Well, we are back!!!!! What an incredible trip and there is just so much to talk about! The show was fantastic and the classes unbelievable! There is so much that Lucille and I want to share about all that we learned but do not want to spill the beans before sharing with the Guild. The classes were incredible and we learned so very much and we are so excited to share everything with everyone!

We left Lucille's house on Thursday at 4:40 AM - both exhausted from not sleeping well (due to excitement, a lightening storm and fear that we would miss the alarm and get up late) We arrived in King of Prussia around 7:45 and immidiately registered and figured out where our first classes were (they started at 9AM). The classes all weekend were not only fun and the instructors informative and experienced but we often left with added goodies which was awesome.

The Market place was incredible and a sensory overload was experienced the first two visits! After getting through our first class and checking in - The Radisson was wonderful and we had a great room! - we were off to afternoon classes and then our (paid for) sneak preview of the Marketplace Thursday night! My first postings will cover our favorite vendors and email links to help you be able to "discover" these incredible shops/ suppliers as well!

The classes were wonderful our only tough ones being very technical classes from 6PM to 9 PM on Friday night! While we both enjoyed the classes - Friday night was tough for everyone!! We were not the only tired ones that night - even the instructors stated it was a tough time DESPITE the fact that all classes were suspended for Friday afternoon which meant we had from 12 noon until 6 PM to cruise the Marketplace and chill out- which we definitely did!

Lucille had "Lily Chin's Hints, Trips and Tricks with Crochet". I had "Cable Ready" with Melissa Leapman. Funny story.... I signed up for the Cable Ready class - which by the way was fantastic!!! I am cabling like I never thought possible!!!! Anyway, I signed up for the class and did the homework and reviewed the information without every connecting the fact that Melissa Leapman was teaching the class. I walked into the class AGAIN not ever making the connection - yeah, I know ...............DUH!!!!

Well, Melissa starts the class and still no light on upstairs for me. She starts to talk about her Cable book that is coming out THIS November - it looks INCREDIBLE!!! - Still nothing - then she starts to pull out her other books: Hot Knits and Cool Crochet - well, ding... ding..... ding!!!! The light FINALLY goes off - I know, I know I AM slow! I finally realize that this is THE Melissa Leapman!!! I have always loved her books and admired her talent!

Classs got underway and we were transferring our saved homework to our needles. She wandered my way and I told her I could not believe I was in a class with her. I am convinced she thought I was a kook! I got the picture from her after class and I was sure she probably was convinced by that time I was some derranged stalker! Lucille's running joke the rest of the weekend was what an impression I made on Melissa and that she thought I was some whacko! We even bumped into her coming out of the elevator late Saturday - just before heading home and again Lucille teased me that Melissa was probably frightened of me and we had a great laugh over it!

All joking aside, Melissa is incredibly talented and sooo down to earth and I learned so much from her. She has another book coming out next year. She shared it with us and explained it was intended to teach people who only knit scarves and do simple straight forward knitting some extra techniques and knitting (like purling!) and actually gives BEAUTIFUL projects to practice and put it all to use. The projects looked fantastic and I can not wait for it to come out! I think I will get it! Meanwhile, Melissa is headed to Italy to finish writing her latest book. I wish her so much luck! She was really excited and very animated when talking of her trip. Her class was fantastic!

More on our classes and details of our Marketplace experiences in next entry - off to spend some family time with kids and roast marshmellows over the barbque!

Upcoming events we learned about in the knitting and crocheting world:

Save the Children and Warm up America's effort to knoit and crochet baby hats for children around the world struggling to survive:
savethechildren.org

Eighth Annula Knit out and Crochet:
Sunday, September 17, 2006 Union Square PArk - NYC 17th Street Noon to 5 PM