I got to spend last weekend surrounded by yarn inspiration, knitting celebrities, and sneaky snowmen—it was Vogue Knitting LIVE! This was the fourth year in a row that I’ve been at the NYC show, and my seventh total at VK LIVE. Sometimes I don’t do a recap only because I forgot to take photos, and anyway the hotel lighting is not very conducive to good photos. But good photos be damned—I wanted to blog about it this time!
Some designers go to VK LIVE as teachers, but I’ve always participated as an artist, which means that I get to display one of my crazier projects and hang out in the marketplace all weekend, chatting with all the knitters and seeing their reactions to my weird tiny mochis. (I also sell my books and kits to cover my costs.) This time I showed my favorite stop-motion animation clips from the past couple of years, which had the advantage of a simple setup: instead of stitching things together for hours, I just had to plug my laptop into a TV screen. That’s my kind of preparation.
BIG WEEKEND HIGHLIGHTS:
• I got to meet the gal who writes those knitting lists for Buzzfeed. And look, she included my toys in a new one after VK LIVE!
• I saw not one but two beautiful Katniss-inspired cowls.
• Amy Singer stopped by to give me an update on the gnome I gave her years back at TNNA.
• The first three sneaky snowmen were found by a family of knitters! They each won a copy of Huge & Huggable Mochimochi.
• Vickie Howell told me I was on her “short list”(!!!)
• Pretty much everyone who stopped by my area was really nice—not one eye roll or “you have too much time on your hands”-type comment that I was aware of!
• All weekend I visited with the awesome people from the newly-opened La Maison Tricotée in Montreal.
• I met my first yo-yo artist—whoa.
• So many people told me they saw my animations on Nickelodeon last month!
• I got to be on a panel with some of my favorite fiber artists—and it was moderated by none other than Debbie Stoller of BUST magazine and the Stitch ‘n Bitch books.
(I’m the one fiddling with my iPad while everyone waits patiently.)
• I’m pretty sure Franklin Habit waved at me as he breezed by on the way to another class.
• There were more artists at VK LIVE than ever before, including Nicole Gastonguay, Carol MacDonald, Kelly Fleek, Going Gnome, Ruth Marshall, Knit Together in Love, Suzanne Tidwell, and many others.
As exhausting as VK LIVE is, it’s also exhilarating: it’s like the entire knitting world has gathered at one place, and everyone is psyched to be there. I’m so lucky that hanging out at these events is part of my job!
The next VK LIVE is happening this March in Seattle. I’m actually not sure if I’ll be there or not (I’ll announce here soon if so), but if any of you west coasters are considering it, this is my official endorsement!
Anna, it was so great to meet you at VK Live. This year was actually my first time attending. Getting to speak with you and see your Mochimochis up close was a high point of my day!
Last month my grandson recognized my gnomes and snowmen on my Christmas tree from your animations on Nickelodeon.
I made him a larger snowman with Worsted weight yarn as part of his Christmas gift. He was thrilled.
I wish I could have gone but I lived just too far away.
Sounds like a great time!
I absolutely despise “you have too much time on your hands”! It’s the most insulting and uninformed comment anyone could make. I can’t imagine anyone ever saying to you!