Welcome to Stitches West!
(My knitting pals Daniella & Lorna)
I finally made it to Stitches West!
If you're a knitter, you know that every February knitters across the West (and America) head to the Santa Clara Convention Center for Stitches West. I had no idea how huge this event was until I arrived and checked in to the Hyatt Regency in Santa Clara. The check-in clerk told me to expect 2,200 knitters for this event...and wow I was one of them!
I always thought Stitches West was just for buying yarn. Boy, was I wrong! Stitches West is a wonderful way to "keep in the loop" with the fiber industry, keep up to date with the latest trends and designs and best of all you get to "mingle" and "chat" with the designers!
Let's Meet Some Designers!
Rosemary Hill
Perhaps one of the neatest things about attending Stitches West is that you get to meet designers up close and personal.
I have long admired Sonoma's Rosemary Hill's knit wear designs and her Designs by Romi shawl pins for quite some time. She is not only a talented knit-wear designer but a jewlery artisan, too. She was so nice and took time to have a nice long chat with me!
Now if I can just get up the courage to knit her gorgeous lace Muir shawl! She named it after Muir Woods just north of San Francisco. It's rated Piquant (for a seasoned knitter) on Knitty.com so I'm just waiting to perfect my lace knitting skills!
Pick Up Sticks
Maggie & Kathleen
My vote for the "best booth" at Stitches West was the Pick Up Sticks booth. These girls are adorable and so was their booth! I loved meeting and chatting with Bay Area girls Maggie Pace and Kathleen Lussier-West. They just so happen to be best friends from high school and Maggie's Mom Joan also works behind the scenes.
Maggie started Pick Up Sticks back in 2003. She became hooked on felting and her business grew from there. Maggie's an author,too! She has written two books on felting: Felt It and Felt Forward. I loved the clever packaging of the Pick Up Sticks kits and their small balls of yarn! I did not leave this booth empty handed!
Joan McGowan-Michael
I love the feminine designs of Joan McGowan-Michael. Joan is a local Sacamento designer so I had the chance to meet her last year at a knitting guild meeting. Her "girly girl" designs can be found at her website White Lies Designs.
Seeing Joan at Stitches gave me the chance to have a personal chat with her. As I was admiring her booth I had a chance to tell her that I love her Bed Jacket design from her book Knitting Lingerie Style. Joan gave me a personal recommendation that this would be a great garment for me to knit for my body shape. I've got the "green light" now from the designer herself to knit up her pretty Bed Jacket. How lucky is that?
It's always a thrill to meet a designer in person.
Designer Lorna Miser is not just a designer but also my friend.
I had a great time hanging out with Lorna at Stitches West. Lorna really "lights up" a place so I know everyone was thrilled to meet her in person at and get their books signed by her.
As you can see, I had a great time at Stitches West.
I've already marked my calendar for Stitches West 2011.
I'll never miss this show again!
1 comment:
Lisette, I'm so glad u made it - and had a wonderful time. It is amazing. See you soon!
Post a Comment