Don’t you just love learning new crochet stitches and techniques? I do! And I love teaching others new stitches and techniques, too. I love to encourage others and help them succeed with crochet techniques that may be too confusing to learn through the internet or books. There’s nothing quite like learning something new “in person” from a “real life” teacher!
Well, the class listings are up on the CGOA (Crochet Guild of America) website now and I’m very excited to be teaching 5 classes at the CGOA Conference again this year! This year’s conference will be held from July 13 – 16 at the Embassy Suites in North Charleston, SC. I hope you’ll consider attending the conference this year and learning some new crochet techniques from some fabulous teachers!
The 5 classes I’ll be teaching this year are:
Let’s Get Writing on Thursday, July 14 from 9 AM – 5 PM (with lunch from noon – 2 PM)
Playful Polish Stars on Friday, July 15 from 9 AM – noon
Intermeshing on Friday, July 15 from 2 – 5 PM
Intro to Irish Crochet on Saturday, July 16 from 9 AM – noon
Simplifying Symbol Crochet on Saturday, July 16 from 2 – 5 PM
In my 6 hour Let’s Get Writing class, I’ll teach my students how to write their own crochet patterns like a pro! This class is perfect for beginning designers or anyone who would like to learn to write crochet patterns. We’ll go over everything that you’ll need to include in your patterns and you’ll even start writing your first pattern in class! I’ve been writing crochet patterns for close to 20 years now and tech editing patterns for over 11 years. Wow! Where does the time go? I really enjoy teaching others what I’ve learned to help them be successful! It’s a lot of fun to see new designers spread their wings and sell their first crochet design!!! ALL crochet designers were beginning designers at some point in their lives! I wish there had been a class like this when I was a beginning designer!
In my Playful Polish Stars class, I’ll teach my students several ways to crochet their Polish Stars: the “traditional” way and my “new, improved” way. Then we’ll weave the chain loops “correctly” to see the stars take shape before our eyes! Polish Stars may look complicated, but once you know how to make them, they’re a lot of fun!
In my Intermeshing class, I’ll teach my students how to crochet 2 layers of intertwined fabric with 2 contrasting colors of yarn. The intermeshing technique is wonderful because you get 2 different designs: one on each side of the fabric. I LOVE this technique and I enjoy teaching others to do intermeshing, as well. As you can see by the photo above, the right side and wrong side are completely different! If you’ve always wanted to learn intermeshing, now is the time! This is the same technique that’s in Tanis Galik’s book, “Interlocking Crochet”. I just have a little difference at the beginning of my pieces than Tanis has, which I like better!
In my Intro to Irish Crochet class, I’ll teach the basics of Irish Crochet, from crocheting the Irish Rose and Leaves to adding the mesh background and the edging to your Irish Crochet piece. We’ll be making the Irish Crochet piece above that I designed last year when I taught this class at the Annie’s Craft Festival. I really enjoyed teaching that class and my students were so eager to learn this crochet technique. I even learned some things from them (which isn’t that uncommon)! It’s great to learn things together!
In my Simplifying Symbol Crochet class, I’ll teach my students how to read and follow symbol crochet charts, which are much easier than following a written crochet pattern. We’ll read and follow charts for projects in rows and in rounds in this class. Once you can read and follow a symbol crochet chart, you’ll be able to make anything you want, even Japanese, Russian, Ukrainian or Spanish crochet patterns, without having any knowledge of the language! Above are some of the many crochet symbols that you’ll learn in the class.
To read about all of the crochet classes at this year’s conference, check out this page on the CGOA website.
If you’ve never been to a CGOA Conference (aka: Chain Link Conference or Knit & Crochet Show) before, you don’t know what you’re missing! It’s a fabulous time to meet other crochet enthusiasts. You’ll learn more crochet techniques and stitches to further your crochet skills and knowledge at the conference and come away with many new friendships to last a lifetime! If you’re not a CGOA member, there’s no time like the present to join! Just go to the CGOA website and check out everything that CGOA has to offer! It’s wonderful to belong to an organization that is dedicated to furthering the art of crochet!
If you’re already a CGOA member and you’ve attended the conference before, what did you like most about it?
Happy crocheting,
Susan
