Vogue Knitting Live was great. On Sunday, I was asked for in the fashion show again! I worked there all morning until I had to leave at noon. The three shows I worked on were Rowan, Plymouth Yarns and Deborah Newton. They all went well. I got a little braver and ran around front to take photos. No one seemed to mind, as long as I was backstage when I needed to be.

Here’s a real reporter’s take on the event. I know exactly how she feels. You know in the movie Up when the dogs get distracted and they say “Squirrel!”? That’s just what I felt like during the fashion show when I spotted a lovely garment. It was a good kind of distraction.

I ran down to the marketplace during a break and quickly picked up some items that I’d been needing wanting. A needle gauge, some pretty yarn, (It’s hard to resist pretty yarn.) another needle gauge just because I thought it looked cool, some shawl pins and a cute little lampwork sheep stitch marker. He’s watching over my Khotan socks which are currently on the needles and 85% finished.

I told you on day one that I’d talk about my class. I took Custom Knit Design with Josh Bennet.  I know, I hadn’t heard of him either. Oh, you had? I guess I don’t get out much. Anyway, his website is boymeetspurl.com. He designs for Rowan and some of his menswear will be featured in the January 2012 Rowan Magazine. Watch for it! He was very informative about design. He has his opinions of course and I couldn’t help but agree with some of them, like mitered squares. I think they look really busy, especially when done in a handpainted yarn and on something like a sweater. Maybe they should be reserved for potholders or scarves. Something small. I don’t really agree with his theory that knitting a sweater in the round skews the garment. I made my Oriel Lace Blouse in the round and it has held up nicely. His reasons made a lot of sense though, in a theoretical sort of way. Maybe it makes a difference depending on the yarn used.  Josh took us through his formula for measuring for a basic sweater. I had taken a similar class before at Unwind, but I had arrived late and frazzled, so I didn’t really get it. Everyone was already in the middle of taking their measurements so it was a bust for me. Then when I was designing my sweater for the Classic Elite contest, I really needed the info. Luckily, I had Shirley Paden’s Knitters Design Workshop. That really helped get me through the sleeve measurements. My poor sweater still could have used more proper fitting techniques, but I chalked the whole thing up to a learning experience. I did have fun designing it and I want to do more.

On Saturday, I sat in on a lecture given by Nancy Soriano called Turning Your Passion Into A Business. I’d love to turn knitting into a business, but it seems like a long road. Is it crazy that I want to turn knitting into my primary business and web design into a hobby? Neither are a business at this point, but you can see where there is more potential to make money. Ahh, well. Let me know your thoughts.

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