes with content and extra tips you can really use. A born teacher, she has enjoyed teaching knitters at over a hundred national events, and she looks forward to meeting you.

Praise for last year’s Bang Out a Sweater with Lorilee:

• Thank you so much for these sessions. Each was more than worth the price. I have watched each 2+ times and am still learning from them. I will be referring to them in the future so am glad they will be available. Lorilee is amazing and most patient.
• Excellent instruction! I watched none of videos live (west coast/Alaska person) because the timing never worked BUT being able to watch the full recordings was great. I appreciate learning so many practical tips along the way.
• Hi, your knitting class was one of the very best that I’ve ever had. I’ve never done a sweater or used this type of yarn and I know I couldn’t have done it without your class!

Lorilee’s articles and designs have been published in books, magazines, and online. She has been a yarn shop owner, a Knit Stars masterclass teacher, a techniques columnist at Knitty.com, and an online instructor at Interweave and at Craftsy, where her classes are bestsellers.

Lorilee grew up in Pittsburgh, spent thirty years in west Michigan, and now calls the Seattle area home. When not knitting or growing veggies, she can be found on the pickleball court playing for fun or teaching beginners as a certified pickleball coach.

Find out more about Lorilee at lorileebeltman.com.

What you’ll need

Here is the sizing information and yarn requirements for the Waffle Pullover as shown in MDK Field Guide No. 29.

Knitted Measurements

Bust: 36.5 (42.75, 48.75, 54.75) (61, 67, 73.25)” [92.5 (108.5, 124, 139) (155, 170, 186) cm] Length: 19.25 (20.25, 21.75, 22.25) (24.25, 24.75, 25.75)” [49 (51.5, 55, 56.5) (61.5, 63, 65.5) cm]

Sizes

To fit bust sizes 26-33 (32-39, 38-45, 44-51) (50-57, 56-63, 62-69)” [66-84 (81.5-99, 96.5-114.5, 112-129.5) (127-145, 142-160, 157.5-175.5) cm]

Materials

• Jane by Modern Daily Knitting [1.75 oz (50 g) skeins, each approx 125 yds (114 m), 75% Falkland wool/25% Masham wool]: Solid Color Version 9 (10, 12, 13) (15, 16, 17) skeins Yorkshire Two-Color Version 5 (6, 7, 7) (9, 9, 10) skeins Yorkshire (A) 4 (5, 5, 6) (7, 7, 8) skeins Bluebell (B)
•  Size US 7 (4.5 mm) circular needles, 16″ (40 cm) and 32″ (80 cm) long, and dpns (set of 4 or 5), or size needed to achieve gauge
• Size US 5 (3.75 mm) circular needles, 16″ (40 cm) and 32″ (80 cm) long, and dpns (set of 4 or 5)
• Stitch markers
• Removable stitch markers (optional)

A Note on Color Combinations

There are more than 200 combinations that can be made from the 22 colors of Jane. In the interest of saving you hundreds of swatches and a year of experiments, here are our a few of our favorite pairings. 

Cameo and Aubergine

Heather and Scarlet

Juniper and Marigold

Pampas and Citronelle

Peony and Caladium

Sage and Pathos

Shadow and Persimmon

Inquiring Minds Want to Know

Is Bang Out a Sweater suitable for beginning knitters? Yes—we sure wish Lorilee had been standing by when we knit our first sweaters! You will get the most out of the class if you are comfortable with basic knitting techniques, including: casting on, knitting, purling, and knitting in the round.  Lorilee will have tips and guidance on everything you need to know.

How should I get ready for the workshop? Print out the Waffle Pullover pattern from Field Guide No. 29 and gather your needles, yarn, and tools needed for the Waffle Pullover. Be sure to have pen and paper handy for making notes. To get the most out of the first session with Lorilee, make a gauge swatch in the Waffle Pullover’s mosaic pattern.

What’s the format? With Lorilee’s instruction and an overhead camera focused on her hands, we’ll check our swatches, talk about sizing and ease, learn about the Waffle Pullover construction, and then get on the road to glory by casting on. The sessions will focus on different parts of the sweater as we reach them together. The final session will celebrate our finished (or nearly finished) Waffle Pullovers, with time for Lorilee to answer final questions. Participant mics will be muted most of the time, and the chat box will be monitored constantly for questions from participants. Remember, this is a three-part series, so clear your calendars for all three sessions!

How far along on my sweater can I expect to get during the workshop? That is the best part! If you knit along with us throughout February, by the end of the three workshops you can expect to have a brand-new Waffle Pullover. The workshop sessions are timed to allow participants to reach progress milestones together.  The Waffle Pullover is not oversized; it combines a blissful simplicity with interesting techniques to keep a knitter engaged.

What if I want to work at my own pace? You can do that! While it’s fun to race through a sweater in a month’s time, there’s no pressure whatsoever to do that. All participants will receive Lorilee’s helpful notes and tips, and we will keep the video recordings available to participants indefinitely.

I can’t make it to all of the live Zoom sessions. May I still participate? Yes! Everyone enrolled in the workshop will receive a link to the recording for each session and all resources we share.