The 2017 CGOA has come to an end. The design competition had some amazing entries that were showcased throughout the weekend. Check out the amazing entries below.

The first slide show has all the photos as well as who designed each project.
The second video is a slide show of the winning entries.

Below is the slideshow of winners!


 


Start thinking now about what you will enter for next year!

Getting To Know You - Jenn Williams

Welcome to the new series "Getting To Know You" on the blog. This is an opportunity for our members to share a little bit about themselves, and for us to learn more about each other and continue the family feel after leaving the annual conference. Although we may crochet by ourselves in our own homes, we are not alone in our love of crochet, and we have more in common than we realize. By sharing our experiences and knowledge, we will all learn something new about each other and the art of crochet! This month, enjoy getting to know...

Jennifer Williams - I like to go by Jenn

Location:  Crittenden - a small town in northern Kentucky.  I grew up here, lived in California for 30 years, and have returned to my roots for retirement.

How many years crocheting and/or how did you learn to crochet:

I've been crocheting, with varying intensities, for about 45 years.

My grandmother taught me to crochet, and my interest was rekindled in the 8th grade by a teacher who taught us after school.  My grandmother crocheted beautiful doilies, and I proudly display many of them in my home.  I also remember a hideous scarf that we worked on together.  It was about 8 feet long, maroon, with horizontal stripes of white, red, teal, and yellow.  

In school, I distinctly remember a few crochet projects.  One was a neon green acrylic bikini, and another was a very large (and heavy) purple cotton mouse pillow.

In college, I completed an Annie's afghan kit, which my parents use to this day.

Do you crochet with your left hand or right hand and how do you hold your hook: 

I crochet right-handed, with a knife hold.  I don't remember this being a choice, it's just what I've always done.

What is your favorite hook:

When working with worsted weight yarn, I prefer an H or I Boye hook.  I've become quite fond of the clay grips, and usually have a hook grip design from Day by Day Crochet in my hand.

What is your favorite yarn:

I suppose as our experience grows, our taste evolves.  Since I've begun creating garments, a dk weight is my favorite.  It has a nice drape.  I enjoy alpaca, and any interesting mixes - silk, bamboo, linen, hemp, etc.  My new home has a lot of heat and humidity, so open designs in lighter fibers are a new interest.

What is your favorite crochet stitch, and why:

The most intriguing stitch to me right now is a cable stitch.  I find it to be more challenging.  For me, crochet patterns and stitches are like puzzles, and a complex cable stitch is a great brain teaser.

Do you prefer a written pattern, a chart, or both, and why:

I have always had a knack for reading patterns.  I've taken classes in chart reading, and can do it, but prefer to use the chart as confirmation, or as a backup in case I get stuck. I don't like following videos to make projects.  I like puzzling it out for myself, and also controlling my own pace.  To me, following a pattern is like reading the book, and the video is watching the movie.  

What is your favorite item to make and why: 

Creating a crocheted garment has always been my ultimate goal. Once I found the Get Squared program, created by Jenny King, I've been able to have great success creating garments.  I also enjoy shawls because of the interesting patterns and possibilities, as well as their versatility.  Shawls can be draped over a chair, incorporated in an outfit, wrapped around the waist or head, used as a robe (at home or traveling), one size fits all, and they are a welcome gift.

Who do you crochet for? Yourself, family, friends, pets, charities? 

At the risk of being  called a "selfish crocheter," I have to say that I crochet for myself.  I've made hats and sweaters for new babies, an afghan for a friend's wedding, shawls and slippers for friends. But there is always the fear of being crushed by a recipient who won't like the item, or won't use it.

Have you ever participated in a yarn bombing? 

At one time, I began yarn bombing an adult tricycle with an attached "trunk," called The Crochet Bike.  I taught crochet out of the trunk, and could also ride the bike around.  I've used The Crochet Bike when demonstrating at Michael's, and also at The Maker Faire.

How long have you been a CGOA member, and what is a fond memory from a CGOA Conference that you’ve attended? 

 I've belonged to the CGOA for 6 years.  Stitches West was near my home in California, but I wept tears of joy when I discovered the CGOA annual meeting.  I've attended 2015 in San Diego, as well as 2016 in Charleston, and am looking forward to Chicago in 2017!  My favorite memory was participating in the fashion show in 2015 modeling my Get Squared cardigan, and hearing ahhs from the audience when it was revealed that I made the cardigan in one weekend.

Do you belong to a local CGOA chapter in your area? 

There isn't a CGOA chapter in Northern Kentucky where I live, and one of my goals is to change that by starting a group.

What are your crochet goals for the future: 

I believe that we all have a "crochet calling," an area that ignites our passion.  Mine happens to be teaching.  I have no children, and I believe that my legacy - the evidence that I have walked this earth and that it is different for my time here - is to pass along the skill of crochet to others.  I've taught at Michael's for 5 years, and am looking forward to teaching classes on Get Squared for Jenny King.

Any crochet tips that you would like to share:  

From my years of teaching, I've developed some tips and tricks...

• Large Bobby pins make good stitch markers, and are easy to reposition.
• Dental floss containers are fine yarn cutters when traveling.
• Print out the TSA regulations for hobbies and carry them with you.
• Photocopy patterns from books and magazines for portability and so that you can mark on them.
• Bags that hold produce at the grocery become good yarn carriers and dispensers.  Choose the crinkly bags with a zipper top and holes for ventilation (contain mini bell peppers, cherries, grapes, etc), wash and air dry.  Zip your cake of yarn into the bag, using the ventilation hole for dispensing.

Do you have any other favorite past times, interests, sports, or crafts you enjoy doing?

I invite my parents, Hazel (87) and Leo (88) to dinner once a week.  It's a chance for me to try new recipes, be creative, use some of my nice things, and to honor them.  

I enjoy crafty things, like coloring, cold process soap making, creating bath salt mixtures, and decorating.

Anything you would like to share, not covered above? 

 In addition to my parents, my supportive boyfriend Tim lives nearby.  I retired this year from my career as a sales trainer for a biotech company, and couldn't be happier with my new life.  

Here's a really short, easy recipe:

Pumpkins spice bars

Mix together 1 box of spice cake mix and 1 can (15 oz) of pure pumpkin.  Pour into a greased pan and bake at 325-350 for 20-25 minutes.  

Thank you for sharing with us Jenny, it's been fun "getting to know you"!

Become a CGOA member today, click HERE to join.

Have a great day!
Carolyn

____________________________________________________________________________

Brought to you by blogger contributor:

Carolyn Calderon

The Purple Poncho

If you would like to be a featured member, please contact her HERE.

Natioal Crochet month

I have the honor of being the last blogger for the crochet month of March.  You have the honor of reading my first ever blog!  Since the topic is crochet I think I’ll share with you how much crochet means to me. 

I first taught myself to crochet (over 50 years ago) when a cousin moved out of state and gave me an unfinished granny square afghan.  Not wanting to waste yarn I taught myself to crochet and finished the afghan and I was hooked! (Pun intended!)  I was just starting motherhood and over the years my five children had many crocheted items to wear and play with.  I have lost count of how many afghans  I’ve made, but a few years ago I went out of state to help a daughter with her kids when she was having health issues.  One day I opened the linen closet and saw LOTS of afghans.  At first I didn’t recognize them but then realized I had made them all and she certainly didn’t need any more!  The same goes for my other children!

Like lots of crocheters after I was comfortable doing crochet I started playing with published patterns to make them to my ideas-longer, shorter or even a different stitch.  I entered several magazine crochet contests and actually was a finalist.   I’d see designs in publications and realized that they were very much like ones I had designed. That awakened a desire in me to be published but was too timid to do so.

Fast forward to 1993.  I saw an announcement in a crochet publication (can’t remember which one) that someone named Gwen Blakley Kinsler was trying to organize a national crochet guild.  She was organizing a conference in Chicago at DePaul University that next summer.  Was I excited!  My kids were on their  own by that time so I was able to afford to go.  What an experience!  I took classes and met people who’s names I had seen in publications as designers.  I was rubbing shoulders with the crochet world elite!!!

 This was the chance to become a founding member of the Crochet Guild of America.  Well I’ve attended each summer conference since then and besides taking LOTS of classes I’ve had the opportunity to meet with publishers and have been published in various books and magazines.  If not for the CGOA I never would have found the courage to approach publishers with my designs.  I now have crochet friends all over the US as well as Canada, Ireland, England and Australia.   I’ve even had the opportunity of going to Ireland on a crochet tour.

I’ve also helped to found the Ididachain Crochet Guild in Alaska.  We are now 16 years old.  Several of us met on the internet at Crochet Partners and that was the start of our guild.

To sum all this up, crochet and CGOA has given me the opportunity to grow both as a person and of course as a crocheter.  Thank you God for crochet!!!

Delma Myers

Happy National Crochet Month from CGOA President, Susan Sullivan

As the new President of the CGOA Board, I want to share a little of my background and why crochet is important to me.

I’ve always been passionate about handwork. Needlepoint, embroidery, and sewing were early interests. My mother-in-law taught me how to crochet not long after I married into the Sullivan family. I still use my Boye crochet hooks from the set I bought at Wal-mart in Berryville, Arkansas in 1973! That Christmas, everyone on my list (well, the gals), received a shawl made from a pattern in Family Circle magazine with Dazzleaire yarn. I continued honing my skills on baby afghans for family and friends and like most crocheters I gave almost everything away but here is the first afghan I ever made. It is a pattern from a Columbia-Minerva book, Teach Yourself to Crochet, and as you can see it was made in those 70s signature colors; avocado, harvest gold, and orange. I was so intrigued by the square turned on point inside the circle, inside the outer square!

I was majoring in art in college and as I explored new art forms, crochet patiently waited for me to return. The pottery studio became my new home and consumed all of my creative energy.

Fast forward to 1988 and it was time for this mother of a one-year-old son to go back to work. I joined Leisure Arts as a technical writer for surface stitchery and crafts.  In 1995, I took over as managing editor of all crochet and knit publications with 17 technical editors for the various leaftlets, books, and one crochet magazine. Over the next 19 years, while I was still involved in all of the other categories, crochet was my favorite. The most treasured part of my job was working with designers across the industry. I soon realized how much I loved dreaming and planning with these amazingly talented women and men to bring great designs to life. 

In 2014, due to changes in the company, I found myself contemplating my next adventure and am excited to be continuing in the industry I love. I've formed my own consulting firm and am humbled by the opportunities before me. I count being on and leading the board of CGOA as one of those opportunities for which I am very grateful.

While CGOA offers so many fun and educational programs to its members, I think it's so very important to recognize the role it plays in providing crochet designers a platform to further their professional goals. The Crochet Professional and Crochet Associate Professional recognition programs are unique in our industry. There are significant qualification requirements to receive these titles which helps the designer grow and strengthens the level of professionalism in the industry. In my previous role in publishing, the CGOA conferences allowed me to meet with numerous designers under one roof. This is good for the publisher as well as budding and seasoned designers.

Whether you are new to crochet and just want to make your first baby afghan, dreaming of your name on your first book, or have been in the "biz" for decades...

When you think CROCHET, think CGOA!

All my best,

Susan

CGOA twenty years strong!

Mary Colucci

Board of Directors, CGOA

Executive Director, Craft Yarn Council

Wow, it’s been 20 years since CGOA was formed. I remember meeting CGOA Founder Gwen Blakely Kinsler back in the mid-1990s when she was organizing the first Chain Link conference. It’s amazing to see how CGOA has grown from that small group of enthusiasts to a national network of crochet fans.

CGOA is credited with raising awareness of crochet in the industry. Before CGOA, the yarn industry tended to be more knit-centric. As CGOA provided crocheters with a more unified voice, yarn manufacturers and publishers took notice. They began to realize the diversity of crocheters and the need for finer yarns, a more extensive selection of crochet patterns and they responded with exciting new yarns and an array of magazines specifically devoted to crochet.  

The organization also reached out to crocheters nationwide to create local chapters. Today, at guild chapters around the country, crocheters regularly gather to enjoy the camaraderie of their shared passion.

CGOA’s national conference also has evolved. Its educational programs now provide members with the opportunity to take classes from nationally and internationally known crochet experts. Most importantly, the conference continues to serve as a community meeting place for crocheters from around the country to meet, greet, and share.

Of course, CGOA has done much more, including developing its acclaimed Masters Program. It’s this program that provides members with the opportunity to build their expertise with guidance from crochet experts.

From a personal perspective, CGOA and TKGA national and its chapters have always been tremendous supporters of Craft Yarn Council’s education initiatives. When the Council organized Knit Out & Crochet Events, it was guild members who committed to staff the Learn to Crochet and Knit tables at these venues. They literally taught thousands of novices how to crochet and knit. We couldn’t have done it without them and hopefully in the process many of these newbies went on to join that local guild.

Guild members have also been generous supporters of Halos for Hope, the wonderful charity that is being supported by the Crochetville blog tour,  Warm Up America! and other industry charities, along with some of the Council’s more fun events like I Love Yarn Day, which is the celebrated on the second Friday of October. A number of guild chapters planned special events on that day to teach crochet to others and once again helped to raise awareness of the craft.

CGOA and its chapters have created an amazing community, which should be celebrated in March and year round! 

Celebrating National Crochet Month 2014

Welcome to the next stop on the Crochetville blog tour in celebration of National Crochet Month. We'd like to thank Amy Shelton and Donna Hulka for putting this event together again this year. I hope you are enjoying all of the stops and you can find the complete list here in case you missed any of them.

Please join us in supporting Halos of Hope as we collect handmade hats for cancer patients. You can find all of the details here including where to ship your hats and many hat patterns you can use.

For those of you who don't know me, I am Tammy Hildebrand and I currently serve as the Vice President of CGOA. It is an exciting time as our board of directors are working on many new ideas to bring as much value to your membership as possible.

If you haven't visited our Facebook page yet, please stop by. This is where we post our announcements making it the perfect place for you to hear our latest news. We wouldn't want you to miss out on anything!

In celebration of National Crochet Month as well as the fact that our Facebook page is approaching 30,000 fans, we would like to offer you the opportunity to win a prize! We value each and every one of you and hope you will consider joining CGOA if you are not already a member. You can read the top 25 reasons to join on our website but there are just too many benefits to list them all.

To enter for your chance to win a copy of Rustic Modern Crochet, simply leave a comment on this blog telling us why you love the Crochet Guild of America! You can also earn another entry by "liking" our Facebook page if you aren't already a fan. Please share the crochet love by sharing our page and let others know about CGOA! We will also select 5 additional entries to win the pattern of their choice (up to $9.99) from Crochetvile! Good luck everyone! We will announce our winners next Monday, March 24.

Tammy Hildebrand

http://hotlavacrochet.blogspot.com/

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hot-Lava-Crochet/260649393965228

a Rafflecopter giveaway

CGOA Membership: The Perfect Gift

The CGOA Membership: The Perfect Gift

'Tis the season of either wondering what to get the crocheter(s) in our lives, or wondering what to treat ourselves with.  With so much cooking, traveling, shopping, visiting, and social obligations, who has time to worry about making gauge?  Of if Aunt Jane or Uncle Bobby needs another size G crochet hook, or if that particular shade of yarn is one she/he already has in her/his stash...

Fortunately, the CGOA has the perfect gift for every crocheter that is sure to fit perfectly, and with plenty of room for growth in both skill AND friendships!  ... This perfect gift is the CGOA Gift Membership!

CGOA: Where skill and friendships
blossom

An individual one-year (USA) membership is still just $35.00!  There are many wonderful reasons why being a member is so cool.  In fact we have over 25 reasons listed on why being a member is a fantastic experience: from the subscription to Crochet! magazine with our ChainLink newsletter inserted inside, to discounts at our annual Conference, and at various National and Retail locations, and more!

Gift memberships cannot be processed online.  They need to be faxed in or snail-mailed.  So to ensure your gift membership is processed in time for the start of our TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY, process your request today and be pleased in knowing your gift will last the entire year!!

((If Aunt Jane and Uncle Bobby already have a CGOA membership, they will still appreciate your thoughtful gift as it will count as a membership renewal for them!))

Summer Professional Development Day!

Thank you, Lion Brand Yarn, for sponsoring the CGOA Professional Development Day in Indianapolis! 

It was a fun and educational day thanks to our many fabulous presenters!

Bobbie Matela speaking on editor critique.

Melissa Leapman presenting how to create a proposal.

Kimberly McAlindin our emcee for the day.

Amy Shelton discusses social media.

Walking into the room was like walking in to a candy store! Lion Brand Yarn donated all the hooks and yarn for our attendees to make squares for “Warm Up America”! The tables were centered with all different colors and collections to choose from!

“Warm Up America" provided several different patterns to work on - lots of fun deciding what to do first! Our Attendees really knocked out a lot of squares for a great cause!

A very big thank you for all the great raffle prizes that were donated! 

Karen Ratto-Whooley, Pamela Price Designs, Ellen K. Gormley, Coats & Clark/Red Heart Yarn, Margaret Hubert, Susan Lowman, Random House/Doris Chan, Crochet 1-2-3/Value-Publishing, Caron Yarn, Universal Yarns and Tahki Stacy Charles all donated to help raise funds for “Warm Up America”!  We collected $486 in raffle sales! Thank you!

Most of all we would like to thank those who attended Professional Development Day! Without your attendance there would be no Professional Development Day! You don't need to be a professional to attend our event - it is for the everyday crocheter or knitter who is considering/dreaming about entering the profession - whether you are thinking about designing, contract crocheting/knitting or tech editing.

It's not too late to sign up for our October Professional Development Day in Concord, NC! We hope to see you there!

Get Hooked!

Kudos to Amy and Donna for this cross-country crochet tour….it’s been amazing.

I’m lucky because I work in the yarn industry. I live crocheting and knitting 24/7. I sometimes point to my work and my natural aversion to “regular” group meetings as the reason I never joined my local guild sooner. Then I had an epiphany or you could say I got “hooked” (sorry, I couldn’t resist) when the Craft Yarn Council, my employer, organized the first Knit-Out & Crochet events in New York City in the late 1990s. I reached out to area guild presidents asking for volunteers to help us teach crochet basics. The response from the guilds was amazing and that’s when I first got to meet so many of the members of the New York City Crochet Guild. 

I confess the other reason I hesitated joining the guild was that while I love to crochet and knit and have since I taught myself as a kid I’m happy stitching moderately easy to easy intermediate projects. I don’t aspire to tackle complicated projects so I assumed I’d be laughed out of any guild because I wasn’t creating drop-dead gorgeous projects. Of course I was wrong. I came to realize everyone is at a different level, has a different interest and there are no crochet police lurking at the meetings! It didn’t matter what I crocheted so much as I shared a love of crochet and fiber, which I certainly did.  What is most appealing about the guild meetings is that they are just plain fun. There’s lots of cheering when members show off projects during Show and Tell…and lots of laughs that come with sharing.

Then my involvement with the Warm Up America Foundation brought me to CGOA national and I’m currently a Board member, another epiphany. Hopefully, many of you have heard about this national charity (www.WarmUpAmerica.org) where crocheters and knitters volunteer to create afghans for people in need.  I set up a booth to promote the charity at the Knit and Crochet Show, which hosts both CGOA and TKGA conferences. Of course, seeing the displays of new yarns at the marketplace was great but it was meeting the crocheters from around the country that made the trip so worthwhile. Then there were the classes, informal get- togethers and fashion show that rounded out an amazing weekend.

Ok, I confess I’m probably not going to tackle any expert projects any time soon, but I took away so many ideas from the show that I could incorporate into my own level of projects. Seeing first hand how other crocheters, as well as the industry’s top designers, are using all the interesting new fibers and colors with basic stitches, was inspiring. I’d urge every crochet enthusiast to try to get to a national conference---there are two a year and they rotate around the country—but if you can’t, check out your local guild or start your own. I promise, you’ll get hooked too!

Mary Colucci

CGOA News from our President

While I know many of you and you me, I know that most of you are probably wondering who this person who, for 2013, will be your president.  My name is Cari Clement and I live in Montpelier VT with my husband and two Maine Coon cats.

There's so much we're working on this year:  the new website, increasing membership value, linking up with more chapters, putting together this year's By the Board pattern book, increasing our presence - and contests - on Facebook, and so much more.  I also invite you to create your own page on crochet.org.  You can link to your own website, your Etsy site, your Pinterest board and lots more.  Hope to see your page up soon!

While you'll soon be able to "meet" all your board members from their upcoming profiles on crochet.org, I thought I'd give you a bit of my own background.  I learned to knit at the age of 8 from my mom, an avid knitter, but I'm a self-taught crocheter, having picked it up while in college, thanks to all the inspiring crochet of the 60's.  My degree (from UMass) is in Textiles, but from the Fashion and Marketing/business standpoint.  Yes, I'm probably more of an entrepreneur than anything, as I've only worked for other companies for maybe 3 or 4 years after graduating from college until I sold my last business, Bond America, and joined Caron International as their Creative Director back in 2003.  Late 2011 Caron was sold to Spinrite (Bernat, Patons) in Canada and I became the Editor of two new magazines:  Knit 1-2-3 and, of course, Crochet 1-2-3.  Some of my other experience includes owning a fabric/yarn store in the 70's, a freelance knit and crochet design business in the 80's and a yarn and knitting machine store in the 80's.  When I'm not crocheting or knitting, I love spending time with my daughter, her husband and their two kids, who live just down the street.  I'm also a gym rat every weekday morning, an avid beader (bead crochet, embroidery, kumihimo), gardener and traveler.  In 2003 I founded Rwanda Knits, a non-profit that has helped women in Rwanda earn a living through knitting (and crochet).  The 150+ women now have a knitting center and run a self-sustaining independent business.

My passion for crochet stems from the nature of the needleart itself: free - and fabulous.  While, yes, there are rules and there are patterns and there are charts, there's just one hook and one stitch - and with them you can go wherever you want.  It's the passion of crocheters and the talent of the amazing designers, most of them professional members of CGOA, who have really inspired me.  (I even learned to do Tunisian entrelac, finally master Doris Chan's foundation stitches and, at a conference, learned to do Darla Fanton's reversible bead crochet.)  The skill of the tech editors, without whom there would be no accurate patterns anywhere, is totally amazing.  And the teachers, both professional and the rest of us who teach whoever is willing to learn, who keep skills growing.  However, it's all of you, the CGOA family, who make all of us work as hard - and have as much fun - as we do.  And it's you who we need to hear from:  ideas, suggestions, criticisms, questions, expectations met and unmet - whatever's on your mind you'd like us all to hear - and act on.

As President, I hope to see the organization through some significant, positive changes this year which include a plan for bringing on many more members, increasing membership benefits to all members, building the crochet.org website, working to make conferences the best they can be, launching a scholarship program, supporting Susan and Jane while they make the Masters Program grow and develop, involving more CGOA chapters being spearheaded by Mary and Jack, helping contribute to Tammy's amazing social media projects, working with Marcy on making that website run like clockwork and working with Karen Knies, our Executive Director, to make CGOA the best it can be.  Yes, it takes time - but we have the will - and the skill - to make it a reality.

And a thanks to the duo at Crochetville for making this tour possible!

- Cari Clement