This CGOA Conference Broke the Mold!!

Have returned from Manchester NH to report that Chain Link 2008 (a.k.a. Knit and Crochet Show) was like no other conference ever!

pictured: Yvonne Tate (bklynvonne) handing out Ravelry buttons

Here's a list of firsts:

- CGOA's Design Contest was a great success! 115 high caliber entries means oh yes, we'll be doing this again. Thanks to Treva McCain for all of her hard work to make it happen.

- We had a record number of door prizes. For PD Day alone, every attendee (about 145) won at least 1 door prize. PD Day was the best ever so I'll have to blog more about that. (Pictured: Myra Wood and Jennifer Hansen in foreground; behind them, Robyn Chachula, presenters Jean Leinhauser and Rita Weiss, and at the podium, Jane Schwartz and Drew Emborsky.)

- In addition to creating this year's PD Day, Drew took over the job of emceeing the fashion show from the illustrious Lily Chin this year. (Drew, your Italian bespoke emcee jacket was spectacular.) He did a wonderful job, which freed up Lily to do some fabulous modeling on the runway.

- New 30-minute afternoon fashion show in the Market--therefore Drew's managing and emceeing of it is an automatic first, plus, Tammy Hildebrand agreed to model!

- Another fashion show first is the pre-show training generously provided by ex-model Melanie Mays. Another first I guess is that I didn't enter any of my own designs in the fashion show(s) this time. I modeled other people's, such as Annette Stewart's fun flouncy miniskirt (a contest entry).

- One other fashion show first is the way everyone just cleared out after the show on Saturday night. We didn't even have our usual post-show design lab!

- New CGOA Director Lorraine Lucas is a guild member-at-large, so the hobbyist members who are not in the business of selling yarn or designs now have a representative on the board. I found out that Lorraine is just the person you want to spend hours in a coffeehouse with before getting drenched by torrential rains on the way back to the conference. Wish I had a photo of that.

- Some other first-time attendees besides Lorraine: Carrie Sullivan, Amy Shelton (Crochetville admin), Renee Barnes (CrochetRenee'), Kimberly McAlindin, Jerry Rigdon, Jack Blumenthal, and Jess and Casey of Ravelry. New-to-me at the conference were Kim Guzman, Kristen TenDyke, and Gloria Tracy! New-to-many (but a sweet reunion for me) was Jenny King! In fact, we had the highest number of pre-registered attendees ever.

- We added a Committee Meet & Greet to the Members' Annual Meeting, and many chairpersons instantly found new volunteers for their committee this way.

- The Thursday night Market preview was hoppin'!! I think it was a good move to have Mary Beth Temple doing her live Getting Loopy podcast from the show floor right at the entrance so that no one could miss it. Her daughter "LL" was the perfect assistant. I want to thank the dozens of attendees who were happy to call in to the podcast and talk with MBT for a few minutes. They were less shy than I was! I'm told it made for a record download.

Follow the conversation in Crochetville.

Read about the conference at these blogs:

Karen D Creations

CrochetWithDee

My Hooks and Needles

CrochetbyFaye

Everyday Crochet

Getting Loopy

Addicted to Alpaca

Stoneview

CrochetRenee

I especially enjoyed the conference entries at Fire Lizard Studios, which is a blog I haven't seen before.

CGOA, Collectible Hooks, and Dee Stanziano!

My blog posts are stumbling over themselves to be written. Now that I have updated my handout for the Trendy Crochet class that I teach every year, I can resume blogging.

An article that I wrote for Yarn Market News (May'08, page 36) about CGOA's commemorative crochet hooks has been reprinted in full here (scroll down to June 16 entry). If you don't know what "HAS" is, the article will fill you in.

It's an honor to see my article on Dee Stanziano's blog! A big thank you to the YMN editor, Karin Strom, for giving permission to reprint it, and a big hug to Dee. (Can you tell from her photo how huggable she is?)You can see the classes she'll be teaching at the CGOA conference here (scroll down to "Stanziano").

This is a great time to thank Dee also for being CGOA's Volunteer Email Correspondent for six years. If anyone had a crochet question, Dee was there to answer! But that's not all. This amazing CGOA member also moderates the Hook Collector's Group forum (this is a special group within CGOA), has a large and happily active CGOA Chapter in Connecticut, is active in a wide variety of crochet forums, and has agreed to lead one of the guild's most important committees. Not only that but her husband and kids are delightful.

If you haven't yet met Dee, attend the conference next month and sign up for one of her classes!

More TNNA Show Highlights: the PEOPLE

This is the last installment of my TNNA trilogy: photos and a name avalanche!

We have the photogenic Kristin Omdahl who wore her own beautiful designs every day of the show. Here's a great pic of Ellen Gormley (who wore her own stylish designs every day to great effect) and that's Doris Chan between Ellen and me. Doris was ready to celebrate the successful taping of her TV episode and although she couldn't wear the China Doll (see story here), the blue lace top she's wearing will show up magnificently on film.

The last two pics were taken at the fashion show. We have The Crochet Dude (Drew) and the Crochet Insider (Dora) gearing up to cheer for the 1% crochet content; and on the other side of me sat the radiant Diane Moyer, who endured my cheeky mood that night. We roomed together this year and believe me, she awakes every morning with a rosy glow and her hair looks already styled.

Steady yourself for the name avalanche: I had remarkable first-time conversations with these new friends: Sandi Wiseheart, Maggie Pace, and Clara Parkes. I treasure the quality time I got to spend with Ellen, Kristin, Amy O'Neill Houck, and Annie Modesitt, in addition to the usual suspects (Marty Miller, Jane Schwartz, Mary Beth Temple, Doris, Drew, Dora, Diane). Finally got to meet Jess and Casey and Mary-Heather! I've come to count on seeing Stitchdiva groove a conference! Can you believe Prudence Mapstone's biz trip to Columbus overlapped with TNNA for a few hours before her flight back to Oz? I wish I'd been able to get an espresso (or something) with Robyn Chachula, Kim Werker, Nancy Brown, and Karin Strom (to name a few) and don't worry, I did get espressos, but always when none of these folks was nearby. I kept wishing I could see TNNA regulars Margaret Hubert, Gwen Blakley Kinsler, Mary Jane Hall, Kathleen Greco, and Cari Clement but they couldn't make it this time. Should I list more people I loved meeting or wish that I'd met at TNNA? Because I'm afraid I'm leaving someone out. I haven't even mentioned the cool yarn shop owners I met. Nor have I really talked about the published sweaters walking the show in living breathing 3D.

Supposedly TNNA is about yarn, but it's really about the people. And the way they drape yarn all over themselves.

Crochet and TNNA 2008

Let's get down to brass tacks, shall we? You'll find lots of knit-focused blog entries about TNNA-Columbus right now but take a walk with me on the crochet side. My overall hit from this show? Crochet is solidly on the up in knitworld. [I have a dream that someday it will be more accurate to say 'yarnworld' instead] From whence comes such an impression?

Not TNNA's fashion show, which was composed of the same ratio of crochet to knit as the other two years I've attended (oh, about 1% crochet content). What gets shown on the runway is the result of many factors though, so I'll just leave it at that.

Crocheted garments were sprinkled into many show booths, so crochet fairies have been working hard. These garments ranged from magically delicious to practical classics. Some draped more than the knits; some knit sweaters weighed more than the crocheted ones. [There will come a day when I won't feel the need to point this out] One might be tempted to say that this is what causes my "crochet's on the rise" tingles, but not really--there was some great crochet last year. Tinkerbell is a crocheter.

Here's where something truly new is going on: a new attitude among enough knitting attendees to matter, whether they be yarn shop owners or even 'knit establishment' insiders. Knit blinders are off! People are looking at crochet in its own right, not mentally comparing it to knits [and then coming out with a biased verbal gaff]. Crochet designers as a group [not just big names] seem to have earned some credibility somewhere along the line. An open-minded interest is replacing the closed-minded stony-face that crocheters have encountered for years.

I wish I could go into some specifics that reinforce my impressions but I'm sorry I have to be discreet else how will someone be able trust me with secrets in the future? :-)

Crochet's stock is going up. Isn't it great?

Yarn Discoveries at the TNNA Show

This is my first day back from the show, exhausted and happy, so here's a simple list of special yarn discoveries. More on the show tomorrow.

Unusual fiber content:
Silver (yes, the metal, though it doesn't look at all metallic): Zaol BioRope contains "mirawave" which is a silver-content fiber that is supposed to lend the yarn special properties such as being antimicrobial and conducting heat away from the body.

Jadeite (yes, the rock known as jade!) SWTC's "Therapi" is 30% jadeite.

Vicuna, Qiviuk, Guanaco yarns and blends: the yarns were heavenly and so were the first-rate crocheted samples in the booth! (At the website some of the crocheted designs are called "knit".) Here's a hairpin crochet wrap in handspun qiviuk and silk; here's a qiviuk wedding dress.

Milk fiber: Kollage's "Creamy" in icecreamy colors!

Recycled soda bottles? There is a new polar fleece yarn and I can't remember its name nor could I make it to that booth but Marty did and I love the projects she crocheted up already. The yarn looks great crocheted and has all the best qualities of chenille with none of the drawbacks! Hopefully she'll comment here or blog about it herself.

Z-twisted yarns: the yarn is plied with a counterclockwise twist, whereas many yarns (in the US anyway) are s-twisted, which is clockwise. Yeah, I'm the only one I know who actually has a thing for z-twisted yarns. Call me weird, but when I really like the way the yarn makes my stitches look and there's zero splitting, the z-twist is often the reason. (Lefties might prefer s-twist.) When I spot a z-twisted yarn I buy it because I know that even 20 years from now, if it's still in my stash, I'll still enjoy crocheting it.

-Two ShibuiKnits yarns: Highland Wool Alpaca; Merino Alpaca.
-Plymouth's Oceanside Organic.
-Be Sweet's Bamboo. 100% Bamboo yarns usually split on me so I've been anxious to try a z-twisted one. There's also a z-twisted bamboo blend called Naturallycaron.com Spa.
-Two Zaol yarns: the silver-content BioRope (see above) and the lace weight 100% tencel Olive.

After attending previous TNNA shows where designer inquiries were not always welcome (as Stefanie mentioned in her blog today), I didn't even bother asking for samples of the above yarns to swatch with. Now that I've blogged about them I wish I had!

Icy Bling for Warm Climes

Crocheted this up and wore it with a white shirt and white shimmery eyeshadow for my first day of holiday shopping, humming "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas" even though it was 82 degrees. Had worn its prototype to the CGOA conference and Deanna vanAssche said, "WILMA FLINTSTONE!!" and so we did a deal and she took it home. Made another, wore it to my son's school, and all the third-grade girls were mesmerized and asked if they were real (I said yes....). Made another with red and green crystal drops, and my neighbor, Kathy, took that one home.

I MISS SNOW! It's HOT here. I'm sorry to complain but it's been summer all year. People here are actually getting heatstroke and heat exhaustion. I have to remind myself to drink enough water. We need the A/C on to be able to sleep at night.

I have some mighty-fine alpacas, merinos, and cashmeres in my yarn stash but am nowhere near able to enjoy crocheting them or wearing them. I keep eyeing the linens and cottons.

Anne blogged the best list I've ever read of what is lovable about snow. I grew up in Wisconsin and her list brought back memories!

Orlando Needlework Show Wrap-up

Took two excellent classes at the show and realized I didn't blog about them: Lily Chin's Color, Composition, Scale, Stitch and Pattern in 2-Dimensional Design and Darla Fanton's Tunisian Entrelac-to Felt or Not; Part 1-In the Round.

I've never seen this one offered by Lily before, so I had to take it out of curiosity. Within in the first 5 minutes I knew I was in the right class when she asked, "What is the difference between Art and Design?" I spent the rest of the conference mulling over our discussion!

It's funny to me now to type "Tunisian Entrelac in the Round" because before I took Darla's class it sounded exotic and advanced. I had never done any kind of tunisian crochet in the round, let alone entrelac. Yet it was perfectly easy to learn in class and I never once thought, "Holy cow, this tunisian entrelac in the round is crazy stuff". It seems more natural than working flat, actually.

I finished my project in class: a bowl to felt (see above photo). Now that I have it home, though, it's very soft and is the perfect size for my Hat Guru, so I think instead of felting it I'll edge the brim and let it be a hat!

The last bit of news is: YES Floridians! There WILL be another Orlando Needlework Show in September 2008!

UPDATE (Dec. 7): Dates for 2008 are being revised.

Report: Orlando Needlework Show

Marty and I attended the Orlando Needlework Show just before Thanksgiving and I think of it now as the "Conference of Pleasant Surprises".

It marks the first wearing of my silvery-sage wrap design, which is published in Jean and Rita's 100 Crochet Projects as part of a set (it has a matching pencil skirt). I'm happy to report that it was a wonderful companion--it kept me warm, the textured row created flattering diagonal lines of drama, the stretchy yarn caused it to cling to my shoulders, and best of all, my wrap and I basked in compliments. Marty is a witness.

I almost didn't bring the wrap because I didn't know if I'd want to be tugging to keep it on my shoulders all day, but instead I'm now into wraps and shawls. I like how wide this one is because I could wrap it around me 4 different ways. I remember intending it to be 70" wide, but the yarn is so stretchy that it becomes 84" wide, which originally worried me. Now, after wearing it all day, I'm glad.

The CGOA booth in the market was hoppin'! Debby somehow kept up with all the questions and new member app's coming at her right and left! Plus, current CGOA members were treated to a complimentary light-up hook just for visiting the booth. Marty was the perfect person to field questions on teaching children how to crochet.

We wore crochet everywhere and saw little of it. This is, after all, traditionally a scrapbooker's conference, so we weren't surprised; but it was remarkable how many people were there for crochet specifically. It also seemed like these crocheters were not newbies. In fact I talked to a yarn shop owner in north-central Florida who said she has so many advanced crocheters coming into her shop that she doesn't know what to do (she's a knitter herself). I was in a daze when I heard that. I'm noticing something similar at the new yarn shop where I'm teaching--advanced crocheters are coming out of the woodwork.

Who knew Florida is a hooker's hotbed? (sorry, couldn't help that)

CGOA Design Contest!

I'm very proud to be able to announce our First Annual Design Contest. It's the real thing--$1000 Grand Prize! Plus First, Second, and Third prizes in 4 different categories. Plus a People's Choice Award. All of the entries will be displayed and winners announced at our national conference held July 23-27 2008 in Manchester, NH. The deadline for entries is June 15, 2008.

The board members of CGOA have been laying the groundwork for it for the past year so I've been waiting a long time to be able to announce it! Being our FIRST ANNUAL design contest, that's code for we're learning a lot as we go with this first one and we have high hopes that it will become a regular thing. So the categories might expand or change next year, or the rules tweaked, you know. We've already been getting helpful feedback. One important rule is that you must be a CGOA member and if you're not, it's easy enough to join.

The designer in me perks up at $1000, how about the designer in you?! (That's a 1934 Grover Cleveland bill pictured above.)

New! Jelly Yarn Bottle Tote KIT

My first crochet kit debuts at the Stitches East conference in Baltimore THIS WEEK! It will be available at Booth #314
during the conference and then permanently available at the Jelly Yarns website.

I'm always using water bottle totes here in the subtropics and of all the totes I've used, Jelly Yarn is ideal material. It stretches to fit the widest range of bottle sizes and scrunches down small to fit in my purse. It's strong and indestructible! The transparent colors make me thirsty when the sun shines through!

The kit does not include the beads, buttons, or ribbons that you see in this photo, these are just experimental styles (I took this photo back when I was considering teaching a class in using Jelly Yarn because I consider this pattern to be an easy learning project.) The kit DOES provide 2 patterns--for a smaller tote using fine weight Jelly Yarns (all water bottles under 1 liter) and a larger one using the bulky weight JY.

The larger tote on the far right is clear with gold flecks ("Honey Gold Bulky") and it reminded me of champagne so I dressed it up as a wedding/anniversary champagne/wine tote.

Oakland CGOA Conference: Design "Lab"

It is becoming a tradition among a small group of designers that after the conference fashion show we meet in a convenient place (i.e. the hotel bar) and try on each other's crochet. Yes it's FUN (REALLY fun) and yes it usually draws a crowd, but don't be fooled, it's research.

I described it recently in a comment on jd wolfe's blog:
"At the crochet conferences some of us get together and try on each other’s designs and learn LOTS about the design itself this way. For example three different size Large people could all wear your design differently because one has wide bony shoulders, another is short and rounded, another needs a very different color or texture for it to look good at all on her. Not only that but it’s amazing how differently people stand and move, so if you design something with a lot of drape, it will also look very different from person to person. A lot of the time, one size really does fit many when designers try on each other’s designs, because crochet stretches (despite what knitters say). But one size can look like many different sizes."

Photo #1 L to R: Laurie Wheeler et moi are wearing & flaring Karen Klemp's shawls while Karen sports the "Chain Link Capelet" I designed for the CGOA Pattern Line (pattern purchase benefits the guild). A better view of Laurie's top is at her blog entry--it's her own design featuring real feathers spun into the yarn.

Photo #2 L to R: Myra Wood flauntsMarty Miller's Spiderweb Cardigan while Margaret Fisher exploits the brimming savoir faire of Myra's Wild Fiber Tunic Dress.

Photo#3 L to R: Vashti and Doris Chan opportunistically explore pseudocasual subtexts: V finally gets to try on Doris' tank top (or 'sleeveless vest' if you will) and throws on a belt for the heck of it, while D begins with her own black lace tunic then tops off the look with Marty's flirtatious red cardi; Myra's eclectic ensemble daringly taunts that edge between blue and gray with Vashti's Chain Link Capelet and Doris' denim hemp pineapple skirt over peacock tights; and Marty pulls out all the stops with her SF Bay look in Myra's dress. Marty, in fact, jolted us out of our usual composure earlier that evening by wearing red and looking fabulous in it. And, half of my photos show Myra wearing that skirt--it's a superfun skirt to wear! I SO WISH that the video I took of her twirling and twisting in it was not too dark to post.

Missing this time were "founders" Tammy Hildebrand and Dora Ohrenstein, and "charter" participants Diane Moyer, Lisa Gentry, Victoria Vigyikan. Present this time but missing from photos: Margaret Hubert, Bonnie Pierce and her DH, Mel Gill, Lang Anh, Deanna Van Asshe, more? See more photos at Margaret's blog, Oct4 entry.

I look forward to the after-show as much as the fashion show itself!

Stashbusters Class (CGOA Conference Report)

My class swatch project fits Lambchop! Lambchop says, "You have the best smile."

I was not my usual attendee-self at this conference. It's the first time I've only taken ONE class! I was in Oakland most of all to be able to spend time with my dear friend Kalli. This is the true source of my self-discipline. (Here's a pic of us on a ferry that took us under the Golden Gate bridge.)

I chose Marty Miller's Stashbusters class and looked forward to an afternoon of playing with my stash. I also felt a wee bit o' guilt over my big yarn stash and hoped to make it more manageable. Marty's visual aids whetted my appetite to go stash-diving and she demonstrated a variety of fun ways to create a whole garment as you go, with any kinds of stash.

I'm proud to report that I left the class refreshed and recharged, pleased with my stash and promptly visited the Knit and Crochet Market to buy more yarn :-)
(Pictured: 750 yds. Louet KidLin in Spanish Blue; 864 yds. Malabrigo in Pollen; 1000 yds. Shetland Cobweb 100% Pashmina 1-ply.)

I WON SOMETHING! (CGOA Conference Report)

So, dear reader, are you one of those people who says "I'm one of those people who never wins anything"? There must be a lot of us, but now I can't say it anymore because I attended a meeting for CGOA members at the conference and....It's true! I didn't not win!!! I mean, I won! The best thing of all is that everyone won something great at the meeting, so while I won 5 skeins of this luscious, deeply satisfying red alpaca, no one else was prevented from also winning something.

Um, oh yes, some CGOA news. We have a new PR Committee and I'm excited to be getting it set up to running smoothly and happily. Also there is a big new opportunity for members that will be announced any day now--wish I could spill the beans but someone else has that fun honor. (Imagine how easy it must be to spill beans if it became a common saying.)

A big THANK YOU to Berroco. See their great new design in this new yarn and color. Here's a lovely pic of Julia Emily's project in this yarn. Mmmmm, these knitted projects are lovely but what shall I crochet? This is Ravelry-worthy so I'll use it to practice listing my stash.

Oakland CGOA Conference Report: the TOYS

Returned home late at night from the conference to the sweetest note from my son:
I was able to find some toys to gladden a boy's heart this time. (Gladdened Boy has Lambchop eyelashes!) Judging by how popular these items were with adults, I'd say maybe the vendors should include a few more playful gender-neutral items. Many attendees claimed to be shopping for grandchildren--someone mentioned finding an adorable board book about sheep and wool--but others might have been shopping for their own "inner grandchildren" :-) Wish I had a photo of our own CGOA President bonding with Lambchop. :sigh:

The zebra hat from the Pacific Meadows Alpacas booth was truly irresistible, with its black fringe mane and those little single-crocheted ears.... other animal hats were also available there, many of them knit. The alpaca toy in both pics is unbelievably soft.

The booth was right across from the International Free Form Crochet Guild booth, so here we see Myra Wood getting warm and fuzzy with the FF booth on one side and none other than Sri Kalli Rose Ji: remember my Hat Yoga Guru from an earlier series of entries? Can you see why She IS One For Whom Hats Must Be Made? (photo by Margaret Hubert)

CGOA Conference: The Fashion Show

Or, There's a Story Behind Them Chaps".

These lacy leggings are repurposed sleeves, rescued from my personal Swatchpile of Obscurity after being asked to remake them in a different color just before I left for the conference. Who knew that they would also be the perfect size for leggings? I wanted to wear them in the fashion show as pants legs because the color would show up on the runway and I rarely see crocheted pants. (Captioned photo taken by designer Mary Jane Hall. Thanks so much MJ, it's a keeper!)

I don't know what made me think I'd crochet the upper part of the pants while at the conference. I went to the Tahki Stacy Charles -sponsored 24-hour crochet lounge to make progress but of course gabbed the whole time with friends. Heck, strangers too.

By the afternoon of the fashion show, I was disappointed in my progress and mentioned it in Joan Davis' Merry Go Round the Pi class to Dee Stanziano. Nancy Cornell, sitting on the other side of me, saw me bring out the sleeves and put them over my pants legs. (I don't think I was being disruptive, the class went on break.) They started making the GROOVIEST suggestions! The moment Nancy suggested the garter idea my fashion show dream revived like a phoenix from the ashes. No problem crocheting garters and a garter belt in an hour or two! (Although I was frantically weaving in ends minutes before I went on.) Not only that but crocheted-garter-belt-as-outerwear? Trendsetting!

I just LOVE what Noreen Crone-Findlay wrote about them in her blog. She's a witness that I did try to make progress on the pants. And check out Dee's photos at her blog where she said I "rocked the house"! Like Doris said, "Yee-haw!" It was really fun.

I'm starting to get comfortable with being on a raised runway with hundreds of people looking at me (well, looking at what I'm wearing). Nancy Cornell helped me with this too. She said, "There's always plenty of Beautiful up there. What everyone remembers though is the Outrageous. Go ahead, be Outrageous."

CGOA Conference: The Free Yarn, The Classes

Or, Goody Bag Swatchin'.
Seriously thanks to Coats & Clark, conference attendees received plump goody bags when they registered. As you can see, the new yarns were so touchable that I got right to swatching. My first class was "The Savvy Single Crochet" taught by Karen Whooley. Yeah, sure, I brought suitable yarns from home for the class, but I preferred using these new goodies:

Moda Dea Washable Wool. Very soft and bouncy! No scratchiness and no squeaky-plasticky feeling that washable wool can have. It's my favorite washable wool, period. The swatch is one of SIX stitch patterns using the "Savvy" technique. It became a coffee cozy. Click on the photo to enlarge but you might not be able to tell how different the stitches are from standard single crochet. You can get fascinating effects from the technique and I recommend this class AND teacher (Karen Whooley) highly. I'm so glad she is teaching nationally again.

Moda Dea Tweedle Dee. Not only is it sooo soooft, it has mellow color shifts. (Two more "Savvy" swatches, one I turned into a wrist cuff.)

Moda Dea Fashionista. You wouldn't believe what this one feels like either, and the sheen is beautifully stylish.

I started a hat in the Red Heart Hula while in Joan Davis' [sold out!] "Go Round the Pi: Creating Perfect Hats" etc class but didn't get far because of the Chaps (for another blog post).

Goody bag aside, those bottom two balls of thread were were generously donated by Skacel for Professional Development Day and the Chapter Tea. The Optima thread came in a gorgeous array of colors. I made the flower in the class I took with McKenzie, taught by Kathie Earle (see earlier blog entry; see some of Kathie's work here). McKenzie coveted my ball of pale green Optima so I had to give it to her. Speaking of Skacel, be sure to see Dora's interview with Karen Skacel-Haack in the latest issue of Crochet Insider.

I took another class, Single Crochet Entrelac taught by Joyce Renee Wyatt, but that's for another post because I need to take a photo of the swatch!

CGOA Conference: The Handbag Silent Auction

For the Helping Hands Silent Auction I entered the "Caged Tote" published in 100 Purses to Knit and Crochet ed. by Jean Leinhauser and Rita Weiss. It's fully lined, in fact it has a vintage Indian lining that doesn't show in these photos. I've included a few pics I took during the interlining process and a photo of the finished bag befor sending it off to the publisher.

I've never participated in a silent auction before and wasn't prepared for seeing lists of bidders and their bids for the duration of the conference! I was squirmy and self-conscious about that at first, but then I recognized two of the bidders as designers I looked forward to meeting and did during Professional Development Day: Sharon Mann and Phyllis Sandford. That somehow made it seem more fun, like a game.

And then, it was a wonderful feeling when the winner of the bag was announced because she would be taking my bag home and using it. I sure hope she puts it to use: I knew the publisher would be returning to me the 6 bags I made for the book. They are all well-finished so that they can hold a good amount of stuff without it poking through or pulling it out of shape.
I went over immediately to thank her for her winning bid and it was definitely worth it.

Three Crocheters with something in common....

....they're all exactly TEN YEARS OLD and attended the 2007 National CGOA Chain Link Conference in Manchester NH! (In fact, Casey's birthday is only ten days away from McKenzie's; I don't know when Katie's is.) All three became good friends in a short time. Casey and Katie were fabulous models in the fashion show. It was short notice for McKenzie this year but she might want to try it next year. I do know McKenzie wanted to be backstage more than she was so we can arrange that next July, right, Katie's mom? (Above photo taken by McKenzie's mom; below by Casey's mom.)

CGOA Conference: Meet McKenzie

McKenzie is a remarkable 10-year old crocheter whose mother and grandmother are such close friends of mine that "close friend" feels odd to say and "family" feels better. Not only do McKenzie and I have a serious interest in crochet in common but I just found out that Ananda is a long-time crocheter just like her mom, Lucy!! This was their first crochet conference, which was a short road trip for them. Since the conference will likely be in Manchester next year, I'm betting that Lucy will be coming with Ananda and McKenzie if she doesn't want to miss out on any more hugs than she already has. (That's Ananda on the right and a very sleep-deprived me on the left.)

There's a pack of 10-year-old crocheting girls who roam the conferences now (McKenzie makes 3). I don't have permission from all of the moms to post a photo of the three so you just have to imagine it!

One thing that McKenzie wanted to learn was how to make a popcorn. People: she learns so fast, she could have been a professional crocheter who invented stitches in a past life. After working a small swatch of popcorns, we turned it into a wrist cuff, and she never took it off, even to sleep. We put 2 "buttons" (Clones Knots) on it. She learned that stitch so well that she did the 2nd one, and swooped that hook through all the loops in one fast pass. The first time.

She witnessed the frantic completion of the Chaps I wore in the fashion show (I need to blog about that!) and wanted to know what some of the less common stitches were that I was doing, so get this: she learned how to do a foundation sc, foundation dc, a split sc, and a linked dc! Ananda too!

That's not all. Then McKenzie and I did a special class together the next day with the amazing Kathie Earle of Ireland, our international teacher for 2007. Here's a pic of McKenzie and me in the market after class and she's wearing a gift from Kathie pinned to her shirt.
I had taken one of Kathie's classes a long time ago and knew she'd be wonderful for McKenzie (patient, flexible, creatively freeing, among many other stellar qualities). This was McKenzie's first time crocheting with thread and a tiny steel hook and she set about it with her signature competent focus and left that class a threadie with TWO completed Irish roses. By the way, this means she also reads and follows patterns--I'm a witness.

Okay so is there anything about crochet that McKenzie finds daunting? In the market a vendor showed her a book and she said, "No thanks, it's too easy for me." She chose Sasha Kagan's lovely new Crochet Inspiration and found the next thing she wanted to learn: a ripple stitch pattern so that she could make a headband. I looked at the page and thought, "Wouldn't it be so much better if she could use the symbol diagram for it? She does great with written instructions though. I don't want to overload her, but I don't want to underestimate her." So I explained what the symbols were there for and I told her why I prefer them, and it was up to her. She opted to try the symbols and I'd say it took her 5-7 real minutes of concentrating on them and trying them out to say, "I like them better too." And that was it.

I can't imagine bullions would be daunting because clones knots weren't. I bet she's freeforming right now. A freeform book was her first purchase (I think it was Jenny Dowde's but was possibly Prudence's?) and was already acquainted with everyone in the freeformers' booth by the time I found her and her Mom!

I learned to crochet around 8 or 9 and was completely immersed in it at 10. I can't fathom what it would have been like to attend a crochet conference at that age!!

CGOA Conference: The Shopping

Or, "Which Yarns Did a Designer Buy at Full Retail?"
My yarn buying habits have gradually changed since I began designing professionally. Yarn accumulates in my house regularly whether I buy yarn or not, because yarn companies send me yarn to play (design) with and extra skeins for sold designs.
This doesn't stop me from buying yarn, though it does slow me down. It does change what I buy. For example:

1. I don't buy the yarn of a company I design for unless I know that it's a project that's only for myself or a gift.

2. I hesitate to buy yarn that is discontinued or seems likely to be soon, because if it inspires a design out of me, I won't be able to sell it as is. (Occasionally I can talk myself into buying it anyway.)

3. This one's dangerous: If I have a vague design idea, or am curious about a theme or a developing trend, I'll start buying a ball of this or that if it has anything to do with what's on my mind. For example: bamboo. I now have a ball of every kind of bamboo yarn that has crossed my path.

4. There are yarns that I really want to see and touch before I buy them, even for designing, rather than formally request yarn from the company or purchase it online or wait for my yarn shop to stock it.

In the photo above, you might detect an organic and color grown cotton theme developing (see #3). I'd have bought some O-Wool if I'd seen it too. I bought the Patagonia handpainted cotton because it was a very good sale price! All of the above came from Elegant Ewe's booth. I also bought some beautiful hooks.

In the 2nd photo, Gene Ann was having a last day sale of 4 for 3. You see, when I love a yarn, I want an excuse to buy more than 1 skein but how many more? Gene Ann guided me.

These are all Kollage yarns, and the designer in me welcomes getting to know a new-to-me yarn company. The stripey yarns on the far left are stretchy and I have a thing about stretchy. So of course I had to buy one, or make that 4. The plum Scrumptious is 70/30 angora/silk and I was sold when Gene Ann showed me her scarf in progress: zero airborne fuzzies and the stitches were softly and evenly blooming. This says to me that someone knows how to spin angora! On the far right is Yummy, 80/20 bamboo/merino. My stitches are going to be YUMMY. The color is "Foggy Dew"--I have a thing for silvery shades but I could have picked any color of this yarn. The lone blue skein is Kollage's corn fiber and the lone novelty yarn is full of squiggly butterflies so how could I not try it?

What I WOULD have bought:
- A bunch of Tilli Tomas silk skeins (a friend bought them for me instead, yay!)
- A Grafton Fibers hook (also a gift from a friend! More on her later! More on the hook too!)
- A complete set of the "Crochet Lites" but I had trouble getting a straight story from attendees whether a vendor had them or was just taking orders, where exactly the vendor was, and whether they were like the Clover hooks, or like the heavy fully-lit ones.
-Some Noro Kureyon. I have to leave it around the house so that I pick it up and invent new things. It does that to me.
-7 or 9 balls of Rowan Natural Silk Aran for a specific sweater for moi and no one had it, so I'll get it at my yarn shop.
- A hook holder IF: it has clear vinyl pockets labeled with mm sizes. Don't know if it exists.
- Giant tunisian hooks.
- A crochet-themed tshirt or bag or jewelry.
- DMC Cordonnet in sizes from #10-#30, poss. #50.
- Any yarn with Lycra-type content.

I will finish my conference shopping online, buying first from businesses who were in the Market, and I'll ask them to consider my purchases as part of the conference event. If any of these things were in the Market, I couldn't find them in time because I couldn't shop until the last day, when the Market closed at 3pm.

How did I do?