Como Se Dice … VKL Chicago–Day One Recap

If you’ve never been to a Vogue Knitting Live event, I should say that it is different from a Stitches event (not necessarily better or worse, just different). I noticed some people were chatting in VKL forums about how the marketplace was smaller and how it felt less organized than a Stitches event. While Stitches gets some really great teachers, it seems like VKL is able to procure additional high profile designers and teachers that you don’t typically see at  Stitches. VKL (I can only speak for the Chicago event) also had a more local feel. Many of the local yarn shops from the city and suburbs were featured as vendors … only a handful of which were at Stitches Midwest. The booth spaces are smaller than Stitches, but I got the feeling that was because they were showcasing special yarns, projects and designers, not necessarily trying to sell bulk amounts.  In my opinion, it's not really fair to compare the two events against each other because they aren’t trying to be the same thing.

Day One

The Multilingual Lily Chin

I spent six hours with Lily Chin and it was glorious. After taking one of her classes at Stitches Midwest this year, I knew I had to take another with her at VKL. This time around it was her Reversible Color Knitting class. I love classes where you learn a technique, knit a swatch, learn another technique, knit another swatch and on and on the rest of the time. I learned so much, including an easier way to brioche. I swore off the brioche stitch after I finished a bi-color scarf a couple of years ago. But her demonstration of the technique was so much easier. I don’t know why we don’t all do it the way she does!

And as if I needed one more reason to idolize Lily Chin … the woman taught this class in both English and Spanish. She is amazing and super patient. There was a woman in the class who didn’t seem to be quite grasping what we were doing. As it turned out, the woman’s English was very limited. So what did Lily do? She taught us all a technique in English and then would go to the woman and demonstrate it to her in Spanish. Sure there was a lot of “como se dice” (“how do you say”), but for the most part Lily taught a knitting class in two languages. I have nothing but deep respect and admiration for that woman. She also spoke Chinese to an Australian woman and would occasionally throw an Italian word in there every so often. It was a fantastic experience.

Starstruck by the “Knitterati”

On Thursday evening, I noticed that there was a Twitter feed on the VKL home page and it said something like “the knitterati is arriving.” My first thought was “oh please, knitterati? Is that what they’re calling themselves? Seriously? Pff, whatever.” I mean they’re just people like you and me, after all. But then, as I was leaving Lily Chin’s class and turned a corner, there stood Ysolda Teague cute as ever just waiting for an elevator. My inner knitter said to itself “oh my God, oh my God, that’s YSOLDA TEAGUE.” I tried to play it cool, like her presence had no effect on me whatsoever.  We exchanged some “these elevators are taking forever” chit chat, and after she boarded her elevator I turned to the woman next to me and said “wow, that was Ysolda Teague.” Of course I felt completely stupid after she looked at me deadpan and said, “yes, one of the knitterati.” Clearly she didn’t share my excitement.

Other moments of knitterati delight came in the marketplace when I spied Vickie Howell chatting up a fellow knitter and caught a glimpse of Cirilia Rose just hanging out in a booth. Did I go up to either one and strike up some intelligent conversation with either one of these uber creative women? Sadly no. Seeing them almost made me walk away faster. Such a bizarre reaction.

A Different Kind of Marketplace

As I said before, VKL shouldn’t be compared to a Stiches event, but that doesn’t mean that you won’t try to compare them. Aside from featuring yarn shops, I thought there was more of a focus on designs and designers. Sure there was yarn to be sold, but not in mass quantities. Comments I’ve heard from other knitters since the event is that it was “disappointing” or “underwhelming.” I guess it’s all just a matter of expectation setting. I went there to take classes and it was great for that. If I only went there to buy yarn, then, yes, it probably would have been a disappointment. The only thumbs down I would give the marketplace is for its layout, which was very cramped and spread across two floors of the hotel. Some of the booth spaces fit about four people max. Another criticism for one vendor in particular (who shall remain nameless) was not listing yarn prices. I’d like to know what I’m committing myself to before I buy it. Is it a $10 skein or is it an $80 skein. This particular booth was far too small and crowded, and the sales people were always swamped. In the end, the yarn just wasn’t worth it.

Stay tuned for Day Two … “Your Balls are Tangled”