Here Comes Summer!
Now I just have to figure out how to knit a citronella candle...
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Lots of Summer Classes Most of my teaching this summer is taking place in the midwest - Ohio, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota. But as Summer turns to Fall I'm traveling farther than ever for classes (France, Vancouver, Texas, New Hampshire & many parts in between!) I have my calendar below with classes listed for this summer, but I'm VERY excited to be teaching at the Midwest Fiber & Folk Art Festival in Crystal Lake, Illinois this July. It's the first time for this festival, and the class lineup looks amazing. I'm not teaching knitting this time - I'm teaching crochet! I'm offering classes in Crocheting with wire (the simple shell necklace from Twist & Loop), Crocheting leaves (a way to go from beginning single crocheter to intermediate in one easy class!) and a class on my Deceptively Simple Shawl that was in the most recent Interweave Knits Crochet. Even before the registration went "live" the organizers were inundated with email requests for class placement. I've been fortunate enough to have many of my recent classes sell out quickly, so if you're interested in a rare crochet class with me, contact the MFFAF right away! Keeping Knit & Crochet Strong Support Your Local Yarn Shop! Perhaps it's the cautious nature of the average small business person, but for the past 2 years or so I've had a sense from many shop owners that they're waiting for the other shoe to drop. But after an initial shaking out, a period when some yarn shops in over saturated markets consolidated with other shops or closed their doors, it seems that the upswing the knitting and crochet world has seen in the past 5 years has become firmly established - we've leveled off at a good place. Perhaps I'm just an optimist - I've been accused of worse - but the benefits of knitting are quickly felt and easily shared. Like the entertainment industry in the 1930's, I think that the core group of crafters plus the casual 'drop in' knitters, make our passion-based business resilient. This is good news for knitters and yarn shop owners alike. To that end, whether you're a Michaels & Walmart shopper, an internet yarn buyer, a yarn shop aficionado or a mix of all three, it's vital to pop into the local yarn shop every now and then and support them. Yarn shops keep the passion growing by bringing in trunk shows and teachers, providing a wide variety of fun-to-knit yarns, and carrying the hard to find knit & crochet magazines. Even if you're not a 'regular' at your local yarn shop, you benefit from their existence. It would be a poorer knitting world without them, so help keep them around! To entice you to your local yarn shop, here are two patterns that are free: Ruffled Roses Scarf & Universal Crocheted Chevron Bag. The catch is that you MUST visit your local yarn shop to get it. Any yarn shop that writes to me asking for the pattern will receive a .pdf copy on the condition that they make it available for free to anyone who comes into their shop, no strings attached. If your own local shop doesn't have it, have them email me and I'll send it right out to them. Coming Up - Fun in the Sun The bathing suit that thinks it's a shaper! Also coming in
June, a new bathing suit pattern that I'd actually wear.
I was inspired to do this for Sabrina Gschwandtner's new book, Knit Knit, Profiles + Projects from Knitting's New Wave.
Don't expect a Kirstie Alley moment! (You won't see me strutting onto Oprah's show in a bikini, that's NOT going to happen!) But I will be offering a bathing suit pattern that I would actually wear. In public. And swim in. It's based on those 'girdles masquerading as swim wear' we all fondly remember from the 1940's & 50's - think Esther Williams - that lend a little help to the average feminine shape. As with my corset pattern, it won't make a size 18 look like a size 8, but it WILL flatter a size 18 as much as possible (and look good on those size 8's, too!) I'll be using a washable cotton/lycra yarn in the pattern - so you'll be able to swim in the suit (yay!) and I'll be offering choices of a one-piece tank suit, a tankini, a halter or a 2-piece for the more adventurous. Watch for these at anniemodesitt.com, and at your local knitting beach!  |
Where will I be this Summer?
Columbus, OH Duluth, MN Chicago Area Ontario, Canada Southern Michigan Faugères Provence, France Sacramento / San Fran area Midwest Fiber & Folk Art
Fair
 (I'll be teaching Crochet!)  Free Patterns (via your LYS!) Universal Crocheted Chevron Bag  Ruffled Roses Scarf Well Suited  ... pattern available in June '07 |
| Summer & Beyond... |
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Don't forget Provence! September 3 - 8 Provence, France French Girl Knits Retreat  |
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©2006 Annie Modesitt