Craft Conference: Day 2

I sprung out of bed this morning ready for day 2 of Danielle in Craftland. After bimbling about at home, checking emails, indulging in the fact that I wasn't off to the lab, I decided to arrive just before my first class so that I could try another West End coffee place on the way to the convention centre - West End Coffee House (no website).

I arrived at the show in time to miss the massive lines (yay), and walked straight in and over to the Incubator section to meet more indie crafters and see what else I was going to buy! I have a definite obsession with tea cosies and was drawn to the most fabulous creation - very tropical - very Queensland - a very sweet and tangy pineapple by the very cool local ladies from Biddy Bags. These ladies are more than just cool craft - they're a social enterprise connecting socially isolated nanas and matured aged ladies through craft and social networking. Of each item sold, over 50% goes to the lady that created. They have profiles of these awesome nanas on their website - check it out!

I then checked out (and bought) some fab screenprinted fabric by Pippijoe (Melbourne) - I've seen this on Etsy - but it's so much nicer to look at fabric close up - it's gorgeous...no idea what I'll make with it yet.

It was time for the first class of the day - An Apron in 1 Hour is a free for use pattern devised by American Jona (pronounced John-uh) Giammalva. This class was run by the very magnetic Louise Stuart of MadebyMiffy. Louise was one of those people that you have an instant connection with as she's sassy, fun, up for a laugh, passionate about what she does but also very down to earth. This was made evident by two woman in the class (Jan and Jill - look out for them on Louise's blog) who ended up showing us a really cool way of doing the apron waistband which hides all the seams. Louise was totally up for changing the way she taught the class and took photos for reference and to post on her blog...it was what I think we all like about the craft community, the sharing of skills and ideas in a supportive environment (plus we had such a laugh). The apron was a total success and I'm planning to buy another kit or two for friends! In addition, there is an online community called Apron Nation which is a place for you to post photos, get free patterns, advice etc all do to with aprons...I'm joining!

Hot on the heals of the apron class was a sock knitting class (from the toe up, on circular needles)...it's scheduled for an hour so I'm not naive enough to think I'll end up with a pair by the end of it...but after one hour, a good deal of the class hadn't even mastered the art of casting on - what the? I was extremely Craft-strated (frustrated by craft). It seemed teaching people how to cast onto both pins of a circular needle simultaneously was trickier than Jean Withers of Yarns Galore anticipated. Thankfully Jean gave us some web references (knitty.com) and after sitting at home in front of the computer, I am on my way to creating some lovely socks...hopefully...I may have to put a callout for help - stay tuned.

Blogcards given out: 2