Conferences – The Crochet Architect

August 7, 2019August 7, 2019

2019 CGOA Conference Afterglow

It’s been 3 weeks since I returned home from the CGOA Conference in Manchester, NH. This year is the 25^th Anniversary of CGOA! Wow! I’ve been a member since 2002, so I’ve been with CGOA for 17 of their 25 years. Happy Birthday, CGOA!

As always, I had a great time at the conference. I saw lots of friends, made new ones and was surrounded by everything crochet! This year, I taught 5 classes: Shuttle Tatting, Invisible Repairs, Irish Crochet, Intermediate Filet Crochet and Symbol Crochet. I had rooms full of wonderful students, each eager to learn what I was teaching. I even had a blind student in 2 of my classes! She was a treat to meet and teach (and what an inspiration to me!). Unfortunately, I didn’t take any photos of the students in my classes. But I still have a few photos to share with you from the conference.

Here are photos of some of my friends:

Carlotta Craig and me at the Banquet/Fashion Show

Bonnie Barker and Carlotta Craig at the Banquet/Fashion Show

Carolyn Calderon, Pia Thadani and me with our tatting shuttles the day after the conference

I stayed an extra day after the conference for some sightseeing! My roommate, Shari White, and I went to the Currier Museum of Art that day. It was a very nice museum with lots of beautiful exhibits. They even had a special exhibit about guitars. My favorite guitar was one made from an armadillo shell! Here are some photos from the museum:

My roommate and me at the Currier Museum of Art in Manchester

Armadillo guitar at Currier Museum of Art

On the way to the conference, I saw some other guitar items. At Sky Harbor airport in Phoenix, they had an exhibit about making guitars. Here’s a photo from that exhibit:

Guitar making exhibit at Sky Harbor airport in Phoenix

And at the airport in Nashville, where I had a layover on the way to Manchester, there was a Gibson Café. Here’s one of the tables that’s shaped like a guitar pick:

My oldest son is really into music, so I tend to take notice of music-related items!

At the conference, there was the usual Design Competition, which I love! I didn’t have time to make anything for it this year, but I always enjoy seeing the entries from other designers. Here are a couple of my favorites:

This is the Rockabilly Swing Dress by Nancy Nehring. She won the Grand Prize for this dress! And here’s her daughter, Katie, modeling the dress for the fashion show:

These are some other garments in the Design Competition. The one at the bottom left is the Blue Willow Dress by Susan Walsh. She won First Place in the Fashion category for this design.

Here’s Susan modeling her dress for the Fashion Show:

Susan Walsh modeling her Blue Willow Dress

I LOVE this dress! And it looks fabulous on Susan!

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the yarn bombing at the conference. One of the CGOA members, Jennifer Ryan, who lives in NH, put together the yarn bombing this year, both inside and outside the conference hotel (the Double Tree by Hilton). Here is one of her yarn bombing displays:

Of course, there were pieces of crochet almost everywhere you turned at the hotel! I thought this one was really nice!

One of my favorite things to do at the conference is model in the fashion show. I’m not a professional model, but it’s a lot of fun! Here are a few things I modeled there:

This is Margaret Hubert’s Pot Pourri cardigan. Isn’t it beautiful? It was very comfortable! I don’t know where this cardigan is published, though.

This is my Frosty Lace Cardigan (a thread crochet top) that I designed a few years ago. I lengthened it by about 3” in April or May of this year, after the trip that my husband and I took to Japan in March.

If you’d like to watch a video of the fashion show, check out this video on Facebook. And here are some photos, along with the line-up, of entries in the Fashion Show on the CGOA blog.

Another fun event at the conference was the Friday night sign-along, hosted by Bonnie Barker and Jennifer Ryan. It was so much fun! If you’d like to see a few videos from that night, check out Bonnie’s YouTube channel. Some of the song names were “Will You Crochet Friend, Crochet?”, “Ms. MacDonald Had a Bag of F-I-B-E-R”, “On Top of My Craft Bag” and “Ripping Out is Hard to Do”. It was so fun to sing these silly songs!!! Bonnie and Jennifer did a fabulous job that night, along with 2 of Jennifer’s daughters!

As you can see, the CGOA Conference was a ton of fun! It always is! I met some very nice new friends and enjoyed teaching all of my classes. I hope my students enjoyed my classes and learned everything they wanted to learn in them!

Until next time! Happy crocheting!

Susan

March 6, 2019July 27, 2019

2019 CGOA Conference

I LOVE to teach crochet! And I LOVE to learn new crochet techniques! Don’t you?

I’m happy to announce that I’ll be teaching 5 classes at the CGOA Conference this July in Manchester, NH. Not all of my classes are crochet, though. I’ll be teaching shuttle tatting again this year, too!

First, I’ll tell you a little about the CGOA (Crochet Guild of America) Conference. This takes place every year (sometimes twice a year) in various cities across the US. It is open to CGOA members and non-members. There are dozens of classes taught by many talented teachers, some very well-known! We have a marketplace with vendors who sell everything from luscious yarn/thread to hooks, books and supplies. We also have a banquet and fashion show, as well as some fun events in the evenings. And I can’t forget about Professional Development Day (PDD) where established crochet professionals share what they know about running a successful crochet business. PDD takes place the day before classes begin, on Wednesday, July 10 from 9 am – 4 pm.

For all the scoop about the conference, visit the CGOA conference pages. Here is a list of the events going on at this year’s conference. Read this page to find out about all the classes being offered. And one last thing, CGOA has a design competition each year for CGOA members only. There are prizes in 6 categories ranging from $100 – $300, with a grand prize of $1,000! There have been some fabulous entries each year! It’s so much fun to see the entries at the conference and find it who wins in each category!

Okay. Now to list the classes I’m teaching and when each one is offered.

Thursday, July 11 from 9 am – 5 pm (with lunch from noon – 2 pm)

Tatting the Old-Fashioned Way

Tatting is such a fascinating and delicate craft. I taught myself to tat over 20 years ago. I’ve learned more since then and I really enjoy teaching others so they’ll be successful in their tatting projects. In this class, my students will learn the basics of tatting and start tatting this beautiful necklace with buttons, beads or charms. This is the only 6 hour class I’m teaching at the conference this year. Yes, it takes that long to learn to tat and get your head wrapped around how to do it! But I’ll be there to teach my students and answer all their questions. If you’ve always admired tatting and want to learn to tat, sign up for this class early. I’ve limited this class size to only 20 students.

Friday, July 12 from 9 am – 12 pm (noon)

Invisible Repairs

I’ve taught my Invisible Repairs class at the conference for the past 2 years. This has been a popular class and I’m thrilled to be teaching it again this year! In this class, I teach my students how to repair their damaged crochet projects, no matter where the damage is located. There is homework for this class so we can all do the repairs to the same swatches in class. And I’ll be demonstrating how to do the repairs in class, as well. This technique also works great to invisibly seam the last row to the first row on crochet cowls!

Last year, I filmed a crochet video class for Annie’s on this same topic called “Crochet ER: Fixing Damage and Mistakes”! If you can’t make it to the conference and would like to learn to repair your crochet projects (or someone else’s crochet projects), check out my Annie’s video class.

Friday, July 12 from 2 pm – 5 pm

Intro to Irish Crochet

I LOVE Irish Crochet and I really enjoy teaching this class to other Irish Crochet enthusiasts (who don’t know where to begin). In this class, I’ll be teaching how to make the Irish Crochet rose and leaf motifs. I’ll also teach how to make the background and the edging that you see in this photo. This is an introduction class, so we won’t get into more advanced Irish Crochet techniques. But once you know the basics of Irish Crochet, you can always learn more on your own or with books.

Saturday, July 13 from 9 am – 12 pm (noon)

Intermediate Filet Crochet

This is my Filet Crochet class for those who already know the basics of Filet Crochet (open mesh, closed mesh and lacets). In this intermediate class, you’ll learn to do increases, decreases, diagonals and a whole lot more! Once you learn these intermediate Filet Crochet skills, you’ll be ready to tackle that more complex Filet Crochet pattern you’ve had your eye on for so long!

If you don’t know the basics of Filet Crochet yet, and you’ve been wanting to learn to do Filet Crochet, check out my Annie’s class called “Learn Filet Crochet Using Thread and Yarn”. Then if you want to take your Filet Crochet to the next level, why not sign up for my intermediate class at the CGOA Conference (or before for the best rates)!

Saturday, July 13 from 2 pm – 5 pm

Simplifying Symbol Crochet

This class is always a lot of fun to teach! I learned to read symbol crochet charts several decades ago through Magic Crochet and Decorative Crochet magazines. I love to make doilies and the patterns in these magazines were mostly written in crochet symbol charts. As a visual learner, I find these charts so much easier to follow than a lengthy written crochet pattern! And they look so similar to the finished project, too!

If you haven’t learned to read symbol crochet charts yet, this is your chance! You’ll learn all the basic crochet symbols and lots of more complex symbols, too. You’ll learn to follow a symbol crochet chart, both in rows and in rounds. And you’ll practice what you’ve learned making 2 small projects/swatches in class. Once you learn to read and follow symbol crochet charts, a whole new world of crochet patterns will open up to you! You’ll even be able to follow symbol crochet patterns in other languages including Japanese, Chinese, Russian and Ukranian!

If you’ve taken any of my classes in the past, you know how much I like to have nice, precise class handouts. I print them in color and bind them like a book to they’re a great keepsake to refer to later on after the conference. I charge $5-$8 for these handouts (depending on the quantity of photos/pages), which is what it costs me to print them at home, with the price of toner cartridges, nice paper, card stock and binding combs (to use with my binding machine). Here’s a look at my class handouts:

If you’re going to the CGOA Conference, class registration begins next Wednesday, March 13 at 12:00 pm (noon) Central time. Once again, here’s the CGOA website to find out more about the conference and CGOA in general. And if you have any questions about the conference, I’d be happy to answer them for you.

I hope to see many of you at the conference!

Happy crocheting,

Susan

August 20, 2018August 17, 2018

To CGOA or not to CGOA? That is the question!

What does that mean exactly? Well, to me it means whether to join CGOA (the Crochet Guild of America) or not. That’s a silly question, in my opinion! CGOA has been the best thing I ever could have done (and I did) for my crochet career! Even if I wasn’t a crochet professional, it still would have been the best thing I’ve done for my crochet skills and knowledge! I’ve learned so much about crochet since becoming a CGOA member!

CGOA has a conference every year. The first CGOA Conference I attended was in 2003 in Chicago. I’ve attended almost every year since then (15 conferences so far) and I’ve taught at 9 CGOA Conferences since 2009!

This year’s CGOA Conference was held last month in Portland, OR. I taught 5 crochet classes there: Symbol Crochet, Multiple Motifs, Invisible Repairs, Beginning Bruges Lace and Intermediate Bruges Lace. I had the best classes this year! All of my students were fabulous! I’ve met so many crocheters at the conference who are just as passionate about crochet as I am! The attendees come from all over the US, as well as a few other countries such as England, the Netherlands, Australia and a few more. Here I am teaching in one of my classes:

You may be wondering what exactly happens at a CGOA Conference. Well, it depends on the year! Some years we’ve had a Pajama Party or a Fun Night! Those were both lots of fun!

At every conference we have dozens of crochet classes (and sometimes a few other similar crafts) that are taught by very talented and accomplished teachers (I am in awe of my fellow teachers’ accomplishments!). Here are some of the students in my classes this year:

Every year we have a show floor/market place where we can purchase yarn, thread, hooks, books and lots of yummy fiber goodness!!! This year we had a “yarn tasting” table outside the show floor where you could try out some of the yarns that were being sold in the market place. I really enjoyed “tasting” some of the yarns there!

Every year we have a banquet and fashion show. That’s so much fun (with yummy food, of course!). You get to see some gorgeous crochet fashions (or be a model yourself)! I’ve stepped out of my comfort zone for almost 10 years and have modeled in quite a few fashion shows over the years! It’s a lot of fun, mixed with some butterflies in my stomach, of course!

Almost every year we’ve had a Professional Development Day (PDD). That’s one of the best investments I’ve made at the CGOA Conference because I learned so much about how to run a professional crochet business. I’ve even presented the topic of Contract Crocheting at PDD a few times in the past!

Every year we hold a Member Meeting where we vote on the minutes of last year’s meeting and discuss new business for CGOA. The meeting is run by the volunteer board members. I was a board member for several years and it was great to learn more about what goes on “behind the scenes” of CGOA!

For many years now, we’ve held a Design Competition that is only open to CGOA members. Doris Chan started this (I can’t remember what year it started, though). It’s fabulous! Thank you, Doris, for working so hard to start the design competition! I think it’s been a great help for many budding crochet designers. I was too busy to design anything for the Design Competition this year, but I saw a lot of really nice designs in the competition! Here’s a look at it for you:

We have an editorial “Meet and Greet” where designers can sit with a book publisher or magazine editor and show them their designs. Many editors actually purchase (or commit to purchase) designs right then and there! It’s a fantastic benefit for designers who attend the conference!

Almost every year we have a CGOA Masters ceremony where we pin the newest CGOA members who have passed one of the Masters courses. This year, I earned my Fundamentals pin. This was because I helped test the new Masters course, Fundamentals of Crochet. This is a fabulous course and I learned a lot while taking it. I also helped tech edit the course last year, so I earned a Writer pin for that! You can read about the current Masters programs here. Here’s a photo of the Masters reviewers and graduates from this year’s conference:

2018 CGOA Masters graduates and reviewers

Since 2011, we’ve held the CGOA Jean Leinhauser Crochet Hall of Fame. The first inductee was Jean Leinhauser, who passed away unexpectedly the month before her induction ceremony. There have been 8 inductees into the Hall of Fame so far: Jean Leinhauser, Margaret Hubert, Rita Weiss, Gwen Blakley Kinsler (the founder of CGOA), Lily Chin, Doris Chan, Carol Alexander and Pauline Turner. This year’s inductee was Pauline Turner. What an interesting crochet career she’s had!

For new conference attendees, we have a buddy program where new attendees are paired up with volunteers who answer their questions before the conference and help them out, as needed, at the conference. Of course, everyone there is more than willing to help anyone else with their questions at the conference! We have a Buddy Breakfast where the buddies and newbies can all spend time together and meet each other. It’s a fabulous program!

We have door prizes and goodie bags at the conference, as well! These are always lots of fun to receive and they change from year to year! In addition to the goodie bags, I won a door prize this year! It’s a Yarn Pop bag! This bag is awesome!!! It’s HUGE and is big enough to fit a whole afghan while working on it (it measures 17” wide x 15” high x 5” deep)!!! The bag has an outside pocket, 3 grommets to feed your yarn through, if desired, 3 inside pockets, 2 zippered inside pockets, 2 magnetic clasps and a lanyard inside to attach your keys, or possibly even your cell phone (if you have a cell phone cover with a grommet, of course). You can see all the bags that Yarn Pop makes on their website here. You can see (and order) the very big bag here. Here’s a photo of all the goodies I came home with this year:

But one of the best things about the conference is seeing and spending time with the friends I’ve made over the years! We’re all like-minded when it comes to crochet! We each have our favorite crochet technique and fiber to work with, of course. But we all LOVE crochet and LOVE learning more crochet techniques! That’s where the conference comes into play! The classes are fabulous! I’ve learned so much in CGOA classes!

In addition to the annual conference, CGOA has over 120 chapters across the USA. Chapter members get together either weekly or monthly to encourage each other, teach each other, share their work, attend workshops and more. To find out more about CGOA chapters, check out the CGOA website here.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this look at CGOA and the 2018 CGOA Conference. Until next time!

Happy crocheting,

Susan

April 17, 2018

Teaching at the 2018 CGOA Conference

Now that I’m back from teaching at the Interweave YarnFest in Loveland, CO last week, I thought I’d write a blog post about my next teaching engagement this year.

I’ll be teaching at the CGOA (Crochet Guild of America) Conference in Portland, Oregon from July 25-28, 2018! I always LOVE teaching at the CGOA Conference! There are so many lovely, friendly crocheters at the conference, both professionals and hobbyists! It’s great to meet new crocheters there and spend time with so many of the crocheters who attend every year (or almost every year)! I’ve been attending the CGOA Conference since 2003 and teaching there since 2009. It’s so much fun! If you’ve never attended, I hope this will be the year you make the decision to go and meet like-minded crocheters who all speak the same language of crochet!

To read all about the conference, check out the CGOA website here. To register for the conference, go to this page.

Here are the classes I’ll be teaching in July:

Wed, July 25, 6 – 9 pm:

SIMPLIFYING SYMBOL CROCHET

About the class:

Symbol crochet diagrams are much easier to read and follow than written crochet patterns. Once you learn symbol crochet, you’ll wonder what you ever did without it! You’ll learn what each symbol means, thus enabling you to read and understand symbol crochet diagrams from any pattern, even foreign crochet patterns with international crochet symbols! You’ll even try out your symbol crochet knowledge by making 2 small projects from symbol crochet charts in class. This class includes instructions on starting/working in the round and making motifs, both techniques found in the CGOA Masters of Advanced Crochet Stitches and Techniques program.

Thur, July 26, 9 am – 12 pm:

MULTIPLE MOTIFS

About the class:

Do you love the look of projects made with crochet motifs, but don’t enjoy weaving in all the ends? Then this is the perfect technique for you! With this method of crocheting motifs continuously, instead of separately, the number of ends is decreased dramatically, saving you time and energy! In this class, we’ll make continuous crochet motifs worked in joined rows. You’ll learn how to follow the necessary symbol crochet charts with this motif method. Once you’ve learned how to make many motifs using one continuous strand of yarn or thread, you’ll feel confident tackling any continuous crochet motif pattern.

Fri, July 27, 9 am – 12 pm:

INVISIBLE REPAIRS

About the class:

Do you have a crochet project that’s gotten cut, torn, chewed, etc? Do you want to learn how to professionally repair it? Then this is the class for you! In this class, you’ll learn how to repair all sorts of crochet projects, replacing the “bad” stitches and making your repairs “invisible”! You’ll learn how to replace stitches and chain spaces in the middle of a row, locking the top of the new stitches to the bottom strands of the stitches in the row above. Your work will look as good as new! Learn how to bring your damaged crochet projects back to life again! This technique also works great to “invisibly” seam the first and last rows in a crochet cowl!

Fri, July 27, 2 – 5 pm:

BEGINNING BRUGES LACE CROCHET

About the class:

Bruges Lace Crochet mimics the decorative Bruges Lace made with bobbins in Bruges, Belgium. Bruges Lace Crochet is a fabulous technique and is easy to learn. In this beginning class, we’ll make several different styles of Bruges Lace, as well as curve the lace and join it to make circles, squares and triangles. Once you’ve learned the basics of Bruges Lace Crochet, you’ll be ready to tackle more complex Bruges Lace patterns. If you’re not a “threadie”, don’t fret! Bruges Lace isn’t just for thread crochet. It can be done with yarn, as well. Come and learn to make basic Bruges Lace in crochet.

Sat, July 28, 2 – 5 pm:

Intermediate Bruges Lace Crochet

We’ll take Bruges Lace Crochet to the next level in this intermediate class. You’ll learn many more variations of the lace itself, more joining techniques, and how to curve the lace over itself for more variety. We’ll explore more intricate Bruges Lace designs and you’ll learn how to achieve them in this class. Prerequisite: Beginning Bruges Lace Crochet class should be taken before taking this intermediate class (or have knowledge of the Bruges Lace technique).

I’m excited to be teaching these classes. Last year, my Invisible Repairs class sold out and I was able to add a 2nd class for this “technique” of repairing crochet projects invisibly. This year, I’m teaching Multiple Motifs for the first time (this is also called Continuous Crochet Motifs, which I’ve blogged about before)! I always enjoy teaching Bruges Lace Crochet and Symbol Crochet!

I hope you’ll consider attending the conference. If you attend for the first time because of reading my blog, please stop me at the conference and let me know (or leave a comment below)!

If you’ve attended the CGOA Conference before, what do you enjoy most about the conference?

See you in Portland in July!

Happy crocheting,

Susan

June 1, 2017June 1, 2017

Teaching or Taking Crochet Classes?

Are you a life-long learner, like me? I absolutely LOVE to learn new things!!! I’ve taken so many classes over the years, mostly in crochet. It’s so much fun to learn something new, especially new crochet (or knitting) techniques!

I also LOVE to teach others new things such as crochet, knitting, tatting, paper quilling, etc! Next month, I’ll be teaching 5 crochet classes at the CGOA (Crochet Guild of America) Conference in Itasca, IL, just outside of Chicago. There will be over 50 classes available to take and so many crochet techniques to learn! If you’re a crochet enthusiast, like me, this is THE PLACE to learn more about crochet! Here are the classes I’ll be teaching at the conference:

Beginning Bruges Lace Crochet – Wednesday, July 26th from 6 – 9 pm

Beginning Filet Crochet – Thursday, July 27th from 2 – 5 pm

Invisible Repairs – Friday, July 28th from 9 am – 12 pm (Note: This class is sold out!)

Intermediate Filet Crochet – Saturday, July 29th from 9 am – 12 pm

Intermediate Bruges Lace Crochet – Saturday, July 29th from 2 – 5 pm

I’m really looking forward to teaching these 5 classes! I always enjoy meeting new people at the conference and spending time with old friends! Everyone is so friendly there and willing to help each other out with any questions they have, whether it’s crochet-related, hotel-related or anything else. I love to inspire others to learn new things and stretch their crochet knowledge and skills!

To learn more about my crochet classes, or any of the other classes being taught (and to register for classes and events at the conference), just go to the CGOA website here.

There are many things going on at the conference besides crochet classes, too. There is a show floor with vendors selling crochet-related items, a design competition (for CGOA members), the CGOA Masters pinning ceremony, the induction of the newest CGOA Jean Leinhauser Crochet Hall of Fame winner (this year it’s Carol Alexander), the CGOA Masters Day, a professional workshop, a designer meet & greet (where designers can meet with editors and sell their designs) and a fashion show. To read all about the conference, check out this page.

If you’ve been to the CGOA Conference before, what is your favorite part of the conference (if you can name only one thing)? If you’d love to go, what would be some of the classes/techniques you’d love to learn?

Happy crocheting,

Susan

July 25, 2016

2016 CGOA Conference Afterglow!

It’s so nice to meet other crochet enthusiasts! I just love it! And teaching them some fun crochet techniques is the best!

It’s been almost a week since I got back from the CGOA Conference in Charleston, SC, which ran from Wednesday, July 13th through Saturday, July 16th. What a conference it was!!! For me, the highlight of the conference was teaching 5 crochet classes to lots of eager students!

On Thursday, July 14, I taught a full day class on Writing Crochet Patterns. These ladies were eager to improve their pattern writing skills and were excellent students! Here is a photo of the fabulous students in that class:

The next day, Friday, July 15, I taught 2 classes: Polish Stars and Intermeshing. I had lots of eager students in these 2 classes, also! The Polish Stars class was the largest of my 5 classes. The students learned how to crochet the rows of stitches and chain loops/spaces, along with how to weave the chain loops/spaces to form the Polish Stars. I demonstrated how to weave the stars and everyone did great! It’s so fun to see the stars emerge before your eyes!!! Here are the students in that class:

Right half of Polish Stars clss — Right half of Polish Stars class

In the Intermeshing class, my students learned how to crochet the alternating rows of stitches and chain spaces so the 2 colors are woven together! This is a fascinating crochet technique that is also called Interlocking Crochet. Intermeshing designs are all reversible and many have different designs on the front and on the back. Here are the students in that class:

Then, on Saturday, I taught 2 more classes: Into to Irish Crochet and Symbol Crochet. This was the 2nd time I had taught the Irish Crochet class. The first time was at last year’s Annie’s Craft Festival in Fort Wayne, IN. I love crochet techniques which utilize crochet thread. I think that Irish Crochet is one of the prettiest crochet techniques! These students did great and asked some very good questions! They learned to make an Irish Crochet rose, 2 leaves, mesh and a border in their class project. Here are the students in that class:

In my Symbol Crochet class, my students learned how to read and follow a symbol crochet chart, both in rows and in the round. If you’ve never learned to read a symbol crochet chart, you don’t know what you’re missing! It’s a visual representation of the finished project. It’s a lot easier to follow a symbol crochet chart than a written pattern, too! Here are the students in that class:

I had so much fun meeting the students who I didn’t know and seeing the students who I already knew! They were ALL excellent students and I thoroughly enjoyed teaching EVERY ONE of them! I want to send a special “Thank You” to all of my students for taking my class(es)! You’re the best!!!

More highlights of the conference were (in no particular order):

Meeting and getting to know 4 newbies: Barbara, Renate, Cynthia and Linzi. I was their buddy and answered any questions they had about the conference to help them feel more at home there! I hope you all enjoyed every aspect of the conference! Unfortunately, I didn’t get a photo of them (boohoo)!

Doris Chan was inducted into the Jean Leinhauser CGOA Crochet Hall of Fame on Friday, July 15. Doris was the 6th inductee into the HOF. The ceremony included a cake walk on stage of everyone who was wearing one of Doris’ garment designs that night! I’m so blessed to know Doris through CGOA! She’s a warm, sharing, caring person and a fabulous designer! She really deserved this honor!

The design competition and the awards ceremony was also held on Friday night. My good friend, Kathryn White, won the grand prize and people’s choice awards for her stunning Baroque Jacket! She made it in size 30 thread and it took her 9 months to complete! Congratulations, Kathy!!! Here’s a photo of Kathryn wearing her winning jacket:

Kathryn White wearing her award-winning Baroque Jacket

The CGOA Masters Pinning Ceremony was on Friday night, too. There were quite a few people who completed the Masters program in the last 12 months. They each received their pin in the ceremony. Congratulation to all of the new CGOA Masters graduates!

The banquet and fashion show on Saturday night. The food was delicious, as usual, and the room was electrifying! I modeled in the fashion show and had a blast doing that! The emcees for the fashion show were Lily Chin and Tamara Kelly (of Moogly). There were lots of door prizes that night such as yarns, patterns, hooks and more! I won a set of Clover Amour crochet hooks while I was modeling! Woohoo!!! Here’s Teresa and me modeling my 4 crochet cowl designs in the fashion show:

Teresa and me modeling in the fashion show

After the conference, I stayed an extra day (Sunday) to do some sightseeing with Jane R. and one of my newbies, Barbara W., who is a Charleston local! We had a really nice time shopping at the City Market, which is a covered area 4-6 blocks long, with local craft, souvenir and food vendors. Since all 3 of us are crafters, we really enjoyed it! Here’s a photo of the market:

We had a delicious lunch at a nearby restaurant and some chocolate afterwards! Since it was a rainy day, we drove around to see some of the local architecture. We stopped at Waterfront Park and saw the pineapple fountain. Here’s that fabulous fountain, along with Jane:

We also sat on a swing and relaxed! Here are Jane and Barbara on the swing:

That night, I went swimming in the hotel’s pool and jacuzzi! I haven’t done that in years, which is way too long for someone who grew up with a pool in her backyard in Southern California!!!

The next day, Monday, I got ready for my plane and flew home. When I was downstairs in the breakfast area that morning, I was joined by Tammy Hildebrand, her grand daughter, her mom and Amy Shelton. I had lots of fun meeting Tammy’s grand daughter, Willow, and playing with her! Here we are having lots of fun with Fruit Loops cereal:

So there you have it! Everything you always wanted to know (and more) about the CGOA Conference. I hope you’ll join us at next year’s CGOA Conference in Chicago, July 26-29, 2017!

Happy crocheting,

Susan

August 18, 2014August 18, 2014

2014 CGOA Conference Afterglow

Have you ever attended a conference that was so inspirational and fun that you wanted to go back every year? Well, I have. Let me tell you about the CGOA Conference that was held in Manchester, NH last month, from July 23 through July 27.

First of all, I taught 3 classes there (Shuttle Tatting, Symbol Crochet and my Faux Tatted Necklace). All 3 classes went great and my students were very eager to learn! A few of my students actually finished their projects in class or during the conference! And two of my shuttle tatting students really took off with their shuttle tatting! Here are photos of some students and/or their projects:

Jennifer Ryan with her Faux Tatted Necklace

Juanita's tatted necklace — Juanita’s tatted necklace

Jennifer Ryan is modeling her Faux Tatted Necklace that she finished during that 3 hour class. Isn’t her necklace beautiful? This necklace is actually crocheted to look like it’s tatted. Check out Jennifer’s website if you’d like to see some of her fabulous designs and photos of the yarn bombing at the conference! Jennifer headed up the yarn bombing and it was amazing! If you don’t know what a yarn bombing is, it’s a special display of crocheted pieces that are wrapped around stationary items, such as benches, poles, etc. The yarn bombing was wonderful, thanks to Jennifer’s hard work!

The light blue necklace was made by Juanita. This is a real tatted necklace, not a faux tatted crochet necklace. Juanita had it almost done on Sunday after taking my shuttle tatting class on Thursday. She really took to tatting like a duck takes to water! Juanita took my Faux Tatted Necklace class, too, and finished that necklace shortly after the class.

One of my tatting students wrote a short blog post about learning to tat. You can read Lindsey’s blog post and see pictures of her finished and/or in-progress tatting projects here.

I’m very proud of all my students. They all learned the subject of the class, whether it was shuttle tatting, faux tatting or symbol crochet. They each worked at their own pace and understood what I was teaching them. I had a blast teaching and enjoyed meeting all of my students! They were fabulous!!!

When I wasn’t teaching classes, I was taking classes. Since I learned to knit last summer, I decided to take 2 knitting classes this time. Both teachers were excellent. The first knitting class I took was “Russian-Style Continental Knitting” by Galina Khmeleva. Obviously, Galina is Russian! She had some fantastic stories and her laid back style of teaching was refreshing! I learned a few things in that class that will help me with my knitting, including an easier and faster way to cast on stitches with the long tail method (I was doing it the hard way before, but not anymore!). Here’s a picture of Galina:

The 2^nd knitting class I took was by Michelle Hunter. It was called “Spice Up Your Stitches”. Michelle is/was an elementary school teacher and it showed in her fabulous teaching method, which left no one behind and kept the whole class on task! She did a lot of demonstrating and encouraging, which was wonderful! I learned many different stitches and stitch patterns in that class. I’m even using one of them already to design a knit cowl with some gorgeous yarn! Here’s a photo of the swatch I made in Michelle’s class:

I haven’t blocked it and I don’t intend to block it, since it’s just a swatch for learning purposes. As you can see, I learned many new knitting stitches and techniques in Michelle’s class, including bobbles.

Now, lest you think that’s all I did at the conference, I’ll tell you about the other things I did. I took the Wednesday morning event called “Get Your Geek On”. There were a bunch of us there discussing various “geeky” things about crochet, such as how we hold our hook, yarn, etc. It was fun!

On Wednesday afternoon, I was one of 3 presenters at the first CGOA Masters Day (it was half a day, but you get the idea). We talked about the CGOA Masters program in general, reviewed some swatches, talked about gauge, reviewing your own work, organizing Masters portfolios, as well as joining smoothly, finishing off and weaving in ends neatly. We had a great turnout with around 30 attendees. They were all eager to learn more and get their questions answered. I think it was a big hit!

On Wednesday night, I was one of 3 judges in the CGOA Design Competition. The other 2 judges were Karen Manthey and Jenny King. There were 82 original, inspirational entries and it was sometimes hard for the 3 of us to agree on the first, second and third place winners in each of the 5 categories. To see a list of the winners and photos of their winning entries, check out this blog post on Doris Chan’s website. Doris Chan heads up the design competition. She works tirelessly and does an amazing job of organizing everything before, during and after the conference. Thank you so much, Doris, for all of your hard work! The grand prize winner was by Dot Drake again this year. Here’s a photo of her gorgeous top:

2014 Design Competition grand prize winning entry by Dot Drake

There were tons of fish, a mermaid, seashells, an octopus, a seahorse and lots more in this fabulous crocheted top. The photo doesn’t look quite as good as the actual piece up close and personal!

On Saturday morning, I attended the CGOA Board meeting, since I’m the secretary on the CGOA Board of Directors. It’s always nice when we can have our board meeting face-to-face instead of through conference calls! The CGOA Board members make decisions on how to improve CGOA and where we should be heading each year. It’s an honor to be on the Board and to help steer CGOA in positive directions! This past year, we’ve updated the CGOA website to add crochet videos and to update the look of the website with a new banner, which I had the privilege of creating for CGOA.

On Saturday night, we had our banquet and fashion show. I enjoy modeling in the fashion show and being part of the “behind-the-scenes” of the models backstage!

I met 2 wonderful ladies at the conference: Samantha and Kristin. I also met a lot of new people to me in my classes (both the classes I taught and the classes I took). I love meeting new people. That’s one of the nicest things about the conference. And we all speak the same language of crochet!!! Here’s a photo of Samantha wearing an amazing vintage crochet dress at the CGOA Banquet/Fashion Show and a close up photo of some of the stitching in this amazing dress:

close up of Samantha's vintage dress — close up of Samantha’s vintage dress

All in all, it was a fantastic conference. No, not everything went perfectly. When does it? But we all enjoyed ourselves and learned more about crochet by attending.

I would be remiss if I didn’t show you the beautiful tiered cake that one of my mentees, Carlotta Craig, crocheted for CGOA’s 20^th Anniversary this year! Isn’t this fabulous? Here’s a photo of Carlotta and me, too. She is one very talented and humble lady!

Carlotta's fabulous CGOA cake — Carlotta’s fabulous CGOA cake

Next year’s CGOA Conference (aka: Knit & Crochet Show) will be held in San Diego! I can hardly wait!!! My husband and I used to live there back in the 80’s, in our “BC” days (before children). We had a little sailboat and sailed around Mission Bay on some weekends. My brother and sister-in-law still live in the area and my mother-in-law lives just 2 hours north of San Diego. It’ll be great to see all of them again (who can resist staying longer to get together with relatives?)!

I hope you’ve enjoyed this glimpse into my week at the 2014 CGOA Conference. I hope you’ll be able to attend the conference soon. You won’t regret it!!! For more information about the Crochet Guild of America (CGOA), check out the CGOA website here.

Happy crocheting,

Susan

July 17, 2014

We have a winner!

The winner has been drawn for the free copy of Tammy Hildebrand’s new book, “Crochet for Baby All Year”. Congratulations to Karen H. for winning this book! I know you’re going to love it!

Thank you to everyone who entered this giveaway. Stay tuned for more book reviews, crochet news, new crochet patterns and tutorials coming soon.

I’ll be taking a break from blogging for a few weeks. I’m heading to the CGOA Conference in Manchester, NH next week. The conference is always so much fun! I’ll be teaching 3 classes (2 crochet and 1 shuttle tatting). I’m also going to take 2 knitting classes to learn more about knitting and improve my knitting skills. I had my first 2 knitting designs accepted for publication 2 months ago. You’ll be able to see them sometime next year when they’re published (designs are always kept “secret” until they’re published).

To read all about the CGOA Conference (aka: The Knit and Crochet Show) and to see what goes on there, check out this link.

I hope everyone enjoys the rest of this month.

Happy crocheting!

Susan

March 7, 2014March 7, 2014

2014 CGOA Conference Classes

Don’t you just love learning new crochet stitches and techniques? I do! And I love teaching others new stitches and techniques, too.

I’m very excited to be teaching classes at the CGOA (Crochet Guild of America) Conference this year! This conference is special because 2014 is the 20^th Anniversary of CGOA!!! This year’s conference will be held from July 23 – 27 at the Radisson Hotel in Manchester, NH, where we’ve had the conference many times before.

The 3 classes I’m teaching are:

1) Tatting the Old-Fashioned Way on Thursday, July 24 from 9 AM – 5 PM

2) Simplifying Symbol Crochet on Friday, July 25 from 9 AM – noon

3) “Faux” Tatting Crochet Necklace on Sunday, July 27 from 9 AM – noon

You read that right, I’m teaching tatting, not crochet for one of my classes! From time to time, we have a few classes that are similar to or related to crochet and knitting, but not crochet or knitting. In 2011, the fall conference was in Greensboro, NC and Maggie Weldon taught a class on lace pottery. I took that class and LOVED it! My pottery didn’t turn out as nice as hers, but I learned a lot and thoroughly enjoyed the class! Since Maggie lives near Greensboro, she took our class projects home the first night of the class and fired them in her kiln. Then she brought them back the next day and we finished them up in the 2^nd half of the class. You can see Maggie’s amazing lace pottery on her website here. I absolutely LOVE her lace pottery!!!

There have been some classes taught at the conference on making buttons from Fimo clay, too. Of course, many crochet and/or knitting projects use buttons, so buttons are related to the needle arts!

Okay, back to my tatting class. I’ll be teaching shuttle tatting in this class, not needle tatting. If you’ve always wanted to learn to shuttle tat, I’d love to have you in my class. You’ll learn everything you need to be successful in tatting, from how to wind the shuttle through making rings and chains to create your first tatted piece. Two tatting shuttles are included in the class fee, so you’ll only need to bring the appropriate sizes of crochet thread, along with an eagerness to learn! If you want to take this class, please sign up early because this class fills up quickly and I’ve limited it to only 20 students. Here’s a look at the tatted necklace you’ll be making (starting) in the class:

In my 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. 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 with crochet symbols, without having any knowledge of the language! Here are some crochet symbols that you’ll learn in the class:

I love making crocheted jewelry and my Faux Tatted Necklace is one of those pieces of crocheted jewelry that I love to make! I designed this necklace about 5 years ago to look just like the tatted necklace that is part of my shuttle tatting class. But you don’t need to know how to tat to make the necklace in this class! The necklace is crocheted with size 10 crochet thread and approx. 23 buttons, beads or charms of your choice. I think it looks great! I’ve made many of these necklaces in various colors to go with different outfits in my wardrobe. The wonderful things about the necklace are that it’s completely washable and there’s no clasp to fiddle with, since the necklace is big enough to go over your head! The class fee covers the cost of the pattern. You choose (and bring) the thread color and buttons, beads or charms that you’d like to use for your necklace. Here’s one of the necklaces that I’ve made:

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! Check out the full schedule of crochet and knitting classes here.

If you’re not a CGOA member, yet, 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!

Happy crocheting,

Susan

October 18, 2013

Happenings at the CGOA Conference

It’s been almost a month since my last blog post! Wow! Where does the time go? It’s been a busy month.

Earlier this month, I attended the CGOA Chain Link Conference at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Charlotte/Concord, NC (from Oct. 2-6). It was fabulous, as always! There’s too much to tell you about in one blog post, so I’ll tell you about the classes I took in this post and save the other information for another blog post or two later. I love teaching at the conference, but I also enjoy being a student and stretching my crochet knowledge and skills, too.

I took 7 crochet classes at the conference. The teachers whose classes I took are Margaret Hubert, Jennifer Hansen, Vashti Braha and Dora Ohrenstein (I took 3 classes from Vashti and 2 classes from Jennifer). All of the classes were fantastic! And there were many more classes with other great teachers, too.

Margaret’s class was Freeform Knit and Crochet. Since I can now knit, as well as crochet, I thought this class would be a good fit for me. However, I’m not sure I’m cut out to be a freeform person (I might be too analytical and black/white). But I truly love the freeform look and would like to be able to do it someday (perhaps in Irish crochet with crochet thread instead of with yarn). Maybe with a little practice (or some wine to help me relax!), I might learn to do freeform well. But I enjoyed the class and drooled over Margaret’s gorgeous freeform pieces. Here’s one of them:

Margaret Hubert's freeform jacket — Margaret Hubert’s freeform jacket

Isn’t this gorgeous? Margaret is a wonderful teacher and designer. Here she is in the class showing us a jacket that she made from purchased doilies to inspire us:

Margaret Hubert's doily jacket — Margaret Hubert’s doily jacket

I was truly inspired (the photo doesn’t do it justice)! All of Margaret’s freeform pieces are inspirational! You can read more about Margaret and see her fabulous creations on her website here.

The 2 classes I took from Jennifer Hansen were on Hairpin Lace and Tunisian Crochet. Jennifer is a “Master” at both of these crochet techniques. She has boundless energy, too! In the Tunisian class, we learned to do cables and make a keyhole for her wonderful Tunisian Keyhole Cravat pattern (see pattern on her website here). Here’s a photo of this fantastic design:

Jennifer Hansen's Tunisian Keyhole Cravat from Stitch Diva Studios — Jennifer Hansen’s Tunisian Keyhole Cravat from Stitch Diva Studios

I crocheted my cravat from some extra Naturally Caron Spa yarn that I had. I haven’t blocked it, yet, so I hope it turns out as nice as the one in the Stitch Diva photo. Here’s a photo of that for you to see:

In the hairpin lace class, we learned how to make many different types of hairpin lace strips and many different ways to join them together. It was great! Here’s Jennifer in the hairpin lace class:

Jennifer Hansen (aka: Stitch Diva Studios)

I learned a TON in both classes! Thanks so much, Jennifer.

The 3 classes I took from Vashti were on Love Knots, Tunisian Filet and Slip Stitches. Vashti is a wonderful teacher with lots of patience. She’s a very laid back teacher and puts a lot of thought into her classes and her designs. Here she is in the love knots class explaining something to Shari White:

Vashti Braha (on right) and Shari White (on left)

If you’ve never seen love knots before, here’s a photo of some:

And here’s Vashti in the Tunisian Filet class deep in thought:

The Tunisian Filet class was based on her Aero Wrap. Here’s a photo of that wrap:

Aero Wrap by Vashti Braha of "Designing Vashti" — Aero Wrap by Vashti Braha of “Designing Vashti”

You can see the pattern and read about it on her website here.

I wasn’t able to attend all of the Slip Stitch class because the Board meeting ran late (I’m the secretary on the CGOA Board and we have our annual “face-to-face” Board meeting on Saturday morning at the conference). But I enjoyed what I got out of the class and would like to learn more about it in the future.

Dora’s class was on grading garments (something I don’t like to do and I still need to learn more about it). Dora was very informative, but her class was on the last day of the conference and I was battling “conference brain”! Here’s Dora explaining something about garments:

Dora Ohrenstein of "Crochet Insider" — Dora Ohrenstein of “Crochet Insider”

I took good notes during the class. I think that between my notes and the handout, I’ll learn more when I get a chance to read through it all again. Dora has written several crochet books and they’re all fabulous! To read more about Dora, check out her website here.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this look at the 7 crochet classes I took at the CGOA Conference. If you’ve never attended a CGOA Chain Link Conference before and you’re curious about it, check out the CGOA website here, or the CGOA blog here or the CGOA Facebook page here.

Remember, “When you think crochet, think CGOA”!!!

Until next time!

Happy crocheting,

Susan