TKGA 2015: The Cherries on Top

I went to TKGA primarily for education, but I signed up for every event I possibly could.  Since I was traveling all the way across the country to attend this Conference, I might as well do All The Things!  These extra events were the Market Preview, The Breakfast of Brilliance, and The Yarn Tasting.  I realize that the title of this blog sounds like it is the last post in this series on TKGA.  It is not.  These extra events took place on Thursday and Friday.  I’m publishing this post today since I’m writing in roughly chronological order.  I did attend two classes on Saturday and I will post about them tomorrow.

But before I get to those events, I have to share this license plate, which Heather and I spotted in the hotel parking lot when we were on our way back from lunch on Thursday:

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I particularly love how the setting sun looks like a ball of yarn!

The Market Preview

The market did not open to the public until Friday, but anyone attending the conference got to go into the market from 7 to 9 pm on Thursday.  When we arrived 20 minutes before the doors opened, the line reached all the way across the lobby!

We're waiting for those double doors in the distance to open.
We’re waiting for those double doors in the distance to open.

The line grew quickly, snaking around the lobby.  By the time the doors opened, the back of the line was nearly to the market doors.

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First view of the market.
First view of the market.

I headed straight to RedFish Dyeworks.  I had not heard of these local dyers before, but during the Finishing Course on Thursday, Arenda showed us several Fair Isle sweaters she’d knit with their yarn and raved about their color sense.  I bought a package of twelve 50g / 450 yard skeins of 20/2 silk for weaving:

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I also bought 4 ounces of 50% silk / 50% baby camel roving.  The roving is incredibly soft thanks to the baby camel fiber and has the sheen of silk.  I can’t wait to spin it!

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Newton’s Yarn Country booth was next door to RedFish Dyeworks.  Their booth was standing room only!

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They sell weaving yarns at excellent prices.  I looked through the booth, but didn’t buy anything.  Most of their yarns were cotton or tencel and I already have many cones of those fibers for weaving.

The Yarnover Truck was in the house.  Like literally in the house, on the market floor.

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Four Purls, a LYS in Lakeland, FL, has a yarn truck, which I’ve seen at various events (e.g. Orlando Distaff Day 2015), but it’s always parked outside.  I love the name “Yarnover Truck.”  I want to call them and ask them bring that yarn over.  Too bad I live on the opposite side of the country.  The inside of the truck is lovely, with built-in cubbies full of yarn:

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I didn’t buy anything from them during the market preview, but I came back later to pick up some yarn for a baby blanket that I’m making for a friend.

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Another booth carried Jelly Yarn.

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Remember those jelly shoes every little girl had back in the late 70s and early 80s? This yarn feels just like those shoes.  And some of the colors glow in the dark:

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I resisted the temptation to buy some during the market preview because what would I actually do with it?  While it’s tempting to think that I might knit myself jelly shoes (or slippers, perhaps) I’m certain they’d be too fragile to wear outside during a Florida summer. I was unable to resist its siren call for the entire Conference however.  Three skeins came home with me (in Ravenclaw colors, of course).

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Unique Market Features

The TKGA / CGOA Market had two unique features: The Brilliance Bar and a Yarn Winding Station.

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During posted Office Hours, at least two Master Hand Knitter Committee Members manned the Brilliance Bar.  Attendees could make an appointment to ask knitting-related questions.  Whether you wanted a little info on the Master Hand Knitter program or you needed help trouble-shooting a current project, this was the place to go!  I didn’t personally make an appointment — almost every class I took was taught by a Committee Member, so I had many opportunities to ask questions during the Conference.  I’d love to hear comments from people who did visit the Brilliance Bar or people who worked it.  What kind of help did you get?  What was the craziest problem anyone brought to the Bar?

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OMG.  Every fiber event should have one of these.  I realize it might not be practical for a large event like Maryland Sheep and Wool, but why haven’t I seen this at the smaller events I’ve attended?  I could knit my new yarns NOW.  I don’t have to wait to get home to my swift and ball winder!

CGOA Member Design Competition

Each year, CGOA (Crochet Guild of America) runs a Member Design Competition.  Entrants must submit their work by July 1.  Pieces are on display at the Conference Market and prizes are announced at the Saturday night banquet.  “Entries must be original designs that have not been previously entered in this competition, previously published in any print or electronic media, or otherwise publicly available before the date of competition (our judges need to have never seen this work before).  Entries do not have to be new or recently crocheted, as long as they are your own designs.” (from the Eligibility Guidelines, available on the members-only section of CGOA’s website).  This year, crocheters could enter pieces in 7 categories: Fashion, Accessories, Home Decor and Afghans, Thread Crochet, Young Designer (25 years old or younger), and First-Time Entrant / Non-Professional (no designs previously published in any form).  CGOA judges awarded prizes in each category.  Anyone attending the Market could vote for one piece for the Attendee Favorite.  Here’s a few of my favorites:

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I though this afghan was knitted, but it is Tunisian Crochet.
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I sent my newly engaged friend Stacy a picture of this and suggested she crochet it for her wedding gown. She’s a talented crocheter, but I don’t think she’s convinced that this would be the right thing for her!

My favorite pieces were all by the same person: fiber artist Kayt Ross.  Her website (www.vivaciousart.com) is down, but she does have a Facebook page.

This crocheted cat suit probably looks unwearable:

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But someone has actually worn it and looked amazing in it.  I found this picture on Pinterest; it was pinned from the artist’s website.

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Ross’s entry in the Afghan category was only partially visible under the other afghans.  I love the color combination and the freeform shape.

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Her piece Danikil Depression won Third Place in the Artistic Expression category.  This one was so huge that it was difficult to get good pictures.  Here’s a couple of angles.

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Her piece Cobblestones won Second Place in the Artistic Expression category.

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Finally, the piece that I considered the showstopper: “Emily Rose”.  I voted for this one for People’s Choice.  I don’t know if it won in that category or not, but it did win First Place in the First Time Entrant category and the overall Grand Prize.  Yes, this really is crochet.  I leaned in as close as I could get to the piece without touching it and even that close it was difficult to see the stitches.  It’s beautiful work.

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The list of all the winners, except People’s Choice, is on MarlyBird’s website.  She was at the show and did book signings.  I believe she was also one of the Design Competition Judges.

The Breakfast of Brilliance

The Breakfast of Brilliance started at 7:30 am Friday.

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At this event, anyone who finished Master Knitter Level 3 (the final level) since the last Knit & Crochet Show received a pin from current Committee Chair Suzanne Bryan.  A total of 13 people finished level 3 in the last year, but only 7 were able to come to San Diego.  I asked Arenda if this was the most people to finish level 3 in one year.  She didn’t know off the top of her head, but there’s no doubt that Master Knitters are an elite group.  (While working on this blog post I ran across a page on TKGA’s website with pictures of each pinning ceremony since 2007.  In 2007, 24 people received pins.  In 2008 and 2010, 17 graduates received them.) In the 30 years of TKGA’s existence, only 300 people have completed Level 3.  TKGA has the complete list of graduates on their website.  Congratulations to all the new graduates!

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Level 3 requires knitters to design two projects: a hat and a sweater.  One must be Aran (that’s one color, with lots of cables, bobbles, and texture) and the other must be Fair Isle (that’s color work).  The knitter can decide if he or she wants to make an Aran hat and Fair Isle sweater or vice versa.  During breakfast, we had a fashion show of the new graduates’ final pieces.  Some graduates modeled their own pieces.  Master Hand Knitter Committee members modeled the rest.  Each piece was beautiful!  I didn’t get everyone’s names to match with the pieces and I didn’t get good pictures of all the pieces.  These are the best pictures and information that I got during the event!

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I particularly loved the double-helix look of the cables on this sweater and the seed stitch in the center of the cables. Seed stitch with cables is my new obsession.
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Graduate (and new Committee Member) Carla Pera modeling her own hat.
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Committee Member Joyce Jones modeling Carla Pera’s Sweater. I loved the vine detail at the neckline and the way the way the narrow cables emphasize the waist.
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This graduate is modeling her own hat and sweater. She was the only one in the Fashion show to choose a Fair Isle Sweater and Aran Hat.
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At the end of the Breakfast, we had a drawing for door prizes.  Emma won a bag full of yarn.  It was like Mary Poppins magical bag but full of yarn instead of mirrors or hat stands.

I'm not exaggerating -- the bag held a wall of yarn!
I’m not exaggerating — the bag held a wall of yarn!

The Yarn Tasting

The most important thing I have to say about the Yarn Tasting is THANK YOU to Arenda Holladay, Suzanne Bryan, Binka Schwan, and Charles Gandy.  One hundred tickets were available for the Yarn Tasting and the event sold out.  Each attendee left the event with 40 mini center pull balls of yarn.  Arenda, Suzanne, Binka, and Charles hand wound those mini balls.  That’s 4,000 mini balls.  Arenda makes it sound easy; she’s even got a video on YouTube demonstrating how to wind them.  I don’t care how easy they are to wind; it’s got to take a long time to wind 4,000 mini balls.  Thank you all!

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Here’s links to the sponsors’ websites: A Hundred Ravens, Anzula, Baah, Berroco, Blue Moon Fiber Arts, Brooklyn Tweed, Classic Elite, Elemental Affects, Green Mountain Spinnery, Holst Garn, Imperial Yarn, LB Collection, Lion Brand, Madelinetosh, Miss Babs, Mrs. Crosby Loves to Play, North Light Fibers, Oink Pigments, Peace Fleece, RedFish Dyeworks, Skacel, Shibui, Stonehenge Fiber Mill, Swans Island, Tenacious Fibers (blog and Etsy), and Universal Yarns.

The Yarn Tasting was spectacular.  There’s just no other word for it.  I’ve never been to an event like this one and had only the vaguest idea what it would be like.  We got to the ballroom 15 minutes before the doors opened, so of course there was a line.

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When the doors opened, we all filed into the room.  Committee members handed each attendee a goodie bag:

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We used the goodie bags to collect our mini yarn balls during the event.  When we got the bag, it only had 8 yarn balls in it.

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The bag itself is part of our gift — it is moth-proof 4 mil plastic!  In addition to the 8 yarn balls, each bag held coupons from several sponsors, a 16″ bamboo Chiao Goo needle in either US size 2 or US size 2.5, and 3 magazines.

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As you may have guessed from the “Fiber Fiesta” on the event sign, the Yarn Tasting had a Mexican theme, which was carried throughout the night.  Seven or eight varieties of yarn were scattered around the table.  There was one mini ball / person of each variety.

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The yarns from the table.
The yarns from the table.
Somebody had to do it.  Photo by Heather Weber.
Somebody had to do it. Photo by Heather Weber.
Heather and I at the Yarn Tasting.  Photo by Emma Anderson.
Heather and I at the Yarn Tasting. Photo by Emma Anderson.

The placemats listed every yarn we got to sample.  Each person got one mini ball of each variety of yarn listed here!

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We got 8 mini balls in our bag and 7 or 8 on the table.  The remaining samples were set up as a buffet.

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Hey — I just realized this is as close as we get to a picture of Emma, Jo, Heather, and I together; we’re reflected in the mirror behind the buffet! Emma in the blue shirt, me to her right snapping the picture, Jo to my right, and Heather to her right.
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We walked through the buffet, collecting one of each variety displayed.

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The buffet sections were labeled by courses, just like they would be if we were getting food.  A swatch of each yarn in that category decorated the tables.  I believe Arenda knit all the swatches.

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The Appetizer Yarns from the Buffet.
The Appetizer Yarns from the Buffet.
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A mix of Comida and Dessert Yarns from the buffet.
A mix of Comida and Dessert Yarns from the buffet.
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Dessert Yarns from the buffet.
Dessert Yarns from the buffet.

After we got our yarn from the buffet, Charles Gandy MCed a fashion show, featuring objects knit from sponsor yarns.

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I did not get pattern names, model names, or knitter names for any of these projects — I was lucky just to get pictures!  I only have pictures of a small fraction of the beautiful knitwear in this fashion show.

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The baby sweater and the model’s cardigan are both part of the fashion show.
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I submitted two items for the fashion show, but failed to take pictures of the models!  The first was the Sand Tracks Scarf, knit with Swans Island yarn.  The second was a Quinn Cabled Bag.  In 2013 I knit 9 of these bags, each in a different color of Peace Fleece.  I finished 8 of them and gave them as Christmas gifts.  The 9th was mine.  The knitting has been finished for more than 18 months, but it’s been sitting in my UFO pile, waiting for me to sew in the lining.  Since I said I would submit it for the fashion show, I had to get that lining sewn in.  I finally finished it during lunch on the day of the Fashion Show!

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After the Fashion Show, anyone who submitted objects went to the ballroom next door to pick up their knitting.  Everything looked beautiful, folded up in a row on tables!

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As if everything we’d gotten already wasn’t enough, we each got a bag with 5 or 6 skeins of yarn as we left the Yarn Tasting, all donated by sponsors.  Each person’s bag was a little different.  Arenda suggested we head out to the lobby for a “Halloween candy swap” if we wanted to find enough skeins for large projects!

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Like I said — a spectacular event!

Bonus: A Visit to Green Mountain Spinnery

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Back in May, I went to Burlington, Vermont to attend my cousin’s college graduation.  I drove from Burlington down to Northampton, MA to go to WEBS and meet up with some Ravelry friends, then on to Hartford, Connecticut to spend a couple of days visiting my sister.  During my trip, I visited a total of 12 yarn shops!  I keep threatening to write blog posts about the trip, but haven’t done it yet.  One of the places I visited was Green Mountain Spinnery.  Since they were one of the Yarn Tasting Sponsors, I thought I’d slip that visit into this post.

Green Mountain Spinnery is a co-op.  Most of the people who work there are part owners of the company, and it is run on democratic principles.  When I planned to visit the shop, I didn’t realize that it was a tiny retail space in the mill!  As soon as I parked, I knew this wasn’t an ordinary yarn shop.  This sorting table is right beside the parking area.  Yes, that’s a pile of discarded wool, full of tags or debris.

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There’s another big pile of discarded wool out back.

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Over there by the pallets. It kinda looks like hay from this distance, but that’s all wool.

The entrance to the retail space:

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Inside the retail space:

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It was late in the day when I got there, and the mill was not operating.  I did get a quick peek inside.

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TKGA 2015: Finishing with Arenda Holladay

Thursday was the first official day of the TKGA Conference.  I should have already mentioned that CGOA (the Crochet Guild of America) Annual Conference and the TKGA Annual Conference are held at the same time and place.  Attendees can choose to attend only knitting events, only crocheting events, or a combination.  I only attended knitting events because my primary goal was to learn anything and everything that might help me complete the Master Hand Knitter levels.  This year’s attendance was a record.  I didn’t hear an official number, but the rumor swirling around the event was that 600 knitters and crocheters came to San Diego!

For those of you that asked yesterday, I never did find out who bought me dinner.  I’m happy to leave it that way!  On Thursday, I met Heather from South Carolina, Jo from Sydney, Australia, and Emma from Illinois.  All four of us were newbies and had come to the Conference knowing no one there.  We spent the rest of the event hanging out.  Eventually we discovered that Heather, Jo, and I are practically triplets; our birthdays fall within an 8 month range!  Unfortunately, we never got our picture taken together.  I have a picture of Heather and I taken at the Yarn Tasting, so I’m saving that picture for tomorrow.  Here’s a picture of Emma (left) and Jo (center) with Master Hand Knitting Committee Member Christina Hanger (right) on Masters Day.  I believe Sadie Pachan took this picture.

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I attended a 2-day Finishing class taught by Arenda Holladay, the Executive Director of Cast On magazine.  Rather than writing a post about everything I did on Thursday (first day of Finishing and the Market Preview), today I’m just going to writing about the Finishing course.  Tomorrow I’ll write about the Market and the two wonderful events I attended on Friday, the Breakfast of Brilliance and the Yarn Tasting.

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The finishing class covered all the skills you need to assemble a finished garment.  This included seaming vertical, horizontal, and combination (attaching a horizontal to a vertical) seams; picking up stitches along vertical, horizontal, and combination (e.g., collars because they are vertical on the sides and horizontal across the back of the neck) edges; buttonholes; weaving in ends; three-needle bind off; Kitchener stitch; and probably other skills that I’m forgetting.

I took this class for three reasons. (1) In 20+ years of knitting, I’ve never knit a sweater.  Knitting myself a sweater is on my list of goals for this year.  If I’m going to knit a sweater, I need to finish it properly.  If I don’t, it won’t be wearable!  (2) Master Hand Knitting Level 2 is all about finishing.  (3) I have 12 of S’s sweaters to finish.  I learned so much in this class, and I’m now excited that I have all those sweaters since I have a way to practice my new skills!

We had to knit (or buy from Arenda) a lot of homework for this class.  I already posted a picture of my finished homework in last week’s Year of Projects post, but in case you missed it, here it is again (the one piece in the bottom right was not for the finishing class):

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Finishing requires so much homework because you need two pieces to practice seaming techniques and because we practiced vertical seams and weaving in tails in various stitch patterns — stockinette, garter, seed stitch, 1×1 ribbing, and 2×2 ribbing.  We even had two different swatches for 2×2 ribbing so we could see two different ways to create seams in ribbing.  Despite having two full days and a talented, organized teacher, we did not have enough time in class to actually execute all the seaming.  There’s just so much to cover!

Arenda is a fantastic teacher.  (She also brought us bourbon caramels from a distillery near her Kentucky home and a constant supply of chocolates.  And she’s hilarious).  For each technique and variation, she first explained what we were trying to accomplish, the correct technique, and the common mistakes.  She used still photographs to illustrate these points; the photos were marked with arrows or diamonds or numbers to clearly identify stitches or running thread or whatever it was we needed to see.  She then demonstrated each technique live, projecting the video onto the screen so everyone could easily see what she was doing.  Then we each used our own swatches to work the technique and she walked around the room answering questions and correcting our inevitable mistakes.

Arenda suggested that we leave the last inch or so of our seams loose so that when we look back at them, we can see the path of the yarn.  Prior to this class, I’d done minimal seaming and I hadn’t done any of it correctly.  I totally did not understand how mattress stitch worked!

The swatches in the left column are my vertical seams in stockinette, garter, and seed stitch.  From top to bottom on the right: seaming horizontal edge to vertical edge, three-needle bind off, seaming horizontal edges together, and seaming stair step edges.
The swatches in the left column are my vertical seams in stockinette, garter, and seed stitch. From top to bottom on the right: seaming horizontal edge to vertical edge, three-needle bind off, seaming horizontal edges together, and seaming stair step edges.

Prior to this class, I had picked up stitches on horizontal and vertical edges, but never on curved edges.  I had never done a double pick up for bands.

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The unmarked swatch is the double-pick up. I started binding it off too soon because I was running low on the pink yarn we were using for picking up stitches. I probably needed to knit at least one more row for it to look right.

Prior to this class, I had never knit a buttonhole.  We knit these swatches in class and they aren’t blocked, which makes it more difficult to see the buttonholes!

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On the second day of class, we ran out of time for weaving in ends.  Arenda presented the information and gave us a demo, but the only swatch we worked in class was the mid-row color change.  I haven’t woven in the ends on any of the other swatches yet!

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And here’s all the finished swatches together!

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I highly recommend attending Arenda’s Finishing class if you have the opportunity.  However, those of you unable to attend the Finishing Course either because you weren’t in San Diego or because the class was sold out aren’t entirely out of luck.  Arenda has an excellent YouTube channel and blog covering many of the techniques we learned in class.  Here’s links to the relevant videos and blog posts.

Seams

Vertical

Horizontal

Other

Picking Up Stitches

Buttonholes

Weaving in Ends

In Peripherally Related News

Just a quick note on my swatch photos.  I use my iPhone to take the photos that appear on this blog.  I usually take the pictures on my dining room table in the mid-afternoon when filtered sunlight shines through the window right beside the table.  If it’s raining or I’m busy, I sometimes have to wait to take pictures until I can take them in good light.  In order to be more flexible with photos, I’ve wanted to get a light box.  During Amazon’s Prime Day sale, I bought the StudioPRO 24″ Portable Table Top Product Photography Lighting Tent Kit (affiliate link).  It was delivered to my house while Chris and I were in NJ for his Uncle Angelo’s funeral.  These finished swatch pictures are the first pictures I’ve taken with the light box.  It was 10:30 pm when I took them, so obviously I wasn’t getting any sunlight!  I love how the pictures came out and I look forward to using the light box on my future pictures!

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A Year of Projects 2015: Week 29

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Despite my modest list of goals for the week, I got little done.  I published my YOP goals of the week on Sunday.  Early in the evening on Tuesday, Chris’s mother told us her brother passed away and the funeral was on Friday.  We flew up to New Jersey late Thursday night and came home late Sunday night.  This morning (Tuesday), I’m flying to San Diego to attend The Knitting Guild Association Annual Conference and I won’t be home until Sunday night.  When I found out about the funeral, I immediately developed a long list of things to do in the two days before we left.  I knew that most of what I needed to do before TKGA had to be done before we left for NJ!

Chris’s Uncle Angelo was 85 years old.  His birthday was September 4, one day after Chris’s, so when Chris was growing up, the family often celebrated the two birthdays in one party.  One of the pictures on display at the funeral home showed Chris and Angelo cutting a birthday cake together.  More than 20 years ago, Angelo suffered a stroke that left him paralyzed on his right side.  Despite that, he lived on his own, mostly taking care of himself.  His sisters did his grocery shopping, but he prepared his own meals.  Around the time Chris and I first met 15 years ago, Angelo started doing 3D puzzles.  He completed more than 20 of these puzzles, using only his left hand.  Some of the puzzles were on display at the funeral home:

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Angelo served in the Army (I believe during World War II, but I’m not sure), so he had military honors at the funeral.  I always find this ceremony — taps, folding the flag, and presentation of the flag to the family — touching.

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Now that I’ve lowered your expectations re: my completed goals, here’s a reminder of the goals I set last week:

Goals for July 13 to 19, 2015

  • Finish the Miranda Shawl
  • Knit all the homework swatches for TKGA classes
  • Finish knitting the MHK1 swatches
  • Spin 1 color of the BFL / day (there’s 10 colors / 8 ounces total in Three Feet of Sheep)

On Deck:

  • Mittens for MHK1
  • Liquid Silver Shawl
  • Bubble Baby Blanket
  • Weaving with VCR tape
  • Color and Weave Study scarves
  • Begonia Swirl Shawl

I did not finish the Miranda Shawl.  I did knit several rows after Sunday, but I didn’t take a picture of it to include here.  The body of the shawl is all stockinette, but it is short rows.  While it’s not difficult and there is a regular pattern to the number of stitches in each row, I’m finding that I do have to focus to keep track of which row is next.  Once I learned about the funeral, I put this project on hold.  I did put it in my bag to bring to TKGA.

I finished all the homework swatches for TKGA swatches.  I knit a dozen of them before we left for NJ, and brought the rest with me to NJ.  Since each swatch is small, they made for excellent travel knitting.  I blocked them yesterday.

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All but one of those swatches is for the two-day Finishing class with Arenda Holladay!

As of last Sunday, I had completed 4 of the 17 swatches for the Master Hand Knitting Level 1.  I knit the 5th swatch and blocked the 5 finished swatches before we left for NJ.  After blocking, I found an error in one of them so had to reknit that one.  I also didn’t like the fabric I created on any of the swatches.  I knit them all with Cascade 220 on US size 8 needles.  I decided to reknit all of them with US size 7 needles.  Before we left for NJ, I did research and wrote answers to several questions related to swatches I hadn’t previously knit.  I brought the yarn and needles to NJ with me, and I’ve finished knitting 12 of the 17 swatches on size 7.  I don’t have a picture for you because they aren’t blocked.  I actually packed blocking mats and plan to block them in my hotel room tonight so I can bring the swatches for review during Masters Day tomorrow!  I also plan to knit three more swatches on the plane

Before we left for NJ, I finished spinning 4 of the 10 colors in Three Feet of Sheep.  Obviously I won’t get any more spinning done during the Tour de Fleece, since I’ll be away for the rest of the Tour.  I do hope to finish spinning the Three Feet of Sheep by the end of the month, however, so I’ll be working on it after I get back.

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As you’ve probably guessed, I didn’t even look at any of the projects I had on deck.

Goals for July 20 to 26, 2015

  • Sew the lining into my Quinn Bag
  • Finish the first 17 swatches for MHK1
  • Finish the Miranda Shawl
  • Knit at least 1/2 of the Bubbles Baby Blanket
  • Cast on the Begonia Swirl Shawl

I am bringing my iPad with me and I hope to blog from TKGA.  My next YOP post will probably be on Monday, as I won’t be home until late Sunday night.

Updated List of Goals for 2015

Knitting

  • Knit myself a sweater
  • Improve my finishing techniques
  • Finish MHK Level 1
    • First 3 swatches finished by June 24, 2015
    • Swatch #14 finished July 11, 2015
    • Swatches 1-12 knit on size 7 needles, finished by July 19, 2015
  • Dishcloth Advent Calendar
    • Tribbles, finished January 18, 2015
    • Leaves, finished March 30, 2015 but never blogged
    • Heart Illusion Dishcloths (in progress)
  • Charity Knits
  • Do some test knits
    • Sand Tracks Scarf, finished June 16, 2015
    • Grisou Scarf, finished June 24, 2015
    • Raindrops on Roses Shawlette, finished June 27, 2015
    • Miranda Shawl (in progress)
  • Finish or frog all UFOs
    • Traveling Scarf
    • Bigger on the Inside Hat
    • Evenstar
    • Quinn Bag
    • Baby Blue Monster
  • Socks
  • Other Projects
  • Design at least one project from scratch

Crochet

  • Learn to read crochet patterns
  • Learn all the basic crochet stitches.
  • Make at least one non-granny square crochet project
  • Dishcloth Advent Calendar
    • Diagonal Crochet Dishcloths (in progress)

Spinning

  • Breed Specific Spinning
    • Cormo (in progress)
    • BFL (in progress)
  • Learn to spin on a drop spindle

Weaving

  • Continue playing with color and weave drafts
  • Learn pick up stick drafts
  • Learn Inkle Weaving
  • Learn Kumihimo braiding
  • Explore Twill weaves on the floor loom
  • Make items for the Guild Sale
  • Other

Dyeing

  • Finish dyeing the MAPLE LEAF Shawls
  • pH / water source experiment
  • Return to dye triangles project