Vogue Knitting Visit

Last night the editors from Vogue Knitting and Knit Simple were at Knitting Central for a trunk show and talk.

They brought all the projects from the Holiday 2009 issue of Vogue Knitting.

A ton of people came, as you can imagine. It was really exciting to be able to see all the projects in person, try them on, and examine the details. Seeing them in person gave us all a different perspective and more appreciation for them than we would get just from looking at the pictures in the magazine.

I became enamored with this fair isle hoodie (project #7 on page 54). The magazine says the model in the pictures is a size Small, so I figure that is the size of the model in the store. It fit me pretty well, although the hood could be a bit smaller. That is fox fur around the hood opening. We sell beaver in the store, which might be a good substitute. I would be a bit concerned about using critter fur, considering the histrionics I had as a child over mom's rabbit coats, but it really does make the sweater. And, shoot, I wear leather, so where does one draw the line?

I ended up buying a copy of the issue, which I'm not sure I would have done without the trunk show.

Actually, I almost wonder if I would have had a chance to buy one. The store's shipment came on Saturday and they all flew out the door. I'm not sure how much that had to do with our on P having her Lace V Neck Sweater in this issue (project #18 on page 66). We all hooted and clapped when it came up during the presentation. Poor P was put on the spot when Trisha said, "Why don't you tell us about it?" but she managed really well.

(As you can see, it was so crowded I resorted to sitting on the cash-wrap counter and P is standing on a chair!)

The editors did a slide show for both magazines. They showed the pictures in the magazine and talked a little about what attracted them to each pattern and which details they liked. They said cowls are going to be big this season, and there were several patterns in the issue.

I asked P what the difference is between the cowls they were showing and my little Cropped Poncho. She shrugged. Which was my assessment. Do you know what this means? This means I'm totally fashionable all of a sudden!

They shared a lot of interesting information. But one data point struck me enough to write it down. They've just finished a reader survey during which they learned that 63% of VK readers crochet and 70% of Knit Simple readers do. Wow! That's a lot of cross over. I wonder if it will help crochet get more of the respect that it deserves?

We also got a sneak peak at the projects that will be in the January 2010 issue of VK. Some of them looked quite nice. There were some good men's patterns. If I have Hubby's sweater done by then maybe they will be considered for projects for him.

They also talked about which colors will be popular for the upcoming season/year. (Cynthia pointed out she covered this in one of our recent e-mail newsletters and she was pretty spot on.) Later on one of the customers pointed out to me that I was very fashionable as I was wearing a coral shirt with a turquoise scarf.

I replied it was funny because I thought the scarf was ice blue, and the shirt was melon two years ago. Which gave us all a good laugh. I'm not used to being so cutting edge in my clothes. Especially since I think I selected that shirt myself.

In addition to the fun of seeing all the projects and the talk, I managed to buy the yarn for Hubby's sweater while I was there. But I'll tell you more about that tomorrow.

AND one of our customers who reads my blog told me she really enjoyed my posts about our trip to France over the summer. She said she lived in France for three years and my posts took her back. She even liked all my excruciating details. So that's two people who have told me the excruciating detail is good (well, my mom probably likes it too). Phew! I worry I'm boring when I get long winded like that.

You can read more about the trunk show on P's blog, Major Knitter's blog, and the Knitting Central blog.