So I just got back and recovered from the CGOA chain-link 2011 conference, which was held in Minneapolis MN. I figured when it was right in my backyard I really had to attend. I took some fantastic classes which I will tell you all about and I met some wonderful people. Whom I will also tell you all about. OK day 1 was Wednesday, it was Professional Development Day (PDD). The description of it was as follows; If you are thinking about teaching crochet, already a teacher, sell your patterns, or an aspiring designer this is the day you do not want to miss. Well, come on, did that scream my name or what? So I signed up not really knowing what to expect.
The day started at 8:00 am so Michael drove me to MPLS, to be sure we got there on time we left home at 4:00 am. Yes! You read that right, I did not even know there was a 4 in the AM. I met my roommate, whom I had only conversed with via email, I called her in the lobby and she was sitting about 30 feet away. I stowed my multiple bags, you know I don't go anywhere lightly, in our room and got set for PDD.
First on dais was Ellen Gormly, she spoke about how to bring your work from ordinary to extraordinary. She also talked about how there are two types of work, the show-stopper, you know the ones, they are on the covers of the magazines and people stop you where ever you are and say WOW. She also talked about the project makers, these are the patterns we write that get made over and over. She told us it was ok to write the project makers and submit them for review. It opened my eyes quite a bit. I realized I write a lot of these type of patterns but never thought about submitting them because they were so everyday.
Next up was Margaret Hubert. She spoke about how she got her start in the business and what she has done to continue a long and successful career. I also won 1 of her books during a prize drawing. I can't wait to start a new bag. You can NEVER have enough bags.
Last up to speak was Vickie Howell, the new spokesperson for Caron Yarns. She has just launched a new line of yarn called Sheep(ish), you should go check it out. She discussed what social media can do for us and why we need to be a part of it. We need to be on Facebook, Ravelry, Blog, Websites, Twitter, Flickr, and the list could go on. I am glad she went last because by the time she was done, my head was spinning and I was completely overloaded. I went back to my room and was not sure I really belonged in this world. I talked to Micheal and told him everything I had just learned and he asked "when will you have time to crochet?" I was wondering the same thing!!!! There was more to the day but it will have to wait, for now go check out these sites:
Ellen Gormley has a fantastic blog and great books for sale see her at: http://www.gocrochet.com/
Margaret Hubert has a blog you really do not want to miss:
http://margaretshooksandneedles.blogspot.com/
Caron Yarns has a wonderful website http://buy.caron.com/ as well as a great blog by Cari Clement http://blog.naturallycaron.com
Vickie Howell also has a great site and blog to check out: http://vickiehowell.blogspot.com
