Fashion Show at CGOA

On Saturday night during the conference, I attended the Fashion Show and banquet.
It was more great fun to talk with fellow crocheters and eat good food!
The Fashion Show was full of beautiful and unique garments modeled by many of the designers themselves.
I enjoyed modeling my Glendalough Shrug with all the other winning garments.
Here are some photos of the evening:

Margaret Hubert receiving the Crochet Hall of Fame Award

 Beautiful Garden Sweater

Carlotta modeling a wrap

Doris Chan modeling her new Spiral Top design

Katie modeling a woven top

(We love how Katie is an Irish Step Dancer! )

Me in my winning shrug. :)

Glendalough Shrug

On Thursday night of the conference I attended the Design Competition Awards Ceremony.
I had entered 2 projects into the competition - I thought the prizes were very good and I thought it would be neat to have my projects on display in the Expo Center.  During the course of the well-executed ceremony, I was so pleased and surprised to see one of my projects coming up to the front to be recognized as the Second Place Winner in the Fashion Category!

Here is my short description of the Glendalough Shrug:
(I named it after a pretty little spot in Ireland where there are many stone Celtic Crosses decorated with all kinds of Celtic Knots. It is pronounced: "Glen-da-lock")

The highlight of this design is the intricate decorative knot on the back. A fine yarn made of nylon and acrylic fibers was used to create a “crocheted-cord”. After this cord was carefully woven into the knot, it was then embellished with crochet stitches to transform it into the shrug shape. Other knots were added as trim along the back, sleeve and upper edges. Glass beads and crystal gems were also added as a finishing touch of sparkle.


Doris Chan has posted all the photos of the winning projects here:http://dorischancrochet.com/2012/06/28/cgoa-2012-crochet-design-competition-results/
I am honored to be called a winner with all of these other talented designers.


** Special thanks to Doris Chan, Shari White and other members of the Design Competition  Committee. Also, special thanks to KJ Hay (and her husband) for putting together a great slideshow of all the winners.

Love Knot Adventures

During the Knit and Crochet Show I took a class by Vashti Braha.  It was called, "Love Knot Adventures".  Vashti has some beautiful designs available on Ravelry and she has done some very creative things with common stitches, such as the slip st and single crochet.

Make sure to check out her website: www.designingvashti.com
and her patterns on Ravelry - vashtirama
(And now she is offering exclusive Doris Chan designs/patterns on her website!)

I enjoyed the class - Vashti prepared a great handout about the Love Knot stitch (also called "Solomon's Knot) and first took us through making the stitch and then all its variations.  We ended the class with trying our hand at adding beads to each knot stitch in a variety of ways.

Before the class I practiced the Love Knot and had fun making this necklace to wear to class. I will be posting the pattern soon on Ravelry for FREE (CelticKnotCrochet).

Of course, after the class my mind was filled with even more ideas from Vashti so I created this motif.

I love the Love Knot stitch -Its lacy and delicate look make for very classy garments. And its "build-as-you-go" style makes for endless creative possibilities!