show and class report!
If I met you at the show yesterday, hello again, and welcome to PlanetJune.com! Don’t forget to check out my crochet tutorials if you need some help with techniques. I’ll be posting the Crochet Basics tutorials from my class notes up here in the next few days too.
I taught my crochet class yesterday at the Creativ Festival – my first experience of trying to teach more than one person at once. And it was a trial by fire: I had 20 students, and most had never crocheted before! Luckily I had prepared some step-by-step photo tutorials to show the basic crochet stitches, which helped a lot, as 20 people can’t all watch my hands at once as I demonstrate. My students were all lovely and very understanding as I ran around the room answering questions and helping where needed. It was a short class – only an hour and a half – so only a few students actually finished their toys in class, but I think by the end everyone understood the techniques well enough to complete their PocketAmi Bunny or Mouse toys (and they know to e-mail me if they have any difficulties)!
I spent the rest of the day at the A Needle Pulling Thread magazine booth (and Carla: thank you again for giving me this opportunity). My table looked similar to last time, but with some improvements (clipboard for mailing list sign-ups, business card holders, and cute postcard sets for sale). Here’s me at my display:
That white rectangle on my shirt is my super-large instructor’s badge
The seasonal corner (bottom left of pic) got a lot of attention. The pumpkins are the perfect size to fit in a hand, so everyone picked them up and gave them a squeeze! I’d sewn the three Halloween PocketAmi to a decorative cardboard base so they wouldn’t fall over or get lost, and that worked well.
Immediately after this photo was taken, just before the show opened to the public, my much-thicker-than-last-time portfolio/catalogue slid off its easel because it was too heavy to balance there. It turned out to be serendipitous though – laying the catalogue down flat on the table encouraged more people to flip through it. My new business card holders and signs did their job perfectly, and I gave out about 150 cards, so I’m hoping for some more business in the coming weeks.
In the (rare) downtime at the booth, I started a new project. I’m doubling my bulky weight yarn and using a huge L hook to make a giant version of my sea turtle. I got as far as making the shell top yesterday. For comparison, here’s a pic of the shell top next to the original sea turtle:
It’s already about 12″ long and that’s without the shell edging or the head and tail, so that’s at least half as large again as the original turtle. I can’t wait to see what the finished giant turtle will look like!
The one disappointment of the day was that I didn’t have a chance to check out all the other booths. There was a whole papercraft supplies area that I didn’t even see (missing out on some new inspiration for Folding Trees), and I’d hoped to get some more needlefelting supplies from the Bears and Bedtime booth. But I did get to meet some alpacas! They seemed unperturbed at spending a whole day in the busy convention centre:
And I treated myself to a set of ergonomic crochet hooks from Eleggant Hooks. Long-time readers will know of my hand pain problems, so I’ll be very interested to see how these work out for me – I’ll report back when I’ve tested them out!
All told, it was a huge success for me, although it was a veeery long day including the drive from Waterloo to Toronto and back. But I’m very happy I went and got to meet so many great people, and I’m already wondering if I should apply to teach again at next spring’s show…
Email newsletter
RSS
Twitter
Facebook
YouTube
Ravelry: June
Instagram
Tracy said
I really want to go to your class!!! But I live far from Canada so I can’t :(( so sad…
Teddi said
Hi (I just found your blog; good stuff) I’m just wondering how you’ve found the ergonomic crochet hooks. My hands ache after a while of crocheting. I know it’s only been a month, but what’s the scoop?
Jana said
Hi, June. I’m just getting around to reading this post! It’s October 29th, but better late than never!
WOW! That’s all I can say about the giant sea turtle! It looks totally awesome! And I love the colors!
My son-in-law gave me a set of the ergonomic hooks for Christmas last year, but I have a problem because the hook portion is so short! I like the way it fits in my hand, though. I guess I must come pretty far back as I make each stitch. Let us know how this one works!
I made the Halloween pocket Ami’s and put them all over my overhead projector today! I used opened large paper clips to put the ghost and witch on it so they wouldn’t fall off. The pumpkin was very obedient and stayed where I put it! 🙂 I missed getting my favorite out of the bag when I was leaving, though. I LOVE the kitty and I may try doing what you did with the turtle and making it BIG!
June said
Christina, A’Tuin uses my AquaAmi Sea Turtle pattern and the elephants use my AfricAmi Elephant pattern worked in worsted weight yarn with an E (3.5mm) hook.
I can’t sell a pattern for the Disc itself because it’s not my copyright, but I do give some hints on how I created it in my Discworld Update blog post.
Hope that helps! 🙂
Christina said
I saw in the background there your Great A’Tuin – do you have patterns worked up for all of the pieces?
dctqangles said
I went to the show on Sunday. Sorry I missed you. I felt the show was lacking in crochet representation. But I did manage to find some good things. A Berroco pattern book I thought might be able to easily convert to crochet, some back issues of Interweav3e Crochet and the same ergonomic hooks. My 5mm hook is rough at the hook and catches on the yarn. Hubbie says that could easily be sanded out. Normally I use a set of ergonomic ProvoCraft hooks which I work very well. However the smallest hook is 3.75mm so I am looking forward to using the smallest hooks. The other nice thing about these Eleggent Hooks is that you can easily cut your own smaller size hooks to fit the handle.
IdaDown said
Sounds like it was a great success- measurable by extreme exhaustion!!
The turtle looks awesome! Glad to see someone is not afraid to go BIG. I always find ways to miniaturise patterns – partly a time thing, mostly a strange obsession with all things wee…
Keen to hear some feedback about the erg. hooks. I get very sore fingers, esp as I like to use a teeny hook with 3 strands of cotton (ha ha, see above).
Congrats again 🙂
Puglette said
Your turtle looks like quite the fun project. I am glad to have found your blogs, I love the Folding Trees work too. I am just starting to crochet, I will be back to look at more of your tips. Thank you,
Hugs,
Puglette
:o)
val said
congrats on a great day. I’m eager to hear how those new hooks work out for you.
kris said
debbie – believe it or not june is a lefty. she is able to teach both ways! what a woman!!!!!
great job june – can’t wait to see the turtle all finished. the colors are awesome.
k
Debbie said
I am really glad things worked out for you! I knit and crochet but I’m a lefty so no one can learn from me. Righties get very frustrated with trying to do what Lefties spent their life doing (turning it around mentally). The bigger turtle looks gorgeous in those colorways! Love it!
Kari said
Holy cow! That’s gonna be one giant turtle!!! I can’t wait to see it finished! I’m glad you had a good time, maybe next year I’ll have to go (to see both you and the show, of course!)
futuregirl said
Sounds like a great class and a great show! I can’t wait to hear about your ergonomic hooks, too. I have to use cushions with mine to make them comfortable now.