Midwestern Knitters, Check Out Annie’s Craft Festival

A brand-new, one-of-a-kind craft festival is being presented later this month in the Annie’s Craft Festival, taking place in Fort Wayne, Ind., October 30 through November 1.

The weekend will include classes taught by industry greats such as Lily Chin (I took a class from her at TNNA this year and it was awesome!) and Edie Eckman, as well as an evening with New York Times bestselling author and creator of Hallmark’s Cedar Cove series, Debbie Macomber; a playful Crafts & Cocktails Halloween Party; free make-and-takes; a measuring station and a “stitch doctor” among other attractions.

The festival is hosted by Annie’s, one of the largest and most diverse sources of craft designs, instruction and supplies in American and producer of the TV show “Knit and Crochet Now!” It will include knitting, crochet, quilting, sewing, beading, card-making and paper crafts to cross-stitch, floral crafts, painting and more.

There will be giveaways, free classes, a product runway with prizes and all sorts of other fun stuff.

“There is no other show like this, serving enthusiasts across the breadth of the crafting world,” Annie’s executive VP Michele Fortune says. “We couldn’t be more thrilled about the quality and variety of teaching talent, marketplace offerings and social activities being offered at this festival.”

The festival will be held at the Grand Wayne Convention Center located in downtown Fort Wayne. The Hilton Fort Wayne, which is connected to the Grand Wayne Convention Center, is offering festival attendees a discounted room rate of $124 a night. A limited number of VIP packages are also available.

I’d love to know if any of you attend and what you think of it!

[Photo via Annie’s.]

Next Pattern:

Sometimes I feel like knitters get intimidated to try new things because they think they need to start with a big project. Your first time working in the round doesn’t need to be a sock, and your first colorwork doesn’t need to be a sweater, for example. You can find little projects that use the skills you want to learn to build your confidence before you move on to something that requires more time commitment.

This adorable knit bunny, for example.

The colorwork bunny from Knit Picks was designed by Amy Munson and is a kind of bowling pin shaped bunny complete with a knit hat, contrasting inner ears and a little stranded colorwork on its body. Note that the ears are attached the the hat not the bunny, but you could stitch them to the bunny if you’d rather.

It’s worked from the bottom up and also has a tiny pompom tail you can’t see in the picture but it’s a really cute touch. There are a variety of little fair isle patterns to choose from to make the best bunny for you.

The bunny comes out about 8 inches tall (or just over 20 cm) and use several colors to complete the colorwork, depending on the design you choose.

You can purchase the pattern by itself from Knit Picks, or make a kit that includes sport weight yarn in all the colors you need for your creation. There are gray and brown options for the main body of the bunny, but of course if you’re using your own yarn you can make it whatever color you like.

Once you’ve tried colorwork (maybe also working in the round and shaping if those are skills you haven’t used before) in a little project like this you’ll be ready to take on something bigger in no time.

Check out the pattern on Knit Picks.

[Photo: Knit Picks]

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