My goodness, was that fun! So fun it took me a month to recover? No, but my designer talk at
Knitty City and appearance at VKL did take a lot out of me and pushed other work out, so it's been a bit of a set of tumbling blocks over the past few weeks (plus sick kids and lots of school vacation days).
If you've never been to a knitting conference, you are in for a treat: classes, fashion shows, marketplace, knitters and crocheters you rarely see in the wild out in force. This year I decided to be mellow and only visit the marketplace after my appearance in the Knitty City booth. And then my dear friend Annie decided to come down from Boston - neither of us had been able to make it to Rhinebeck last Fall, so we grabbed this opportunity to hang out and fondle yarn together.
 |
(I don't know why we are sideways - Flickr and Blogger don't always get along)
Kathleen and Annie in front of the knitted teepee! |
We had fun in our handknit sweaters (I'm wearing
Sotherton, and Annie is wearing her
Celtic Cable Cardigan Jacket that she put together with Amy Herzog's CustomFit) and checked out lots of yarn (the VKL marketplace is on two floors of the Marriott in Times Square). In all the meeting, squishing, and chatting, I managed to take embarassingly few photos. Guess I was too busy enjoying myself!
 |
| When I was "LIVE" in the Knitty City booth (thanks rear-facing camera for flipping everything around) |
There were, of course, lovely knitters in the Knitty City booth. The two events (this VKL and the designer talk) I did with Knitty City last month were so. much. fun. I love meeting knitters and hanging with my peeps and talking shop.
 |
| Lisa Barnes and Kathleen in front of the teepee (right side up!) |
I met
Lisa Barnes IRL - we're co-captains in
Tara Swiger's Starship program. Lisa is a talented knitting teacher and designer, and it's always fun to meet and chat with people you know virtually.
 |
| And some buttons came home with me |
The design wheels are turning on what to do with these lovely, vintage glass buttons, as well as the blue ones from
Dusty's Vintage Buttons (they go by Add Vintage on Etsy):
 |
| Oh, the blue ones! |
I didn't take any classes this year, but the ones I've taken in the past have been great (Franklin Habit! Debbie Bliss!! Meg Swansen!!!). . And I didn't BUY any yarn, but I met and chatted with a number of lovely yarnies, including:
- Springtide Farm (North American cashmere in Maine - so hope to visit this summer)
- Karen Grover of Seven Sisters Arts (formerly of String Theory and now doing her own beautiful, intelligent dying - hope to see her when I'm up in Maine, too, and hear more about the way she dyes her gradients and sets)
- The lovely folks at Harrisville Designs (these people merit a special trip to see all the things I drool over in their Instagram feed)
- MollyGirl Yarn (check out her colors - if you scroll down the "Our Colors" list you can see each colorway in all the available bases - so many choices!)
- Dragonfly Fibers (gradient sets! gorgeous colors! lots of bases!)
- Apple Tree Knits (delicate pastels and lovely gradient skeins)
- Julie Asselin's dying class (she's such a doll and does lovely, colorful things to yarn)
I know there were more, like
Neighborhood Fiber Co. whose Studio Worsted (from Knitty City, where it's the Yarn of the Month for February and 10% off) I'm using for an updated
Bixby to be released
real soon now, and the Long Island alpaca people (sadly, I have come to realize that alpaca irritates my skin, so I can't remember their name - sigh).
So, a great time was had by all, including me and Annie. We overpaid for sandwiches but didn't have to go out into the pouring rain for lunch (next year pack a lunch if it's raining?). If you can get yourself to a Vogue Knitting Live or any other knitting event, do it! so. much. fun.
Thanks for stopping by, and happy knitting!
xoxo, Kathleen
