Vogue Knitting LIVE Recap!

New York - January 2014

Content from NYC 2014


Coming back to Times Square was like coming home again! Three days of fashion, fiber, and education filled the Marriott Marquis once more—we hope you had as much fun as we did.

There was excitement everywhere you looked, and I don’t even know what stands out to me the most. Was it the rush of students in and out of their classes, needles in hand? The buzz of the Marketplace, full of shoppers? The thrill of seeing the fashion shows live and in person? Getting to hear Barbara Kingsolver speak? That’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Friday night’s cocktail party—after the first day of classes—was a celebration of The Fiber Factor from Skacel Collection, which reached its finale at the show this weekend. Guests at the party could see the final garments up close and even voted Lauren Riker the People’s Choice winner. Saturday, at their fashion show, Karin Skacel and Cirilia Rose announced the big winner: Lauren Riker of New York City!

Saturday was chock-full of fashion shows, book signings, and free lectures—we saw the latest from Vogue Knitting, Zealana, Rowan Yarns, The Fiber Factor, Koigu, Malabrigo, Debbie Bliss and Louisa Harding. Author Ann Hood arrived with Barbara Kingsolver, Kaylie Jones, and Taylor M. Polites to give readings from Knitting Yarns, a book full of stories of knitting by illustrious authors. Clara Parkes also gave a talk and reading from her latest, The Yarn Whisperer, and Steven Berg gave a free lecture. Tara Stiles, founder of Strala Yoga, led us in some gentle yoga to help our knitting muscles.

At the Gala Dinner Saturday night, New York Times–bestselling author Barbara Kingsolver spoke to us as a passionate knitter and sheep farmer, not as a world-famous author. Her love for the craft that we all share was inspiring, and more than a few of us want to have our own Icelandic sheep now, too!

Sunday was even more star-studded, with another yoga session from Tara, even more book signings, plus workshops and lectures. We got a peek at the new virtual Museum of Knitting and Crochet and an insider’s look at how Anna Hrachovec of Mochimochi Land makes her mochis (with tips on making your own). Kollabora shared the emerging trends in knitting, with a focus on how social media is influencing styles. And Carol Milne gave us a behind-the-scenes look at how she sculpts her breathtaking glass knitted pieces. We also learned more about the process of taking knitting and making it art, from a panel of our knitted gallery artists moderated by Debbie Stoller. And we heard from a smaller subset of our industry when Jared Flood moderated a panel of men to find out what made them professional knitters. Suede, of Project Runway fame, plus Steven Be, Josh Bennett, and Franklin Habit let us in on more than few secrets!

My mind is still whirling with all that we got to see and do. As always, my thanks go out to our amazing events team plus of course our sponsors, vendors, teachers, students, and volunteers—everyone who makes Vogue Knitting LIVE so fantastic!! We’ll see you next in Seattle, March 14–16!