Billy, the Goat of Many Colors
One of the things that I really loved at The National NeedleArts Association’s recent Summer Trade Show was a yarn sculpture by Tisha Thompson (Tisha Handmade) of Mill Valley, CA.
This is Billy, the Goat of Many Colors, and the yarns used are from Be Sweet. Tisha gives a behind-the-scenes peek at how he was made here.
I wanted to buy him (if Tisha would even part with him!), but there is just no place for him in my home. It is as large as one of my Great Dane dogs!
Mrs. Kellogg goes to Washington (State)
I recently had the good fortune to go the Sewing & Stitchery Expo in Puyallup, WA, with my friends Mary Ann Donelley, Kathi Mundt and Cheryl Churchill. While we waited at the airport, I taught Mary Ann how to knit.
Okay, so I have a loud voice. And our plane was delayed. So one by one, I was approached by people who wanted to learn how to use the Fix-A-Stitch to repair their stitches. Since I was on my way to a sewing expo, I didn’t have a sample to demonstrate … so I kept ripping down on Mary Ann’s new scarf. But of course, since I used Fix-A-Stitch to make the repairs, it doesn’t show.
While Mary Ann was getting started, she dropped one of her cast-on stitches. No surprise that I easily picked it back up using Fix-A-Stitch. Watch for a new video about how simple it is to make that repair, now that we have Fix-A-Stitch!
At the expo itself, I made new friends and saw old ones:
• In my classes I was very impressed with Nancy Zieman of Nancy’s Notions. She believes in keeping things simple. After the talk, I learned she’s a knitter — and samples of Fix-A-Stitch are on their way to her.
• It turns out that the lace Fix-A-Stitch is PERFECT for threading both the Baby Lock 10 needle embroidery machine and their Crown Jewel long arm.
• A seminar on “365 Days of Notions” introduced me to so many wondrous things to add to my own collection that I had to leave my shopping list with The Pine Needle so they could ship it all to me. I’m especially excited about a light table I can use for my appliqué work, as well as my piles and piles of photo negatives that still need reviewing and culling.
There were many wonderful vendors at the Expo. I was delighted to see Great Yarns there — they always have amazing knitted items to drool over (oh, how I wish I had time to knit!). And of course, Makers’ Mercantile was there with all of their wonderful offerings.
In the non-knitting department, I visited with friends from ThimbleCreek (I hope Joe has time to get us a newsletter this week, now that the show is over), and made friends with Bobbi Bullard. After listening to her speak, I was certain we have a connection, which it turns out we do: We were both raised in Atlanta, Georgia … about the same time … and even have some mutual acquaintances.
One of the most impressive speakers I’ve heard in a long time was Tula Pink, a young (32) fabric designer with enough stage presence to be a stand-up comic. She kept us enthralled for over 2 hours. When Mary Ann went to get a book signed for her daughter, I was able to move in close enough for a photo.
At the airport on our way home, I spent some delightful conversation with Jiordan Castle, a young writer now living in San Francisco. I gave her a card, and hope she will be in touch so we can continue our discussion of books and movies and other fun stuff.
Knitting in Cuba … NOT
Recently I was fortunate to make a US-approved People to People trip to Cuba. We were in two large cities, and of course I was interested in finding out whether anyone there knits.
The short answer is NO. There is some crochet, but mostly I saw beautiful hand embroidery:
I believe that yarn is inaccessible to the people there, and since it is quite warm, there is not much desire for knitted items in other than lightweight cottons.
Based on the tools that I saw in the fields — primitive by our standards — if knitting were in practice, one assumes it would be accomplished on hand-carved needles. I’m curious to find out, however, if other knitters know differently. If so, please share with us!