Another adventure into the land of fiber arts! Vogue Knitting Live took place all this weekend. I found out about it like most things in this world, through Alexi of Two of Wands (she keeps me relevant, bless her). The three day event featured a three-floor marketplace of vendors of yarn, fiber arts accoutrements, raffles, classes, and runway shows.

Where in the land of overpriced rent and tiny spaces was this being held? The midtown monstrosity that is The Marriott Marquise Hotel, smack dab in the middle of Times Square. I wore a crocheted crop-top of a fish skeleton I made last spring, along with some bronze and yarn earrings I got from the MET (gotta be on theme) and headed in.

It was a wonderfully over-stimulating event. We saw We Are Knitters' Allejandro and Francesca right when we walked in - we first met them at the Our Maker's Life conference from this summer. Alexi may or may not be working on some other projects with them! (shh!) Their table was predictably busy, so we squashed a couple of their deliciously soft wools in our hands and continued on into the fray!

The stalls were packed with brightly colored and neutrally plant-dyed, thin and fat, speckled and plain, every kind of yarn. Then we saw a yarn that stood out, along with a friendly face! Lisa from The Rare Creature had her own booth as well, and she always does such a good job merchandising, we stepped into a chic and magical land of fluffiness. See what I mean?

If you've never used her yarn before, I recommend it. It's sustainably sourced from Peruvian alpacas, it's feather light, soft as can be, and it's hypo allergenic. I made the Tea&Toast Sweater using the stone color, and it's one of my favorite things to wear.

Continuing on, I snagged a huge skein of yarn that honestly looks like a teal muppet, but it was so different from things I'd seen, it's become a piece of inspiration!

We passed Mary Anne Moodie's booth, a gifted weaver and known for her creative process. Alexi took her course the day before and couldn't stop waving her hands around in excitement as she explained some of the tenants of the "Moodie Process".

We finally made it up to the next floor! A huge yarn bomb and another awesome maker was within view. London from Made By London had created a Vogue-themed yarn bomb of fashion through the ages, with a Vogue Cover for each decade inspiring a different yarn-tastic outfit. It was definitely a highlight of the entire show. Many a lightly-sweating, bag-laden tourist was stopping to take pictures in front of it. My lightly-sweating, bag-laden self was absolutely no exception.

Just look at that Chanel suit!! Amazing.

Some other highlights from the 5th floor include a man who had made his own fuzzy crochet sneakers with giant crocheted green overalls, he had a giant circle pocket right over his hoo-ha that he creatively called... his cell phone pocket! He proudly whipped out his cell phone to show us hahha. Very sad I didn't manage to get a picture of him...

Another highlight was a large Victorian-style woman, complete with wig, in a giant honey bee dress with bumble bees (bless them) flying around her head, all made from crochet. As a crocheter, it was really heartening to see this often "less-than" fiber art being exhibited with so much fun by so many talented people.

We managed to see one of the 5(!) runway shows that day. It was totally packed around the giant stage, which featured an equally giant knit backdrop of Monet's La Promenade. A group of French women who's name I missed had hand-knit it themselves!

Nearing 3 pm, we needed coffee and creative break. Seeing all the materials for greatness in front of us, along with artists who used these materials to make such cool and unique pieces, we needed to throw down in our notebooks and write up some ideas.

It was a colorful, inspiring, and fun day and I can't wait to make all the things!

1-14-17 Vogue Knitting Live!