Vogue Knitting Live Chicago! A Summary

I did SO MUCH at Vogue Knitting Live, Chicago 2014 at the end of October.  I took three classes from 3 different amazing designers (Anna Hrachovec, Norah Gaughan and Susan B. Anderson), and I've already shared those experiences with you.  What I haven't shared with you yet is what else happened at the conference.

The stanchions for sign in were ropes of HUGE yarn.  I wish I had put something in there for scale but it was almost like these were knit with roving.  

"Where does your stash live?" is a really cute way to ask where the attendants are from.  My pin is the red one at an angle.  

In the expo there was an entire exhibit of knit pumpkins!  If you're a long time reader you may have noticed that I've knit a lot of pumpkins myself over the years, but this is quite an impressive patch.

I was very well behaved in the expo and did not buy any yarn.  I did visit the Della Q booth and picked up some silk cases for my double pointed needles and my interchangeable circular sets.  All of the cases have size lables printed in them which means I am no longer struggling to hang onto the original packaging for my needles!  (Unfortunately I have already spilled Coke Zero on the cases so my perfect silk is a little stained.  Hopefully I can figure out a way to spot clean them.  But they are still working great to organize my tools.)  

I saw these scarves in a booth and thought that the drop stitch pattern was beautiful in a variegated yarn.  I may need to make myself a new drop stitch scarf with some of my hand dyed yarn!

Vogue Knitting Live is where I connected with Save the Children.  They invited me to tea through twitter and I am SO HAPPY that I checked my account while I was at the conference.  It was amazing to meet people who worked for the organization and I am so excited to have been part of Make the World Better with a Sweater Day.

I love tea!

I don't own much fine art, but I saw one of the most impressive works of fiber art I've ever seen.   Kathy White is an artist who has made "paintings" that are constructed out of yarn that has been pressed into a canvas of bees wax.  I am amazed with the detail and definition the artist has been able to achieve with the direction and color of yarn.  There are also some smaller pieces, but I hope that Keith will love them as much as I do and maybe we'll be able to purchase something for our home someday.  (Pictures shared with permission of the artist.)  

Finally, one of my favorite parts of Vogue Knitting Live is the chance to chat with other knitters and fiber enthusiasts. I met designers of HUGE installations, small trinkets and got to try out a bunch of new tools.  I came home with a fistful of business cards that I hope to look up to find the products that had really excited me.  I don't know where we will be living next year, but I hope that I'm still close to knitting conferences!