Vogue Knitting Live!

 Vogue Knitting Live in NYC Jan 18-20, 2013

I’ve never attended a knitting convention before, although I’ve been on knitting weekend retreats to the mountains with friends, and even a knitting cruise and I love visiting yarn stores when I travel.  I really enjoy Vogue Knitting Magazine and when I got their e-mail mid-year last year about Vogue Knitting Live in New York City and it was only a few days before my birthday in January (and it was one of those big birthdays with a ZERO at the end), I told my husband that it would be a fabulous birthday present for me!  I found a friend, Eileen, who had been knitting for only about a year, to go with me. When general registration opened, we picked the Time Square Day Tripper Package (about $100) that got us unlimited access to the Marketplace and our choice of a one hour lecture and a three hour class.  So we poured over the choices and finally decided on ones that we were both interested in – “Finishing School Workshop” with Deborah Newton (the three hour class) and “Making the Most of Your Yarn Collection” (the one hour lecture).

Friday we were up early as our first VKL event was in the early afternoon, the one hour lecture “Making the Most of Your Yarn Collection”, which was just great and not at all what we expected.  It was fun meeting the other knitters and to feel the rising excitement because the Marketplace opened late in the afternoon.  When it was time for the Marketplace - we lined up early, like a lot of others - and noticed a young lady just ahead of us wearing lovely knitted beret, shawl and fingerless mitts.  Eileen, the social one, started chatting with her and we found out we were talking to a young designer, Toby Roxane Barna who was wearing some of her own lovely creations.  We just loved her and ended up getting a bite with her later that night.  If you like shawls, check out her designs on Ravelry – www.ravelry.com/designers/toby-roxane-barna . 

By the way, the marketplace was FABULOUS – two floors of the convention center with so many interesting activities, yarn art displays, and LOTS OF YARN and yarn-related items.

Included in the event were a lot of free things, like fashion shows and demonstrations, a ‘yarn tasting’ where there were stations with needles and balls of yarn where you could sit down and knit a bit to see if you like that particular yarn, a Knitter’s Lounge where you could sit and knit and visit with other knitters.  There was a ball winding station where you could wind your purchases, a fitting station where they helped you learn about fitting your knits, an ‘expert bar’ where you could ask questions and get help, and a beginner’s lounge where basic instructions and help were given.  And did I mention vendors? Yarn shops and manufacturers from across the country had brought some of their finest and most luscious yarns to sell and we were in HEAVEN!!

Saturday morning we were off to our three-hour workshop with Deborah Newton of “Finishing School Workshop” fame.  She had with her almost every knitted item in that book which she passed around for our examination as she discussed the techniques.  We had to do ‘homework’ to prepare for the workshop and part of our class time was spent using that swatch to test out some of her techniques.  It was really helpful and we both bought the book and Deborah autographed it.

 Oh yes, - and what did I buy? – A lovely Atenti overnighter bag and matching smaller project bag, several kits for scarves/cowls that I will probably make as gifts, some fabulous 100% mink yarn (I started a scarf but have recently seen it knitted up in “Isbel” and may frog it and knit that), a luscious silk and cashmere, Silk Gyred, that I made into a lace scarf, curly tendrils or locks straight from the sheep in a kit to make a lovely collar, some aqua and cream merino for a lattice yoked top, and for my VKL NYC ‘memory’ item, I picked up some lovely fingering weight yarn – a pale blue and a white – to make one of Toby’s designs, a shawl called “The Queen of Pentacles”.  Blue and white are the colors of the Argentine flag, so it also reminds me of seeing “Evita”.   I just finished it and it’s on the bed being blocked right now, as Toby’s latest book “The Tarot Collection” just came out and I was waiting on the book rather than buy the individual pattern.  I’ve made a couple of her shawls from her first book, “London Underground”.  You can check out my projects on Ravelry – krwabby. 

If this has enticed you to attend a Vogue Knitting Live Conference, the next one is in Chicago on Nov 1-3; there is still plenty of time to register, and I’m sure you’d find lots of great things to do there as well. Personally, I am considering the upcoming one in Seattle, dates not announced yet, but probably in the spring; I’ve never been to Seattle but have heard there is lots to see and do.  And there is always New York again in January.  Happy Knitting!! 

- - - - Karen