I had such a good time in NYC at Vogue Knitting Live! I posted some information on Facebook, but have many, many pictures to share with those of you who are interested.
Wednesday, February 8
We met my daughter Taya and granddaughter, Angelica, and their significant others at The Cheesecake Factory for dinner and had a wonderful time. This picture shows Bob and Angelica and me at dinner. Only one negative - I ordered a chopped salad (which the Cheesecake Factory is known for) and was told there was no one in the kitchen to chop the ingredients - I would have to chop it up myself. (I made that last part up.) We stayed overnight at the former Crowne Plaza Hotel with a park and fly package.
Thursday, February 9
Up bright and early to catch a 6 AM flight. We left the hotel at 4 and, after a short delay with our connecting flight in Chicago, arrived in NYC a little after noon. In Chicago, we had a delay which allowed me to "people watch" for awhile. The people my age wore colors - black pants with a green sweater, jeans with a pink sweater, etc. The young women wore black leggings with black and shades of grey tops. They also wore Nike shoes in a variety of colors and styles. A lot of their clothing styles would be categorized as "workout wear" or "street wear". The younger guys wore jeans or what I would call sweatpants with black and shades of grey tops/jackets. They all looked great.
After arriving at LaGuardia Airport, we took a cab to the hotel. After the taxi ride to the Marriott Marquis, we checked in to the hotel and I picked up my registration materials for the conference. I had selected the full package that included several classes and workshops and lectures, plus a banquet, etc. My first event on Thursday was a lecture on the topic of "inclusive grading" that began around noon. Grading is the term used for changing sizes of a garment - or changing yarn weights. Most patterns nowadays include "inclusive" sizing ranging from about 28" bust to 60" bust in 9 or more sizes, so learning how to grade is important. Unfortunately, I missed this first lecture. Sigh.
Later Thursday afternoon, I attended a lecture given by Norah Gaughan, the editor of Vogue Knitting magazine and a well-known designer. She spoke on the topic of the magazine, the challenges of COVID and her visions for the magazine in the future. It was very interesting. Vogue Knitting used to be published 6 times each year. They reduced that to 2 issues per year during COVID and are now up to 3 issues each year. She doesn't foresee getting back to 6 issues each year.
After the lecture we headed across the street to Junior's. The cabdriver told us Juniors makes the best cheesecake in NYC. We had dinner (I ordered a loaded potato pancake and Bob ordered their world famous French Onion soup). We were very full, so we took our desserts (Carrot Cake Cheesecake for me and Junior's World Famous Strawberry Shortcake for Bob) back to the hotel. We put dessert in the refrigerator and hit the sack! What a day!
Friday, February 10
I had a morning class with Keith Leonard on Advanced Fine Finishing. This class covered everything I have every wondered about when finishing a garment. The little tricks that make all the stripes line up, the stitches (garter, seed, stockinette) line up, and seams lie flat were covered in the great class. Plus, much more. Keith showed us some yarns from his new line (Yarn Snob) and I hope soon we have a couple of his products in the store. One is a cashmere/linen blend that "blooms" when you put it in the washing machine and becomes SO SOFT and DRAPEY. The other is a massive skein of yarn called Power Ball which contains 2,187 yards of 100% Merino - extra soft and very colorful.
Jody Long, the designer and owner of the Jody Long yarn company was in the class with us.
After the class with Keith, Bob and I headed out to lunch and had New York Style Pizza! It was delicious.
Then we headed down Broadway (7th Ave) to 37th street to find Mood - the fabric store featured on Project Runway and Making the Cut. We passed many huge back headquarters, pot shops, restaurants, button shops, bead shops, lace shops, and, finally - there was Mood. We rode the elevator to the 3rd floor (Mood's entry is on the third floor) and stepped into a fantastic, colorful assortment of fabrics and accessories, like no other. The place was full of young designers who were pulling rolls of fabrics for cutting. They had chiffon and silk for evening wear, fur for coats, gabardine for suiting and so much more. It was fun to watch them! I bought buttons and ribbon.
After a brief rest back at the hotel, we ventured across the street to an Italian restaurant. I ordered Chicken Parmesan and Bob ordered Spaghetti and Meatballs. DEE-licious!
Saturday, February 11
I had a class on Saturday with Safiyyah Talley, an up-and-coming designer who was teaching pattern writing, grading, and publishing. Safiyyah's website is thedrunkknitter.com and she has recently published a book that became number one on Amazon. The title is Knit 2 Socks in 1: Discover the Easy Magic of Turning One Long Sock into a Pair! She was a very good teacher.
Following my class with Safiyyah, I took in a lecture with Vincent Williams, a knitter and crocheter. The lecture was all about colorwork in crochet. Very interesting class.
Then, I went through the marketplace. It covered two floors of the Marriott Marquis Conference Center, so it took me awhile to walk through it. There were vendors from around the world, selling yarn, accessories, and finished products. Amazing stuff. I made a few purchases, and then I saw Sharon Brant and David MacLeod from Rowan Yarns. We spoke briefly and they reminded me about the upcoming Rowan Fashion Show.
After my classes we ha planned to take the Hop On - Hop Off bus and tour around the city, but now I decided to attend a couple of fashions shows instead. The shows were fantastic and inspirational. Here is an image from the Rowan Show and me by the wall of Kidsilk Haze.
Saturday evening was "the banquet" with guest speaker, Joji Locatelli. She told us her story of becoming a professional knitter - designer, teacher, yarn company owner - and her transition from physician to professional knitter. She was inspiring!
Sunday, February 12
My last day at Vogue Knitting Live. (Sad face) Sunday I took a class with Dee Hardwicke and Jeanette Sloan. These designers are both from the UK and collaborated on a class entitled the Botanical Art Class. The students would draw designs from nature (flowers and leaves) using pastels and then chart our designs on knitter's graph paper. Later we would knit our designs and apply beads where appropriate. I still need to knit my design because I cut class in the afternoon to attend the musical, Hamilton! I told the teachers in advance that I would be playing hookie and they agreed that I had made the right decision, but they kindly gave me hints and tips to help with the knitting aspect of the project. I'll post pictures of the final project in a week or so when it is complete.
Hamilton
What can I say? It was fantastic! It was phenomenal! I laughed and cried and was mesmerized! We bought tickets and were seated right in front of the stage about 6-8 rows back. We could see every expression in each actors face. If you ever have a chance to see this production, don't miss it.
Monday, February 13
We took a taxi from the hotel to the airport and whizzed through luggage check and security. Our flight left about 9 AM. I had a window seat and, after a little nap, I awoke and looked down on farmland somewhere over Ohio, I think. You could easily see the land divisions (40 acre plots, 1/4 sections-160 acres, sections-1 square mile, etc.) In each 40 acre plot were one or two long buildings. Industrial farming. Did the buildings contain chickens, turkeys, pigs? I don't know. But, from above I could see the lakes and ponds overgrown with green algae (even in February), most likely from chemical runoff. The industrial farming went on for miles and miles. I say, Buy Local!
Bob and I had a wonderful trip and hope to go again someday! Hope you enjoyed my report.