Wednesday, July 18, 2007

CGOA 2007 Conference: Day Two

Day Two of the National CGOA Conference started with another class with Joan Davis.  On this day I took the Omega Crochet Lace class. Fabulous Crocheted Ponchos I know many are interested in wanting to know what Omega Crochet Lace is, so let me explain it the way Joan did.  She was teaching this new technique in one of her Florida classes when one of her students stated that the stitches reminded her of the Greek letter representing Omega: Ω

The technique is sort of like a hybrid of several crochet techniques: the loop stitch, the broomstick technique, a touch of Tunisian and perhaps just a smidge of knitting too.  It's a technique she developed to help showcase those textured designer fibers many love but have a tough time crocheting.  Want to give it a try?  Then, if you can't attend one of her classes, you'll want to purchase the book,  "fabulous Crocheted Ponchos."  It's the only place, at the moment, you'll see the technique published.  You can find Joan's poncho, "Chantel," featured in the Challenging & Sophisticated section of the book; I was delighted to have her autograph my copy!   {{Does the book look familiar?  It should if you're a regular CrochetingWithDee reader; I have a pattern featured in the book too!}}  I'll be adding this technique to the Crochet Types & Techniques list soon!

Lunch was a lot of fun too; I got to pass the ketchup, or rather rub elbows, with some of the "Who's Who" in the crochet world.  Talk about the WOW factor! What an incredible & inspiring treat that was!!  :)

Then it was Marty Time! ... time for Crocheting by the Numbers with the ever wonderful Marty Miller.  Marty explained to us many ways of how to improve our crochet projects by applying various math techniques.  Very interesting indeed!  I was "good to go" until we got to the paper folding; I didn't do so good at that.  I'll keep practicing though and eventually I'll get the hang of it.  LOL  Want to learn how to Crochet by the Numbers?  Then you'll need to take the class with Marty.  (Send me an email if you'd like to contact her and inquire; I'll forward your email onto her.) 

There were three events in the evening: the Annual Meeting, the Freeform Dinner, and the Chapter Meeting.  Tired (have I mentioned my giving up on coffee?), with a very swollen ankle (I have no clue how that happened), and in missing spending time with my family, I decided after Marty's class that I would attend one out of the three.  I would go to the Freeform Dinner and call it a night.  I heard both of the meetings were great and am sorry I missed them.  For pictures of the Freeform Dinner please visit Margaret's blog here.  The picture to the right is the lobby that was set aside for attendees to meet and share in their love of the fiber arts.  I didn't spend nearly as much time there as I would have liked to either -- maybe one day they'll extend the conference (not including Professional Day) to five days so the events can be more spread out?  :)

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Dee,
Didn't you just love Marty's Crochet by the Numbers class?  You're no the math geek that I am, but it was a great class.  In fact, I've loved all the classes I've taken with Marty.
Thanks again for blogging, posting pictures and keeping us connected to what was happening at the conference.  I really missed being there!  Maybe, I'll see you there next July.    Jane