As promised, more information on the Vogue Knitting Live event that occurred in Chicago last weekend. This post is all about the teachers that were there and the classes they taught. My count of the classes offered numbered more than 200! Can you say WOW??! 200 classes being taught by top rated professionals at your fingertips. My biggest decisions were which ones to attend. Since this was my very first VKL event, I decided to only take a class or two so I could “float” around and soak up the entire atmosphere of the event. With over 200 classes being taught though, I could have stayed there for a week and not gotten all the instruction I wanted.
So what classes did I take? I took the Sketching for Designers class taught by Deborah Newton. If you’ve read my blog before you’ll know she is one of my favorite knitters and I’ve been following her incredible work for quite some time now. I thought to take her Finishing School class instead but opted on taking this class and buying the book instead. I even got her to sign it – yeah!! The sketching class was great. I don’t consider myself a good drawer at all as I usually need to have the object or picture in front of me but Deb had us all sketching well above our preconceived limits in no time. I’m not a pro now, but with the simple practice instructions that Deb outlined I’m sure I’ll be much better in no time.
Aside from Deb’s class, I took in three lectures … which were a great way to get in snip-its of information in an hour (if you’re good at taking notes these are a great option)! I did Trends, Trends, Trends with my newly found cousin Trisha Malcolm ;-). I was amazed at the amount of information she gave us in an hour and at how much I learned about Trends. The discoveries regarding where trends come from and the forecasting of them was truly remarkable. Trisha was extremely knowledgeable and passionate about this field as well and I was very surprised and impressed to see this side of her! I would love to sit through a full 3 hour class on this topic!
Trisha Malcolm and I – cousins? Perhaps 😉
I also took a lecture on Inspiration of Fair Isle knitting from Mary Jane Mucklestone. Mary Jane recounted her trip to the island of Fair Isle – where she actually didn’t get to go to Fair Isle – but did go to the surrounding isles and was able to take lots of pictures that gave her the inspiration behind the more than 200 swatches she had on hand. She explained what goes into a fair isle pattern and how you would go about constructing one for yourself. Again, a totally fascinating lecture that would make a great 3 hour lesson as well. Maybe in New York?
Mary Jane with her book … 200 Fair Isle Motifs
The third lecture I took was Parlor Tricks by Lorilee Beltman. There was no trickery involved here however, just some really good tips to make your knitting life easier. Now this is a class that could run the entire weekend as Lorilee was only able to touch on a few of her long list of techniques to increase your knitting skills and improve the look of your finished piece. I’ll have to kidnap her next time and bring her to an interrogation booth to learn them all. Or maybe if I could get her into my Borg alcove … hmmmmm?
While these were the classes I was able to attend, I did manage to poke my nose into a few more to take some pics. It only made me want to clone myself more though as there was so much interaction and learning going on I wanted to absorb it all! Here are a few, unfortunately only a very small spattering at the amount of information shared last weekend …
This first one is Cookie A teaching the class Oddball Stitches. The title is appropriate and I can’t think of a more appropriate teacher for it. Cookie A (don’t ask what the A stands for 😉 ) is a very interactive teacher that uses interpretive dance to get the point across sometimes – here while talking about left and right leaning increases!
Cookie A’s dance technique for teaching oddball stitches …
And the big finish …
As much fun as these pictures are you should take the class to get the full enjoyment out of it – I will in NY! Meanwhile, Josh Bennett is shown here discussing design details with his class through the review of one of the student’s designs…
Students were very appreciative to have their designs critiqued by Josh …
The best part of the lessons for most of the students I’m sure was the amount of hands on instruction they were given …
Here a student works on a traditional Eastonian mitten in Nancy Bush’s class …
… and having samples at the ready for comparison and guidance.
… while having an example of what it will look like!
I could go on and on with pictures and examples of the classes (there were over 200!) but this will have to do for now. There was also a lounge in the Marketplace where students had direct access to the teachers as they rotated in between classes. Here you could ask instructors you missed (or even took classes from) more questions that you were unable to during the class. This was one of my favorite aspects of the whole event – being able to just chat with all of these top name instructors! Wow! If you haven’t yet made plans for January 18 – 20,checkout Vogue Knitting Live in New York! It will definitely be worth the price of admission!
Hugzzz 😎
