Well, we pulled it off. Two-and-a-half weeks before the show, Spinrite (the new owner of Caron) marketing exec Sara Arblaster and I decided that I should yarn bomb a 10 ft’ fake tree, live from the show floor. Normally, plans like these take months of planning. We however, like to live on the edge.
Thanks to the powers that be for approving it, the design wizardry of artist (and art director on Knitty Gritty) Dave Lowe who built us a tree, and to the knitting machine that helped me whip out the pieces to cover it lickety-split–our zany idea came to yarn-y life!
“Yarn Bombing” (aka knit tagging, knit graffiti) is a phenomena that saw a rise 5-7 years ago in the indie scene and has since gained popularity in the mainstream. Its purpose can be anything from making a statement against the stereotypical purpose of knitting/crochet, to challenge the modern perception of art, to offering a fun way to make a bright (but harmless) mark on an otherwise ordinary object.
I made most of the tree pieces on the Ultimate Sweater Machine. Here they are, finished and ready to be packed for the trip!
Screenshot of live streaming from the show floor. Now that I know how to do it, maybe I’ll do more live events (only that aren’t 4 hours long!)
Be-cozying in progress.
Final touch: fabric tree “carving”.
Fabric hanging: hand embroidered and machine sewn.
CHA Floor Much like every convention in any industry, the CHA convention is wall to wall carpeting and booths. What makes this one different though, is an unusual amount of glitter, paint and yarn. Oh, and these guys.
Every year before the show doors open, a bag pipe procession plays through the aisles. Random.
Andrea from A.C. Moore, kindly let me cover her cast in Sheep(ish).
My friend Hope Perkins, painting a live model from the I Love to Create booth.
Last minute lampshade cover, made on the USM the night before the show to fill space. Most of our stuff didn’t make it, so we had to do a wee bit of scrambling.
CYC Reception
White at CHA, I attended the annual Craft Yarn Council reception. This is the meeting where the council presents to industry types, the data obtained through researching customer’s yarn habits for the previous year. I always walk away with some interesting facts so this time, I thought I’d share a few. All information is based on the results of surveying 5,175 knitters and crocheters found via the web.
Out of the stitchers surveyed:
63% both knit and crochet (This was a happy surprise to me! I’m so glad to see that the majority are bi-craftual. That keeps things interesting for us in the the design world.)
In 2011, 87% of knitters/crocheters said that they’ve taught at least one other person to stitch. (Recruiters!)
Hats and scarves are the most made projects (70-77% respectively)
Knitters and crocheters each averaged 33.4 projects in 2011. (This number blew me away! I suppose this speaks to the popularity of small projects. I’d also wager that many of these are charity projects.)
98% of the stitchers surveyed, said they plan to make at least as many projects in 2012 as they did in 2011. (This is great news for local yarn stores, big box retailers, independent designers, publishers, and anyone else who’s in the industry or simply, loves the craft!)
The March YarnYAY! Box crochet project is 𝘍𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘵, a crochet, boomerang shawlette. The shape is more commonly seen in knitted pieces, but I love it because if you want the piece to be larger, you just keep working it in the established pattern.
𝘍𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘵 is worked with a sweet, as-to-go edging and optional, appliquéd, chain-florets. I designed it to be worn as shown here, scarf-style, but with the option to go full-shawl. You do you!
𝗚𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝘆 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗼𝘆𝗮 𝗠𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗼 𝗟𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 — 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘁 𝗝𝗮𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗿 — 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗬𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗬𝗔𝗬! 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗕𝗼𝘅 (𝘁𝗮𝗽, 𝗴𝗼 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗶𝗻 𝗯𝗶𝗼, 𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝗬𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗬𝗔𝗬.𝗰𝗼𝗺)
MODEL FUN FACT:
The gorgeous human modeling this shawlette, Kat Roberts, was the main featured young woman (swipe to see) in the infamous 1992, Dr. Dre and Snoop Dog video “Nothing But a G Thang”. That video didn’t age well, but man, she sure did! 🤩
#yarnyay #crochetersofinstagram...
We are so excited that our friend and YarnYAY! Design Manager, @juliamadill's Overprint Bag design was published in the Spring '23 issue of @pompommag !
We love the graphic look, and environmentally conscious purpose of this crochet tote so much, that we've put together two colorful, Montoya Merino Light kits to celebrate!
Go to the YarnYAY! shop link in my @vickiehowell bio to learn more AND get a 20% off discount for the digital issue of the magazine.
Oh, and keep your eyes open for a crochet-along, coming on 3/29!
𝗜𝘁'𝘀 𝗮 𝗦𝘁. 𝗣𝗮𝗱𝗱𝘆'𝘀 𝗗𝗮𝘆, 𝗙𝗹𝗮𝘀𝗵 𝗚𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆!🍀
The YarnYAY! 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘉𝘰𝘹'𝘴 featured shade of 𝘔𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘰𝘺𝘢 𝘔𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘰 𝘓𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 (Desert Jasper), feels right at home with this holiday, so 𝘄𝗲'𝗿𝗲 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗮 𝗯𝗼𝘅 𝘁𝗼 𝗧𝗪𝗢 𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀! See below for details.
Side note (that likely no one by me will care about): Giving away hanks on St Patrick's Day, of my Montoya Merino yarn feels appropriate as my dad used to always say that my brother and I were Spirish (Spanish + Irish). Thank you for listening.
HOW TO ENTER TO WIN:
👉🏼Follow @vickiehowell and #yarnyay
👉🏼Tag a friend with this post
👉🏼Comment on 3 of my posts with this emoji: 🍀
*𝘜𝘚 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺. 𝘞𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘢 𝘣𝘰𝘹 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘥 (𝘴𝘵𝘺𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘥) 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘷𝘪𝘢 𝘋𝘔. 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝟹/𝟸𝟶/𝟶𝟹 𝘢𝘵 𝟷𝟷:𝟻𝟿𝘱𝘮𝘊𝘛....
This is so fabulous! Congratulations on an amazing project come to life!