Zoom knitting classes…….. you’ll be amazed at how great a zoom knitting class can be!
Like many many people in the world, my business of teaching knitting classes, workshops and one-to-one ‘clinics’ came to a shuddering halt in March 2020 when the pandemic locked down the whole country. At first I thought this would be for a few weeks, or a couple of months at most, and that we would be back in the classroom happy to see each other, share knitting projects and learn new knitting techniques all the while enjoying a delicious cup of coffee and socializing.
I immediately started some whatsapp groups and a weekly zoom session to keep everyone in touch and to give people somewhere to ‘go’ and to meet up once a week during lockdown.
As it became clear that this situation was not changing, it became clear to me that I was going to have to change my business model to an online model and that zoom was going to be at the heart of my knitting classes going forward.
I used my i-phone a second webcam for overhead shots of my hands, set up a pile of books to have my laptop at the right level for ‘eye to eye’ contact with my students , found a suitable lamp to light the ‘set’ and began with a series of free zoom classes which were a learning curve for both myself and my students.
Zoom surprised me!
I soon found that zooming still gave the feeling of togetherness. We showed and shared projects and ideas.
I could still give the 1-to-1 attention that had been so important in my real life classes by using zoom’s ‘breakout rooms’, which gives the rest of the class the opportunity to socialize ( another important element of my weekly classes)
Using the overhead camera is amazing for close up technique demonstrations…. so much better than squinting across a table!
And there’s the ‘share’ function…..
I can hop onto the internet in the middle of a class to share Pinterest, Ravelry or YouTube where necessary. I can share a file from my computer. I can share photos from my phone. …. and I can allow my students to do the same! It’s fantastic!
And there’s the ‘record’ function…..
I can record all or part of a session to share later with my students.
I can allow a student to record a ‘breakout’ session/1-to-1 tutorial to refer back to later.
I still forward written notes by email to my students after class which continues a tangible connection that we had before the pandemic.
An of course there is the fact that zoom is available all over the world ……..which has brought me new students from different parts of Ireland, U.K, Australia, Canada and the U.S.A ! That would never have happened without zoom!
We are all looking forward to the day when real life ‘in person’ knitting classes, workshops and clinics can resume but looking forward I can safely say that my future business will include BOTH real life and zoom classes allowing me to grow my reach and help more people begin and enjoy their knitting journey.
here’s a clip of a zoom knitting class in action!