When Andrea Wong was 7, her Brazilian mother taught her to knit in the Portuguese style. She hasn’t looked back! Following in her mother’s footsteps, she teaches Portuguese Knitting in her knitting courses! Here’s my review.
My Quick Recommendations
- Stranded Knitting Portuguese Style Masterclass – This online course is an excellent way to learn how to do colorwork using the Portuguese knitting method.
Table Of Contents
- Andrea’s Story
- Why I’m Reviewing Her Courses
- Stranded Knitting Portuguese Style (My Review)
- Things I Love
- What Surprised Me
- Things I’d Like Added
- Andrea’s Products To Help You Knit Portuguese Style
- Andrea Wong Knits Masterclasses
- Business Information
Andrea’s Story
Andrea was often asked to teach knitting when she arrived in the USA with her husband in the early 90s.
She discovered a passion for teaching and started a business where she could share her knitting skills. Besides presenting at Vogue Knitting Live and Stitches, she has a Craftsy class.
Andrea has adapted her teaching style and content. Want an efficient style with little hand movement? This is it! She celebrated 50 years of knitting in this style in 2022! Here’s an interview with her about her knitting journey.
Why I’m Reviewing Her Courses
One of my readers had a question about Fair Isle using the Portuguese style. I knew who could help, as I’ve been in touch with Andrea before about knitting using the Portuguese style.
Andrea kindly provided helpful information my reader appreciated. I’m so grateful to experts like Andrea who take the time to help others. I know they’re busy people!
I asked Andrea to review her Stranded Knitting Portuguese Style course to share with my readers. She accepted!
Andrea has taught for years. You may have seen her Youtube tutorials. She’s created new Masterclasses available on her website. Here are Andrea’s online classes.
Andrea Wong Knits Masterclasses
Stranded Knitting Portuguese Style (My Review)
I’m a total beginner in Portuguese Style Knitting. I want to learn Colorwork like stranded knitting and Fair Isle. I attempted stranded knitting using the English style method.
My floats were too tight, and the fabric puckered. I made many attempts! First, I have to master the basics. Like any new skill, practice is vital.
Andrea introduces her Stranded Colorwork course in an easy and friendly way. The system doesn’t cover Fair Isle or stranded colorwork in depth.
Instead, it covers the Portuguese method for colorwork designs.
Knowledge Of Portuguese Knitting Required
- Casting on
- Knit
- Purl
- Binding off.
There are eight lessons (80 mins). The longest is 13 minutes.
What You’ll Learn
- Stranded knitting flat and in the round
- Adjusting your tension (Portuguese Knitting Pins or yarn around your neck)
- Choosing colors
- Creating a 2 color hat in the round using the purl side facing you
- Creating a swatch knitted flat (Why not use it as a coaster?)
- How to read a colorwork chart – flat and in the round
Materials You Need
- Circular Needles for Knitting in the round
- Straight Needles for knitting flat
- Double-Pointed Needles for decreases for the crown of the hat
- Yarn
- Portuguese Knitting Pin x2 (Optional)
What Else Is included
- 2 PDF hat patterns designed by Andrea
- 4 PDF charts/Exercises
- 1 PDF blank chart for when you’d like to create your colorwork design
- Lifetime access – go back to it time and time again.
Do this left-handed or right-handed. Andrea is right-handed.
I recommend Andrea’s Portuguese Knitting Basics course first. You get plenty of practice, and your confidence grows.
Benefit from practicing the basics with Andrea’s demonstrations.
Things I Love
- Repeat sections of the videos until you understand. Slow down the demonstrations of the technique by adjusting the video speed.
- What Andrea prefers in needles and yarn, she suggests only if you can afford it.
- Video lessons are brief. It’s up to you to practice.
- A camera above Andrea films the methods, while a side camera shows her friendly face.
- The video quality and lighting are excellent.
- The basics of color theory helped me learn the importance of two contrasting colors.
- Extra tips like adding a new color
- She advises to check the fabric’s tension. If it puckers, adjust it. Rip back from where the tension changed and knit it again
- Blocking can’t fix floats that are too tight in most cases. Practice until you get the right tension.
- Andrea recommends books on Fair Isle Knitting, Armenian knitting, colorwork charts, and colorwork patterns.
What Surprised Me
The purl stitch is one of the easiest stitches in the Portuguese style. The tension of the yarn is tight.
The knit stitch looked trickier. If you knit English style or continental, Portuguese style knit seems complicated.
Interestingly, most students prefer the purl stitch and knit two colorwork facing the purl side.
She also points out knitting with the purl side facing, and only knitting purl stitches in the round makes the floats and tension much better.
If you knit the stitches, the floats are tighter, and the fabric puckers.
Andrea immerses her knits in cold salted water when blocking. This prevents color bleeding.
Things I’d Like Added
- I’d appreciate a view closer to Andrea’s hands as she worked. Particularly when she was showing how to catch floats
- Being a total newbie, I found she went too quickly. It’s important to do her basics course before undertaking this course.
- You can adjust the speed of the video to .75x or .5x. I watched her knitting the stitches at half speed and saw it more clearly.
- The video can’t display on full screen
- No subtitles
Other Courses
Portuguese Knitting Basics
Learning the Portuguese style of knitting and how to make stitches with this technique.
It covers
- The history
- Tensioning the yarn around the neck
- Using knitting pins
- 2 knit stitch methods
- Purl stitch – (Easier for beginners. Andrea teaches you to knit on the purl side of the work)
- Combinations of knit and purl stitches
- Increases and decreases
- How to cast on and bind off
- How to knit on the “non public side” as Andrea calls it using the Portuguese style purl stitch
- Andrea “translates” commercial knitting patterns to knit them in the Portuguese style
- 3 downloadable patterns for you to practice
Double Knitting Portuguese Style
There’s no intention to cover everything about double knitting in this course. Rather, how to do it the Portuguese way.
Classes cover:
- Double Knitting Flat with one color and two colors
- Methods for Cast Ons and Bind Offs
- Methods for Increases and Decreases
- Double Knitting with circular needles with one color and two colors
- Understand double-side fabrics
- 3 downloadable patterns to practice
Andrea’s Products To Help You Knit Portuguese Style
Andrea wrote a book on the techniques, the history, and interesting facts about the Portuguese knitting style.
Gorgeous Knitting Pins
Andrea’s shop has delightful knitting pins to hold the yarn in place.
You might like to try the knitted designs Andrea has created.
Business Information
Andrea is a designer and has been published in knitting magazines. Her designs are available on Ravelry.
Socials
Connect with Andrea on Instagram, Pinterest, and Youtube.
Contact
If you have questions for Andrea, she encourages you to email her at andreawongknits AT gmail DOT com. She loves hearing about your knitting progress and projects.
Or leave a message on her contact page here.
Shipping
All Andrea’s Masterclasses are delivered online. Once you sign up, you’ll be emailed your access details.
The physical products like the knitting pins are dispatched in 1-3 business days.
Knitting patterns are digital PDF format which you can print out at home if you wish.
Refund Policy
There is no refund for her Masterclasses. You get lifetime access which is excellent value for money.
Are These Course Right For You?
- Portuguese Knitting Basics – Excellent for learning Portuguese style techniques, how to hold your yarn, tension and the knit and purl stitch. Perfect for people brand new to this method of knitting.
- Double Knitting Portuguese Style- This assumes you have some experience in double knitting. It is great for learning how to double knit using the Portuguese method.
- Stranded Colorwork Portuguese Style- This course is wonderful for how to do stranded colorwork with the Portuguese knitting style. I’d highly recommend doing the basics course first.
Keen to learn Portuguese Style Knitting? Take these courses!
I highly recommend Andrea’s relaxed and encouraging tuition. I appreciate knitting experts who share their skills.
Looking for other talented knitting bloggers?
Read next: Knitting’s Fascinating History
