Me with amazing designer Jenny King

I just returned Saturday from the CGOA conference in Indianapolis and it was every bit as great as the one I attended last year in Manchester, NH.  The conference is full of well-known designers, great classes, and tons of useful information about all things crochet.

Wednesday, July 17, I attended Professional Development Day which told us everything you need to know about a book proposal and marketing ourselves as professionals.  I met some new friends there, including Jenny King – pictured above.  She is one of the friendliest and funniest people I have ever met!  I’m so glad to have met her.

Thursday was a class called Crochetmorphosis with Joyce Renee Wyatt.  It was a six-hour class that was all about converting knitting patterns to crochet.  Great information!  Now I have a much better idea of how to design a sweater that looks similar in both knit and crochet.

Friday I only took a morning class but it was a great one.  It was called Swatching for Fun and Profit and was taught by Edie Eckman.  It was extremely helpful as I often find that my gauge for the actual project differs from my swatch.  I know that might still happen sometimes but feel much more confident about swatching than I did before taking the class.  I also loved seeing her swatches for sweaters she’s designed.  Her work is so good even her swatches were flawless!

Friday night was the CGOA Dinner and Fashion Show and this was my first time attending.  I can’t believe I didn’t go last year!  I entered my Weekend Cardigan and was even asked to model other people’s designs so I went up on the runway several times in some fantastic crocheted pieces.  I felt so glamorous!  I will most definitely be attending this next year and entering more than one item!

Saturday I was going to go to the Designer Meet and Greet like I did last year, but my poor husband had such a rough time with the boys while I was gone (especially Friday for some reason) that I decided to head home first thing Saturday morning.  Being home with a three and a half-year-old and a seven month old by yourself isn’t too much fun.  (Single parents – I have no idea how you do it!!) My husband was gone for two months for military training and I kind of thought this would show him how hard it was while he was gone – and I was right.  He only made it four days and thought it was rough!

So even though I didn’t get to show any of my new sketches, I still got so much more out of this conference than new designs to work on.  It will be in Charlotte, NC in the fall and is supposed to be in Manchester, NH in the summer next year.  If you live close or are able to travel, I highly recommend it!  You won’t be sorry.

For the conference, I designed my first free pattern for the website – be on the lookout for it very soon.