Stitches Midwest 2016 part 2

Saturday morning we had a class on Increases and Decreases with Judith Durant.

I had mixed feeling about this class. Judith was a good teacher and clearly knew quite a bit about the subject. She has written a book about 99 ways to increase and decrease.

This is the project we worked on in class. Unfortunately neither mine nor my sister's looked like that.

Ours looked like little pig faces - I think there needed to be a few more transition rows.

I  ironed my pig nose only to discover it  isn't even centered in my piece.

It wasn't always clear to me where we were supposed to start our increases and decreases on the hand outs (obviously) and I felt like there wasn't much more to the class besides the hand outs, unless we thought of questions we wanted to ask. This was the case with  several of the courses we took this time around.

Kennita Tully's Short Rows class also felt that way and I think it would have helped if she had demo'ed the techniques before we did them. I liked that we had a swatch project for the class - a little vest that would fit a small Teddy bear.

 

Unfortunately, I was not having the best of days and could not do a short row to save my life, so I lost the first half of the knitting period and only got my vest half finished after I got back on track. I had great difficulty understanding the written instructions (and was tred as I say) but since I had done all of these short rows before I can't tell if it was me or the instructions. We did Yarn Over, wrapped, German and Japanese short rows (top to bottom in each section of the vest.) It was an instructive swatch, but Ms. Tully worried too much about us being able to finish and thus didn't spend the time we needed on the technique.

Saturday evening there seemed to be a wedding taking place in some of our usual places for holding the banquet.  This might have been the bride:

Sunday we had our last class and our best class by far. It was Lily Chin's Cable course.We learned all about the sex lives of cables.  I think I have taken this class before, as well as Melissa Leapman's Celtic cables, but Ms. Chin is such a fantastic teacher that one always learn a ton (even having had the course before.)

We didn't have much time to practice, because Ms. Chin had so many examples and stories to tell, so I won't bother with my 4 row swatch, but my advice to others is to take any course they have opportunity to do so with Ms. Chin and they will not be sorry (uness they are easily offended and then these people might as well take a class from a handout or just read a book.) My sister and I left the class completely blown away and inspired.

After class we went to the market where I did some real damage and listened to Rick Mondragon read the  names of the door prize winners. Once again it was not us!

So traditionally I put a picture of my purchases up at the end of my Stitches blogs - so here is the damage:

Stitches Midwest 2010 Fashion Show Part 3

Kathy Zimmerman brought a series of aran-inspired sweaters tothe show including this Fantastic Fisherman sweater done in Kollage yarn.

One of the more interesting pieces in terms of construction was Nicky Epstein's  Cable Crossover done in Aslan Trends' Royal Alpaca. Epstein is very creative and I have enjoyed her edgings books, so I was happy to see a larger piece by this designer!

Elise Duvekot brought us a design from her Knit One Below book. This is an adult version of a children's sweater called Railroad Tracks for Her.  It is knit in Aslan Trends' Royal Alpaca.

If you like knitting with corn, then Zimmerman's Rivka's Cables sweater might be right up your alley.  The Corntastic yarn seems to have good stitch definition for this lovely cable front pullover.

Ilikethe graphic quality of this next piece, Elizabeth's Dress. It was designed by Nina Ganci in Skif cotton tape yarn.  It is nice to see the assymetrical pattern (although I can't imagine knitting it with all those carries on the back side. Can anyone say machine knitting!!?

This is the Ballet Ruffled Tunic made in Fiesta Yarns' Ballet. Ellen Liguori gets credit for this imaginative piece full of texture and flounce!

This is another stunning piece by Rick Mondragon. Named for the painter of waterlilies, Monet features the colors of the great French painters works in gradually modulating stripes. This top was featured on the Summer issue of Knitters and is made from Twisted Sisters' Zazu yarn.

The lines of this Winter Tee for Two sweater set are very flattering. Helene Rush gives us this striped duo, done in Knit One Crochet Too Ty-Dy yarn.  The matching Noni bag was made of Stonehenge Fiber Mill Shepherd's Wool.

Kathy Zimmerman calls this sweater "Leading Man". It was executed in Kollage yarns' Fantastic.

Rick Mondragon is palying mindfully with colors this year. This top is called Color Bars and will be available in the 100th Issue of Knitters coming soon. It knit up perfectly in Mission Falls 1824 wool.

Angela Juergens' Celebration Tunic is a bit more flamboyant. Also in the upcoming very special 100th Issue of Knitters, it is knit in Cascade yarns 220 Superwash wool.

Here's one I'd like to knit even though I am not much of a cables fan. The diagonal line across the chest in this Cable Front Pullover, really adds panache to this Schulana design in their Sumerino yarn. What fun!

Speaking of fun, next came an alpaca vest and accessories designed by Hoyle in New Era Fiber Fox and Hounds.

This is the Rhapsody Vest by Twisted Sisters in their Allure.

Look what you can do with sock yarn!  One of the more daring designs was this Round Robin's Vest. I think I would like the center rectangle in the back to be a tiny bit wider, but of course brazenness is in the thinness of the lines! 

The vest is knit in Louet's Euroflax and Kureyon.

Here's Nicky Epstein's Spellbound again. This time it is done in a single color of Aslan Trends' Del Cerro. 

 I'd love to see it with the center stripe in each panel done in a contrasting color.

Vladamira Cmorej designed this Cable Colors top, which is knit in Kollage yarns' Glisten.

Photographs can't catch the sparkle of the yarn, but the stitch definition is marvelous!

Here's another round sock yarn creation with a narrow band in the back.  Julie Weisenberger designed this piece in Isager I and Opal sock yarn.

The skimpy back belies the drapey full fabric-y front!

This Woven Kimono  was made in Shetland wool on the Cricket Loom and designed by Nancy McRay.

Gwen Bortner calls this one "Father Knows Best". It is her Entree to Entrelac book and can be knit in Tahki Yarns' Donegal Tweed.

If you are expanding your horizons, you may like Skacel's Artfelt Lined Vest done in Schoppel Wolle's Artfelt Merino and silk rovings.

Unfortunately this photo does not do justice to the garment, but here's another fun and kicky piece done in Prism's Wild Stuff. It will be published int he big celebratory 100th issue of Knitters and is called Silver Plumes (by the Knitters Design Team).

This vest isn't meant to cause us any sorrow. It's Penny Ollman's Purple Reign done in Skacel/Ziron Lifestyle. It will  also be in the Fall issue of Knitters. I predict a run on the market for this issue!

Great Yarns gives us this 128 Cable Vest. It looks like it could have 128 cables on it, but actually the yarn is Cascade's 128 Superwash.

Here's Gwen Bortner's Watercolor coat with its slow color modulation from pink to blue.  It's in her book and uses Malabrigo's baby Merino lace.

And this seems like a good place to break for now. Look for more intriguing cardigans in the next installment of the Stitches Midwest 2010 show review.

Thursday at Stitches Midwest 2010

At 10:00 AM we started off with a bang with a "Spotlight" panel that was addressing the design challenges of entrelac. Before we met the designers,we got our chance to  compete for door prizes and guess who got the very first copy of Gwen Bortner's book (and first prize for showing the most (i.e. loudest) enthusiasm! You can take the girl out of Texas but... Then the good stuff got started!

Designers Gwen Bortner, Laura Bryant and Anna Walden each presented a design they had done for the challenge and explained the intricacies and details of their decisions. 

Laura, Gwen and Anna with their designs

Personally I've always done more mosaic knitting than entrelac, so I stood to learn quite a bit from the panel. Each designer had interesting ideas about ways to use entrelac in a more interesting way. Laura Bryant (who is famous for Prism's beautifully colored yarns) started us off with some ways to think more daringly about entrelac and color.

Laura Bryant uses wild stuff to add color to entrelac

I want to give readers a chance to see the kinds of things that were talked about without revealing too much of the designers' intellectual property, although the above photo should make everybody eager to go out and buy some of that gorgeous Prism yarn!

Laura based her design for the Spotlight on an idea of outlining some of the entrelac squares with a zigzag border (as seen above.)

Anna Walden also used a daring and dramatic color palette for her Spotlight entry. Here you can see how she combined entrelac in different directions with stripes and brashly pigmented yarns.

A close up slide shows her asymmetrical sweater front and varied choices in yarn.

Next Gwen Bortner (who wrote the featured book of the Conference) showed us some of her wonderful designs from Entree to Entrelac. 

Gwen also used bias in a variety of ways (sub-titling her work a "guide from a biased knitter".

By carrying two yarns together and switching gradually, she was able to produce a very nuanced look. This is her submission for the Entrelac Spotlight panel.

After the presentation and question session finished..., 

...we were able to go up and look more closely at each of the three designs. Below you can see how Anna Walden combined mired squares with entrelac.

Here are Gwen's and Laura's final designs.

Next we had a luncheon and got to "speed date" some of the teachers who are featured at the conference. Every few minutes the teachers would rotate to a new table (and while I liked the chance to meet some of the teachers, it was a tiny bit rushed.) I think it would have been nicer to have 20 minutes to just get to know a few of them instead of seeing them rush around madly. I think we got to meet about 6 different teachers.

I believe this might be Candace Eisner-Strick. She is showing us socks and planning a book called Strickly Socks.

Maureen Mason-Jamieson showed us some Dorset buttons she had made. She looks like a really fun teacher!

And Myra Wood popped by to show us some of her new stuff.

I already took this class on lace knitting, but the shawl is just so beautiful that I have to show it!

Nearby I caught a glimpse of Lily Chin too in her signature chartreuse!

Look at that beautiful serpentine image. The woman has style from every angle! 

Below is a shot of the room and you can see the various tables with their teachers.

Laura Farson popped by to show us twined knitting, as did Christine Bylsma and oour last visitor was Leslye Solomon the owner of Woolstock Yarn Shop. She is very stylish and I always enjoy looking at what she is wearing. She had a gorgeous lined jacket that was to die for.

Lily came by and visited too after the session. It was great to see her again. What a powerhouse!

Of course one fun thing about Stitches is getting to mingle with the Knitterati and pass the famous in the halls. Here are Rick Mondragon, Candace Eisner-Strick and Judy Pascale having a chat in the foyer.

Then it was time for my first class.  I was doing Columns of Colors with Elise Duvekot. She had been featured in an earlier Stitches conference and I decided to see what I could learn about Knit One Below and cables.

She turned out to be a warm and enthusiastic Dutch woman with some great advice on ways to use multiple colors without having to carry yarns on the backside.

Here is what we were supposed to do in class and 

here is what I ended up with (not exactly identical unfortunately!)

Here is a nice shot of Elise Duvekot as she shows us how to fix our mistakes. Somehow it conveys some of her warm and friendly character.

Here is another example of using Knit one Below for nice color effects.

Before I knew it class was over and it was time to go get my sister at the airport.  Th night before I had gotten in and after a meal at the Greek Tavern near my hotel, I went swimming and relaxed for a while in the hot tub. What a wonderful life!

Thursday evening was a little more stressful. I had to pick up my sister at the airport (and not the close airport but Midway (bom, bom, bom, bom, bom , bom!! (2001 a Space Odyssey noises!) It didn't help that there were two accidents on the highway within the first two miles, so after sitting a while I had to get off the highway and just take city streets.It was actually a nice (but very long timewise) drive on Cermak road over to Cicero. I got to see the old neighborhoods and got just to the edge of Berwin where my father grew up. I didn't have time to stop and take pictures, but it felt like home. 

Check out A Chicago Soujourn's Blog for more pictures like the one above of the kinds of things I got to see.

It took two hours and several phone calls to get to the airport, but eventually I did and then the way back was much quicker and easier. After that it was off for Indian food at a great Indian restaurant that we eventually found after driving around most of southern Schaumburg. This place had great atmosphere!

I also loved that there were glass chandeliers in a modernist place. Simplicity and kitsch. i sure couldn't pull it off, but they did marvelously!

There were banquet facilities for weddings and celebrations down the sumptuous hall- all red and glittery and lined with pearlescent Ganesh statues!

It was another night of pampering and pleasure!