Monday, August 20, 2012

Stitches Midwest 2012

My mom and I went to stitches last week and had a great time.  But, before I get to that, I have to post these adorable pictures of our niece, Naomi.  We saw her in Michigan this past weekend when she was visiting our family and next she is headed to Minnesota to visit Josh's family.  She is wearing a crochet sweater that I made in the first picture, such a cutie!  I'll post more pictures from our trip soon. 



So, last weekend my mom and I went to Stitches Midwest in Schaumburg.  We spent four days knitting, taking classes, and shopping.  It was a lot of fun to be there for a few days and be surrounded by others who also enjoy to knit and crochet.  Here we are knitting at a charity event for families who lost their homes to the tornado in Joplin, Mo last year. 


I took a crochet class and learned a technique to join motifs as you go.  Here is my sample from class: 


I also took a Market Session where I learned double knitting with color. 


The classes we took were taught by authors of knitting/crochet books so we got to meet some designers that we really admire.  I also got to meet Linda Permann at the Craftsy booth in the Market.  That was a nice surprise since I really like her work and I have her books.    


My mom took a sock knitting class and learned how to knit two at a time, toe up, on circular needles. 


This is from a class I took with Melissa Leapman where we learned how to knit a circular sweater/jacket with our stash.  

And, here is the sock that I worked on when I had some free time that weekend.  I finished it tonight so now I will start the second one.  I need to finish up my current projects so I can get started on all of the new projects I have in  mind from Stitches.   


In total, I took three classes and a market session and my mom took three classes.  We also spent many hours shopping and browsing at the market.  Our weekend was packed with lots of knitting/crocheting fun and we're looking forward to going back next year.