Yarn Market News Conference 2013 Baltimore!
- At March 14, 2013
- By Patty Lyons
- In Knitting, Travel
0
Yarn Market News Conference 2013
One of my favorite parts of my year as a knitting professional, is attending the Yarn Market News Conference. Yarn Market News is our trade journal, and once a year, the magazine hosts a conference with speakers on everything from Visual Merchandising to Branding to Social Media. This year’s conference was in Baltimore. It’s also a chance to see old friends and network with other shop owners and managers.
I’ve always wanted to go to Baltimore, so I came a day early with David to take in the sights. When we checked into the Four Seasons Hotel (FAB!), and looked out our window, this was the view that greeted us . . . Holy Moly how I love the Four Seasons!
Good Morning Baltimore
Here’s my photo tour of our fab Baltimore days:
The adorable harbor
The “other” Washington Monument, and our reflection from the sun (which we haven’t seen much of in NY)
Baltimore has great neighborhoods (Fells Point for Sunday brunch is the most adorable) and great areas to walk around (Federal Hill & Charles Street were great). High on my”don’t miss” recommendation for Baltimore is the American Visionary Art Museum. It’s the only museum I’ve every seen entirely devoted to “outsider art”. Although there was no photography inside the museum, here’s a few shots from their sculpture garden.
Some of the exhibits were funny, some moving, and some quite heartbreaking. There was a remarkable exhibit called Art and Remembrance. It featured 36 hand embroidered pieces that told the artist’s story of survival from the Holocaust.
After a day of play, it was time to head back for the conference registration. When you check in, not only do you pick up your credentials and your agenda, but your GOODIE BAG! This year’s Namaste Messanger bag, was particularly awesome.
In the meeting hall the next day we had speakers all day, and in most part the conference was like any other business convention. The tables had the ordinary items, laptops, water, coffee, notepads . . . cable charts and knitting!
At the end of a long day of learnin’, it was time to get dressed in our best knitted duds and do some networking. It’s always great to spend some time with some of my favorite ladies:
The dynamic trio: Doreen Connors, Trisha Malcolm, Carol Sulcoski
Me and the fabulous Brooke Nico
All and all, a great weekend of fiber, fun and most importantly, great business connections. I was home for a whopping one day, unpacked bags, repacked and headed out on vacation to New Orleans.
Trying SOOOO hard to not get overwhelmed by the massive amounts of work I have to do between now and the end of May on all my new classes . . . lets see if I can enjoy my vacation. We’ll see
What Does Broadway and Knitting Have in Common?
- At February 24, 2013
- By Patty Lyons
- In Broadway, Knitting
- 4
I’ve had a few epiphanies lately about theater (my old life) and knitting (my new life) and the things they have in common.
My old life – Company of 42nd Street (I’m in the first row to the left)
My new life – Standing up in front of a room full of knitters, teaching
Healing properties of Knitting
Let me start with a few weeks ago. Recently I spent a week at the Mayo clinic with someone very close to me. She has been sick for a year, and we were going to spend the week getting tests and hoping for answers. During her year from hell, she had been exploring meditation and mindfulness, and was now interested in learning how to knit. I brought yarn and needles and came ready to share the meditative qualities of knitting. Over the course of the week we mastered the knit stitch and started to practice the purl.
Knitting seemed to be with us all week. I couldn’t help noticing how many people in the waiting rooms were knitting. One day I was sitting in a waiting room filling out forms, when out of a changing room came a woman who sat down next to me and started to knit. She was clearly a beginner and struggling to remember the purl. She was holding the yarn in the front, but couldn’t remember how to insert the needle. She kept inserting it front to back into the back loop, and couldn’t figure out what to do next. I asked her if she needed help. I explained the difference between the knit and the purl and broke it down into the basics so she understood what the needle was for etc. She thanked me and said nobody had ever explained it that way and it now makes so much sense. I told her thank you, and explained that I was a professional knitting teacher. She laughed and said “Really, I didn’t know that was a profession!”. Then not wanting to offend me she added “I mean, that’s great. It’s a great hobby, so it’s cool that you do it for a living”.
I had such a flash back to the feeling that I had on and off for 22 years while I was a stage manager. Members of my family found my profession odd and some treated me like it wasn’t a “real” job. I dreaded being at parties with “civilians” (that’s non theatre folks) when the inevitable questions would start asking me to explain what I did, “do you design, are you the director, what do you do?”. Once again I seemed to have ventured into a career choice that those outside of my specific circle found an oddity. I realized that once again, I dreaded being in a group of “civilians” (now meaning non yarncrafters), who found what I did for a living “cute.
Ah well, back at home the next week I was giving an interview, and was asked why is it that for so many people this hobby becomes a passion. I’ve been asked this many times in many interviews, so I started to speak about the connection we feel with the past, with each other, with something greater than ourselves, how making something with our hands that we control from beginning to end is an incredibly empowering feeling, the healing power of knitting . . . and it hit me. My old life and my new life have more in common than I realized.
Both jobs may be looked on by outsiders as “odd” or not a real job for grown ups, but both professions bring joy, peace and inspiration. I may have lost sight of that in the most harried days of my theatre life, and I may sometimes lose sight of it now, but I am going to try to remember it during the tough days. Since both jobs also include long hours and lots of deadlines, it’s easy to lose sight of what you love and why you do it. When I get a thank you e-mail from a student it’s all worth it.
I remember, years ago seeing an amazing show written by Jane Wagner, and starring Lily Tomlin called “The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe”. The show features a character named Trudy who speaks to Aliens as she tries to help them understand us. In Act I she tries to explain the different between Soup and Art (Cambells v.s. Warhol) At the end, the aliens go in search of a “goose bump” moment, and they go to the theater. In a moment that I remember made me cry, Trudy explains why the aliens were watching the audience and not the stage:
Yeah, to see a group of strangers sitting together in the dark, laughing and crying about the same things…that just knocked ’em out. They said, “Trudy, the play was soup…the audience…art.”
May we all strive in our daily life to look for art amongst the soup.
Three Years Later . . . Vogue Knitting Live!
- At February 16, 2013
- By Patty Lyons
- In Knitting
- 0
It’s been nearly three years since I blogged. Don’t worry this won’t be the blog equivalent of Edith Bunker’s High School Reunion episode (for those of you who do not possess an uncanny memory for television from 1973 – I’m sorry, but you can click on the You Tube link). I won’t start by telling you what I did the day after my last blog post.
Here’s the thing about life’s twists and turns, you generally don’t see them coming. If you told me ten years ago that I would no longer be a Broadway Stage Manager, but a professional knitting teacher working for one of the largest yarn companies in the world – well – there are no words to describe the level of crazy that I would have found that little bit of fortune telling – yet here I am.
Vogue Knitting Live, NYC
Last month was one of my favorite times of year as a knitting teacher, Vogue Knitting Live! It was my third year teaching and I have a ball every time.
VK Live is always kicked off by the teacher meeting. This can easily be mistaken by an observer as a highschool reunion. We were so rowdy the first year that Gabby (the unflappable Event Director) had to stand on the table to get our attention. This year we all behaved very well, and Gabby was able to speak to the group without resorting to climbing on furniture. A good start to the show.
It’s so great to see all my teacher pals, and to meet new ones each year. At the teacher cocktail party hosted by our fearless leader Trisha Malcolm, I was the recipient of this strange and delightful gift from my pal Franklin Habit. He said he saw her and thought of me . . . not sure how to interpret that.
I call her Fanny (but sometimes she also looks like a Sadie)
After a rather lively (read naughty) discussion with Carol Sulcoski and Fiona Ellis regarding what the space to the left of Fanny should hold, and a fabulous dinner with Brenda Dayne, Lily Chin and Merike Saarniit it was time to get some sleep before a full day of teaching!
After a snack with Franklin (the perfect was to start any day) I headed down to my classroom to be faced with a staggering 31 students for my first class, The Magic of Perfect Blocking. That would have been a frightening prospect had it not been for the fact that this group was awesome! Funny, fast, smart and sassy, just the way I like em!
In three classes I had over 80 amazing students. The VK students are so skilled they really keep you on your toes. This became particularly evident while I was teaching Demystifying Knitting Patterns at night. This class has (gasp) math in it, and teaching it at night meant I needed to crack out a bit of the stand up comedian to keep all the students engaged. At one point, around 7:15 pm, I looked at my power point and said “Now here I have a presenters note that says – Optional 10 min break if students look nauseous and or disorientated”. I then looked up at the room and declared “okay, let’s take a 10 min break”. Much to my joy and relief, after the break, all 20 students returned to the room! (phew)
The next day I got to play with my new teaching toy – the ipad as camera and monitor. I must say it worked like a dream. I was able to hold my hands in front of the ipad, and see my hands in the ipad screen, while they were projected on the big screen for the students. This was SOOOOO helpful for Knitting Technique which covers so much material, there would be no way to cover all that ground if the students couldn’t see my hands.
So in love with my new ipad toy!!!
As if all the classes weren’t enough . . . then there’s the market place. This year they added a totally cool feature that I was very sad to have missed out on – free yoga and hand massages – COME ON!
I did get to run into some of my students in the market place, which is always fun.
Me and Jennifer
I can’t believe I have to wait another seven weeks until VK Seattle. BOOOOO.
A big thank you to Trisha, Gabby, Renee, Carol, Beth, the entire amazing Soho team, and of course, to my students. Hope to see you in Seattle
Destruction and Rebirth
- At April 04, 2010
- By Patty Lyons
- In Gardening, Knitting, Renovation, Travel
- 8
A lot has been going on in the last six weeks since out apartment has been taken OVER by our kitchen rehab. With the Living Room / Dining Room being the staging area, the kitchen torn to shreds, our guest bedroom / office being our kitchen. That means we have been living in our bedroom. It’s kind of like being back in a college dorm w/o the cheap white wine.
I got to escape the madness for a few days in mid March to go to Seattle on business. I got to meet up with the awesome ladies from Knot Another Hat. It was great to hang with them, and Seattle was beautiful, although we hardly got to leave the hotel.
After a short biz getaway, it was back to the construction zone. We’ve had more then a few glitches along the way, and a few things that have put us SEVERAL weeks, behind, but it’s looking pretty good so far.
The cabinets are really pretty
and include some fab features, like David’s spice rack:
and our two level silverware drawer:
Our favorite feature so far is the cork floor. It came out really nice.
As long as we were ordering the granite for our counter tops, we decided to demo the hearth and get a piece of granite for our new hearth stone. I can’t wait for Wednesday when the install happens.
I finished the Mini Cardi to wear to the YMN conference in Seattle. It only took me two days. It’s a really fast knit. I still haven’t chosen the buttons yet, but it’s cute without buttons.
I also cast on Hey Teach in the Recycled Cotton. It was a really fast knit (especially since I did the 8″ of stockinette on the Studio’s knitting machine.
I have a four day weekend and it was in the 70s today, so I decided it was time to clean up the garden. We are a bit behind this year in getting things together, but I thought I could get started.
I finished my swatch for the new Stripe Class I’m teaching and took it upstairs to the deck to dry. The sun was so hot up there, it was dry in a few minutes!
Things were starting to bud all over the place in our little garden
Last year’s e-bay purchase of a Weeping Cherry Tree, was looking pretty good. Last year it came in the mail as a stick, and this year:
and FINALLY our little Forsythia plant actually bloomed. We have picked up our free Forsythia clipping at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden Forsythia Member Day for three years, and we finally got a non dud clipping!
Tomorrow, plant the Dahlias, the Cannas and finish Hey Teach. Hopefully I can get the earthboxes set up soon.
Let the Rehab Begin . . .
- At February 20, 2010
- By Patty Lyons
- In Knitting, Renovation
- 3
We’ve been talking about it and saving for it for years. Now we are finally starting. This Tuesday we begin our 4 -5 week (hopefully) time of living in our bedroom & eating in our office. Say goodbye to this black tiled nightmare:
With broken, badly done tile countertop:
And the undercabinet oven that doesn’t fit:
We’ve packed up our whole kitchen into boxes & bags and stuck it in our office / guest bedroom
This will now be our little kitchen. Toaster oven on the desk,
Here’s the tea cart from the dining room with dishes below & the microwave & coffee maker will go on top
The guest bathroom becomes our “dishwasher”
I think I’ll be enjoying some serious take out!
I did finally finish the crochet edging and cowl on the Weekend Knitting Cami & Cowl.
I also have almost finished David’s sweater back. I feel like I’m not going to make it with the yarn I have, so I did order more, but of course, it’s a different dye lot. It’s a bit lighter, so I’m going to use it for the ribbing for the front & arms, and for the collar.
David also requested a pair of Wool-Ease Thick & Quick slipper socks, like I made for the Studio staff. I had a bunch of left over bits, so he chose this color combo:
So tomorrow is our last day to enjoy the living room, before we shove all the furniture to the side, cover everything with plastic and move into the bedroom. It won’t be so bad, it will be like living in a dorm room. I’ll take during and after photos to see how it all turned out
A Series of Extremes
- At January 23, 2010
- By Patty Lyons
- In Knitting
- 5
It’s impossible to sum up the last few weeks. A lot has happened in our lives since I last wrote in late December. In honor of a very special man who wanted his family to live their lives and find joy, I will focus on the things that give me joy, peace and fill me with gratitude. First there is my wonderful husband who makes my life an adventure. Through difficult times, I have the support of my amazing family and friends. I am also very grateful to work with the best team of people I have ever had the good fortune to be associated with. In the last few months they have really come through for me which has allowed me to come through for my family.
I’ve had several good times in the last few weeks too. New Year’s Eve was spent in with friends and good food in front of our fire. A little before midnight we walked up the hill to Prospect Park to watch the fireworks. How lucky we are to live in such a wonderful place!
I had never been to Vermont, and I loved it. It was all like a postcard. David, as always, patiently waited while I visited a couple of yarn shops. I really liked Black Sheep Yarns in Dorset. It was a lovely shop and I picked up some locally spun Silk / Wool blend. It was undyed, and I thought I’d use it to try my hand (finally) at natural dyeing.
Here are a few more glimpses of the snow covered town
Talk about an extreme shift . . . a couple of weeks later, we were in Barbados! The trip had been planned for a long time. It was a 50th birthday trip for my friend Tim. It came at a not entirely ideal time, but then again, David and I really did need the rest and relaxation.
We stayed at my friend’s bosses house. It was really lovely.
Right inside the front door, there was a shelf full of beach treasures that guests had collected.
This little garden was just inside the front door. It had no ceiling, but instead a screen roof. This meant when it rained, it rained inside. Very cool.
The sitting area behind the dining area had no walls, just screen. It is so strange to have a house in such a temperate climate that a section of your house can have no walls!
Here’s Tim and I in the living room.
The pool, just out back
David and I arrived late afternoon. We headed to the beach right away to take a dip while the sun went down. That’s the birthday boy far right (Tim), and his friends Richard & Daryl (and me). This was the first of three spectacular sunsets.
The late afternoon light on the beach and the pink clouds were amazing.
The next morning we sat poolside for a bit. That’s David’s Tweed Boyfriend Sweater I’m working on. You don’t think I’d go anywhere without a few projects, do you??
David spent most of that first day correcting homework by the pool, while we went into town. He was so behind from the week he took off of work, he had to take a ton of homework to paradise.
The rest of us took a short bus ride into town. It was an adorable little town, with some cute shops. There was a nice art gallery featuring all local artists. I picked up a rum cake for Tracey & Michelle back at work. I was missing both of their birthdays, and I wanted them to have a little bit of the island.
Later that afternoon we went back to the house and pried David away from his homework. We walked down the beach a bit to a lovely little beach bar. We had cocktails and watched spectacular sunset #2.
Sunday we made ourselves a fab lunch poolside
Sunday afternoon it was back to the beach for our last sunset.
Our traditional, take a picture of ourselves, picture. Even though any of the guys could have taken it, it would have broken with tradition.
There were these tiny little sand crabs that would come out of the little holes in the sand. They were adorable.
Our last, and perhaps, most spectacular sunset
For our last night, we made ourselves (mostly David) a wonderful meal and watched the Golden Globes. It was a magical place and very hard to leave.
This weekend I managed to finish a few things. I finally finished the cowl for the Fluffly Lace Camisole with Pull off Cowl.
I finished another two pairs of the Wool-Ease Thick and Quick socks. One for me (finally) and a pair for my pal Nell.
I also finished fixing the sleeves for David’s Anniversary Sweater. It bothered him that the top of the sleeve and the bottom of the sleeve was so wide. I made this back in the day when I just chose a size and knitted, before I was changing patterns to fit people better. Luckily, it was an easy fix as the cast on edge was the top of the sleeve and then you decreased down to the cuff.
So, I took the sleeve off, and with a careful cut, I took about four inches off the top of the sleeve. This made the top of the sleeve much narrower, as the row that I now bound off was at a much narrower part of the sleeve.
Next I unbound off the bottom edge (the cuff) and knit the four inches I lost at the top, while continuing to decrease. This made the cuff narrower too!
Then, I sewed it all back together. The nice thing is my finishing is so much better then it was 2 1/2 years ago. When David gets home I’ll take a new picture of him wearing it. I hope he likes it.
SNOW DAY!!!
- At December 20, 2009
- By Patty Lyons
- In Brooklyn, Knitting
- 0
It’s been a long time since I’ve had a day quiet enough to blog. This time of year in retail is pretty crazy, and then there’s friends and family visits, social stuff, blah, blah, blah. But today felt like the calm after the storm. That’s the snow storm I mean.
Yesterday the snow started and David and I stayed home by the fire until it was time to bundle ourselves up and brave the storm. We were meeting friends at the movies, and it was so pretty in NY.
Today was another day spent knitting by the fire. I’ve made some pretty good progress on David’s cable sweater:
In the late afternoon we decided to take our cameras (video and still) out to the Park to see the snow fun. Here’s a few shots
We love the first snow in Park Slope. It always makes everyone so friendly. It feels like a small town whenever it snows.
Halloween & a FINALLY Finished Sweater!
- At November 15, 2009
- By Patty Lyons
- In Brooklyn, Knitting
- 1
I don’t have much writing in my this evening, so I’ll let the pictures do the talking . . .
First, the fabulous Park Slope Halloween parade. Halloween is when our little neighborhood feels the most like a small town.
On the way to the parade, David enjoyed some of the local jack o lanterns:
As always, the parade was a fantastic mix of kids & dogs (all though it was light on the dogs this year)
Last week I finally finished the Flame Stitch Cardi. I had set it aside for most of the early part of the fall while I worked on other things. Here it is blocking, pre finishing
I gave myself less finishing to do by picking up stitches for the collar instead of what the pattern called for (knitting it separate and then sewing it on . . . bah humbug).
Here she is:
Harvest of Eggplant, Peppers and Yarn
- At October 25, 2009
- By Patty Lyons
- In Gardening, Knitting, Travel
- 0
Fall is harvest time at the Lyons / Frutkoff rooftop garden.
The eggplants and peppers did well, but the brussell sprouts are still kind of pathetic.
Fall is the world’s greatest season. Hot cider, pumpkins, the changing leaves, and the yarn. The last few weeks have been an insanely busy time at work, but David and I managed to escape to Connecticut a few weeks ago. We stayed in a really great old inn called the Wake Robin Inn.
It’s in that great area near the Conn/Mass/New York border. We stopped at Stockbridge on the way, and they were having an outdoor sculpture exhibit. This art piece had a sign that said “Please sit”, who am I to say no.
It also had my favorite door
I’ve been doing a lot of socks lately (they are great on road trips), but I also took my Mohair top along, so I could finish it off. I still have to add the white crochet trim, but at least I got one thing off my needles. Here it is blocking:
The next weekend was RHINEBECK!!!! Will and Michelle had never been, so I had my fingers crossed for decent weather. They were predicting snow and rain for Saturday, but when I woke up the sun was shinning, and although it did get overcast later, it was a pretty nice day.
We started out at the sock machine demo. SOOO cool. If someone made these machines for under $300 I would so get one. Check out Will’s face, he’s in love
After a brief wander, it was time for a snack. We decided to line up early for the famous Rhinebeck, Chicken Pot Pie. So delish. Since we were waiting online, we might as well pull out our knitting. Here’s Michelle working a gift for her mom (shush, don’t tell) in the LB Collection Organic Wool, and Will and I are rocking out some socks in our Sock-Ease.
Next we went to visit the stars of Rhinebeck, the animals. Look at the gorgeous color of this little darling.
This guy was David’s favorite of the whole fair. David said it was the portrait of pure contentment. His eyes were closed and he was chewing away on something that made him very happy!
Fab pumpkin carvings
Michelle had just finished her Owl Sweater in Alpine Wool, and she was TOTALLY the star of Rhinebeck. Every 10 minutes, someone was stopping her to tell her “great sweater”. I spotted someone wearing the same sweater and thought it would make a cute picture. I didn’t notice until after I took the pic that it was fab designer, Ysolda. How cute are they?
Speaking of cute . . .
Will said I suffered from “Bunny Turrets”. We would be walking around having a normal conversation, and I would burst out “BUNNY” everytime I spotted these guys
David and I made a weekend of it, and had dinner at the fabulous CIA and Terrapin (that has always been booked up in previous years)
Here’s our utterly bizarre little room.
And the view out our window
I didn’t buy much this year. I just picked up one little skein of Briar Rose Sock yarn, that somehow jumped in my bag when I wasn’t looking!
I did make some major progress on the stalled Flame Stitch Cardigan. I finished all the pieces and now it’s just time for the shawl collar. The pattern calls for it to be knit separately and sewn on later, but I hate sewing slightly more then picking up stitches . . . so I just decided to pick up stitches and go for it.
In other knitting chores, I’ve decided to make Wool-Ease Thick and Quick slipper socks for the entire Studio staff. All ELEVEN of us. Yikes. I want to get them all finished by the holidays. Think I’ll make it?
My Favorite Time of Year
- At September 18, 2009
- By Patty Lyons
- In Gardening, Knitting, Travel
- 0
I have a three day weekend, fall is in the air, there are still some veggie’s hanging on in our garden. Life is pretty good.
David and I said goodbye to summer in the perfect way . . . a Labor Day Weekend Trip to the fabulous Cape May, NJ. It’s a sleepy little Victorian town on the Jersey Shore. We sat on the beach,
we walked around the town and looked at all the wonderfully ornate houses (or horribly purple houses)
We went to the State Park and walked on the cute little nature trails
We even found a big band playing in a local park gazebo in the evening. Couldn’t be cuter!
I had plenty of knitting time, sitting on the porch, sipping wine in the afternoon. I finally finished the tank top that would not die. It’s my own fault, why I felt the need to reknit something from 2006 is beyond me. It does look better now.
(Not the greatest shot, but David wasn’t home, so I did the best I could!)
Speaking of LB Collection yarns, my mother in law did this great afghan out of the LB Collection Superwash Merino. Isn’t it pretty?
There is a crispness in the air that knitter’s love. It means fall, sweaters, hot cider, fireplaces, coziness. The fall veggie crop is hanging on. The squash is a no go. We can’t seem to grow squash and not have it be completely overtaken by powdery mildew. Ah well. However we do have . . .
Brussel Spouts
Peppers
