One of the best things about going to conferences is meeting wonderful people who are just so clearly fellow travellers and members of the same tribe!
When I was in Portland at the Knit and Crochet Conference , I met a kindred spirit who is doing fabulous work with silk, wool and other natural fibers: Lisa Horner of Purple Lotus Fiber Design. (doesn’t click through yet, sorry)

Lisa dyes ‘Gourmet Art Yarn’.

Rats…. a picture does NOT do it justice….. ah well… imagine great lusciousness!
Lisa doesn’t have her website up yet, but her yarns are available at the most wonderful store:
Abundant Yarns in …read more

Bonnie Pierce is one of the queens of freeform crochet. She’s also incredibly funny and bubbly and just all round terrific. (And her husband, Bill, is one wonderful guy, too!)
Here are her websites: elegant crochet and elegant crochet freeform
On the friday evening of the conference, Bonnie and I got giddy and disolved into giggles as I was showing her the basics of shuttle tatting:

Her students were cracking us up, and we decided that a busy table full of laughing women (at the end of a lonnnnng day) is not exactly the best place to learn something as odd as tatting.  …read more

Freeform friends meet up at the Knit and Crochet Show!
Over the years, lots of great friendships have been formed because of a neat list on yahoo-
the International Freeform group….
Usually on the Friday evening of a conference, the freeformers will get together and it’s always fun….

There’s Bubbly Bonnie and me and darlin’ Pirk!

And gorgeous Myra and wonderful Jorel in her galaxy vest and marvelous Mel wearing colors that she doesn’t usually work with (but it turned out great)

And then we grabbed Margaret and said, “Get into this picture!”
Image source: Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

There’s a wonderful yahoo group of freeform crocheters that has been running for years. A bunch of us have been on it for a really long time and have become friends over the years by email and through conferences.
One of the people on the freeform list is Beth Boshears. Beth’s bundle of joy and a real sweetie.  It was great fun to finally get to meet her…. and oh no! I didn’t get a pic of her!
Beth blew me right out of the water when she handed me ‘an apple for the teacher’ when she was taking one of my …read more

I arrived in Portland on Wed night (Sept 10th) and took the light rail transit into the city from the airport.
I managed to get myself turned totally around, so got completely and frazzlingly lost.
Everyone I asked for directions sent me in a different direction.
arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh……… dragging 2 suitcases around Portland at night is not fun!
Eventually, 3 very wonderful young Goth teenagers got me going in the right direction, and then a lovely young woman who was attempting to sign up voters helped
(come on people! You gotta VOTE!)
(I’m Canadian, and we’re in the middle of our own election, and you bet I’ll …read more