Cable Gram Blog
Yarnover '18 Survey Highlights
We survey all Yarnover attendees each year to learn about their experience. We read and compile survey responses and share results with the teachers and the hotel. The majority of feedback received this year was very positive, making the Yarnover committee pleased to know all their hard work paid off.
We appreciate all feedback from Yarnover attendees. Here are answers to some of the most common suggestions or questions:
Q. Why can’t Yarnover be moved to [various areas of the Twin Cities]? Why can’t Yarnover be in a different location every year?
A. The location for Yarnover hasn’t so much been chosen by the area of the Twin Cities, but by finding a venue with all the facilities required at the right price. When searching for a new location for Yarnover, we need a venue to have 16+ classrooms with tables and adult seating; large rooms for dinner on Friday, lunch, the Marketplace and an evening social event on Saturday and the Guild meeting on Sunday; an attached hotel; a restaurant; plenty of free parking; and common areas to sit and knit. The Marriot Minneapolis Northwest fills all of these needs at a price we can afford. Plus, moving to this hotel has allowed us to make Yarnover more of a full weekend event with a Saturday night activity and the Sunday Guild meeting. We will continue to look at other venues and will consider shifting to a new location if one is found that meets our needs without significantly raising fees and hotel prices.
We have found some benefits to staying at the same location. Working with the same venue gives us the ability to learn how the space works and how to make it better every year. It also gives us leverage to negotiate our contract with the hotel to help keep costs where we need them to be. Unfortunately, wherever Yarnover takes place, we expect it will be more convenient for some people than others.
Q. Why does Yarnover cost what it does? Why is Yarnover so expensive? Where do my Yarnover fees go?
A. Yarnover needs to pay for itself every year, so registration fees must cover teachers' travel expenses and teaching fees, meeting room rentals, food, printing, and so on. Yarnover is organized and managed by a committee of volunteers so we’re happy to report no fees are used for administration or paid staff.
This pie chart shows the breakdown of how the Yarnover registration fees are spent.
Yarnover pricing is right in line with similar knitting conventions such as Vogue Knitting Live Minneapolis and Stitches Midwest in Chicago. Yarnover class fees include a lunch as well as an afternoon coffee and tea break, which other conventions do not. We work very hard to keep the Marketplace free, so your money can go towards shopping our vendors instead. We also plan to keep both the Saturday Yarn Bingo and the Sunday Guild Meeting free.
Based on the majority of feedback received from attendees, we believe Yarnover delivers the best experience possible for the price. Lowering registration fees at this point would require changing the type of convention Yarnover has become.
Q. How do you pick teachers? Why hasn’t a teacher I’ve suggested ever taught at Yarnover?
A. The Yarnover committee looks at every teacher suggested to us on the Yarnover survey and in person. Here is some of the criteria we look at when hiring the teachers each year:
- Past Yarnovers: We consider teachers’ evaluations from past Yarnovers and if they have taught at a lot of Yarnovers in a row.
- Cost: Many teachers suggested to us are from Europe and the cost of bringing them over is prohibitive, unless they are already doing a US tour at the same time.
- Designer vs Teacher: We get a lot of suggestions for people who are great designers but aren’t necessarily teachers.
- Availability: Teachers often stop teaching for a while or have scheduling conflicts.
- Subject Matter: We work hard to offer a range of subjects each year and look for teachers with different types of classes.
- Responsiveness: Some teachers suggested don’t respond to our invitation to teach.
Q. Can the Marketplace stay open longer on Saturday? Be open on Friday night? Be open on Sunday?
A. When we surveyed our vendors after Yarnover, almost all of them said their slowest time was after 3:00pm on Saturday; many of them would like to close earlier than 5:30pm. The closing time is a compromise between what the vendors and attendees would like.
While we would love to be able to have the Marketplace open on Friday evening for people attending the dinner and Sunday for people attending the Guild meeting, it just isn’t fiscally possible at this point. Room rental for these extended times would add thousands of dollars to Yarnover expenses which would have to be covered by either raising fees to attendees and vendors or charging for entrance to the Marketplace. The Yarnover committee will continue to consider the feasibility of extending the Marketplace each year.
Q. Can the Marketplace be moved to one large room?
A. We would love to eventually have the Marketplace in the large ballroom at the Marriott. Unfortunately, the cost is quite a bit higher and doesn’t allow for many more vendors to cover that increase in costs. The nice thing is the rooms currently used are near each other on the same floor.
Q. Can we get less local yarn stores and more stores from out-of-town, indie dyers, yarn companies, etc… as Marketplace vendors?
A. To be fair to everyone, we open the Marketplace vendor slots on the same day to everyone. They are filled first come, first serve. If you know someone you would like to see at Yarnover, please direct them to the Yarnover page on Knitters.org or have them email yarnovervendors@gmail.com.
In terms of local v. out-of-town vendors, 25% of this year’s Yarnover attendees come from from out-of-state and even more are outside the Twin Cities area. This percentage has been increasing every year, so LYSs are not local to these attendees.
Q. Why don’t you give everyone who comes to Yarnover a prize/swag item? Why don’t I ever win a door prize?
A. The cost for a prize/swag item for all attendees would have to come out of Yarnover registration fees. We think most people prefer lower costs to getting a pin or sticker or such. This year, everyone received a copy of the Yarnover’s official pattern.
All door prizes are donated by our vendors and other fiber related companies. Our dream is to have one for every attendee, but there is only so much we can do to affect the number of donations we receive.
Door prize numbers are randomly assigned to both the prizes and the attendees. It is just luck of the draw whether you win or not. Maybe you are lucky in love?
Q. Can we have multiple categories in the Yarnover Shawl Contest?
A. Because we need to take photos of all the shawls and put them in a slide show during the cocktail hour, there really isn’t enough time to set it up for different categories. We also think it would make the voting confusing since the slide show is running continuously throughout dinner. The contest is only in its second year at Yarnover and we will keep working to make it run better each year, since most people seem to enjoy it. We have tried to give more people a chance to win with two popular vote winners and a random drawing winner who all receive a prize of the same value.
A few other quick things…
Signage: We worked to improve the signage this year and will continue to do in the future.
Saturday Breakfast: Adding a breakfast for class attendees is cost prohibitive at this time. In addition to the restaurant and the lobby coffee shop, the hotel offered grab and go breakfast items for sale in the main Yarnover area this year.
Lunch Location is Too Far Away: There is not a closer space in the hotel to seat 300+ people for lunch that is available to us.
Coffee/Tea Service Ran Out: Next year the hotel will be told to keep these stations refilled as needed, so this shouldn’t be a problem. It is hard to predict what we need as one year we ran out of coffee and the next year we had too much coffee and not enough tea.
Skill Level of Classes: A lot of you are asking for more advanced classes. We’ve heard you and have selected more intermediate and advanced level classes for Yarnover 2019.
Other Events in the Hotel: We can’t stop any Yarnover location from renting out their other spaces on the same days. The events at the hotel this year knew about Yarnover and that our attendees would be walking through. Let me tell you about the year TNNA shared a convention center with a Mary Kay conference….
We are hard at work on Yarnover 2019, April 26th - 28th and hope to see as many of you there as possible!
Mid-Year Charity Knitting Update
Thanks to our members' diligent knitting and generosity in yarn donations, we are well on our way to meeting our giving goals for our 2018 community charity partners.
As of June the committee has received an impressive amount of knitted items from our members:
- 30 pairs of Knitted Knockers
- 50 dishcloths for Bridging Inc.
- 106 hats, 35 mittens, 18 scarves for our schools in Minneapolis and Wisconsin
- 9 newborn hats for the Downs Syndrome Foundation
We still need more of all of these items, but in particular hats, mittens, and scarves for the school kids ages kindergarten through 12th grade. We will deliver these to the schools in October.
Hundreds of skeins of yarn and sets of needles have been donated and these are used to supply our members with yarn for the charity knitting, provided to other non-profits such as senior centers and theRonald McDonald Houses in the Twin Cities, or shared with the Textile Center or Weaver’s Guild. A large amount of amazing yarns will be available for sale at the silent auction at our December meeting.
Many thanks from the Service Committee for your wonderful donations, keep them coming!
World Wide Knit In Public Day
This Saturday, June 9th is World Wide Knit in Public Day. Here are some of the events happening around Minnesota.
Alexandria - Potomac Bead Open Knitting - Potomac Bead Company - 10:00am - 12:00pm
Baxter (Brainerd area) - World Wide Knit & Crochet in Public - Canvas Expressions - 10:00am - 4:00pm
Bloomington - WWKIP Day with StevenBe at IKEA - IKEA - 9:30am - 12:30pm
Coon Rapids - WWKIP Day - All About Yarn - 10:00am - 4:30pm
Fergus Falls - Knit in Public with Torri from Tangles to Treasures - Kaddatz Gallery - 12:00 - 7:00pm
Grand Rapids - Knit, Crochet, and Spin In Public Day - Grand Rapids Area Library - 10:00am - 2:00pm
Lake Elmo - Lake Elmo Library - 10:00am - 2:00pm
Prior Lake - Knitting at the Loop - Prior Lake Library - 10:00am - 12:00pm
Winona - WWKIP Day - Yarnology - 10:00am - 12:00pm
The Guild will be doing their In Public Knitting on Sunday, June 10th in the Great Clips section at the Twins game! (Sorry, all our group tickets are sold out for the game.)
Where are you knitting for WWKIP Day? Know of any events we missed? Leave us a comment and let us know.
Exciting Textile Center News
The Textile Center has entered into an agreement to acquire 3300 University Ave SE. This is a two-story, 31,000 square-foot building with a 40 car parking lot. It will most likely take a few years for the fundraising and renovation, but plans for the new location include smart classrooms, flexible space for program and the guilds, museum quality exhibition space, a state-of-the-art dye lab, an enhanced library, an auditorium, a larger shop, and more social space. You can read more about it on the Textile Center website.
Tips for Entering (and Winning) at the MN State Fair
It's May and that means it's time to start thinking about your entries for this year's Minnesota State Fair. The premium books are now available and online registration is open.
After last year's fair, I asked a couple of the Guild's perennial ribbon winners for their tips and tricks for entering, and hopefully winning, at the Minnesota State Fair. A few themes ran through all their answers,
- Choose the right yarn for your project. Using one of good quality that works well with your pattern can make all the difference. The wrong yarn can effect how a color work or stitch pattern looks.
- Pick a category that gets less entries. (Number of entries in each class listed in the results online. http://www.mnstatefair.org/
pdf/competition/17-creative- acts-needlecraft-rs.pdf). - Finishing is very important. All your ends must be woven in and seams must be sewn carefully. If you get critiques back from the judges about your finishing, think about taking a finishing class.
- Block your entry carefully.
- Items need to look like new. Any signs of wear will take it out of consideration.
Here is some more of their advice and some of their winning items from last year.
Rebecca A (Rebecca's Bousta Beanie with Hot Rod Socks AKA Olympic Flame Socks)
- I don't think people should knit something solely with the hope they will win a ribbon. I think they should items that they want to knit in the colors and yarn they want to knit and then if they feel like entering them in the fair, they should do so without expectation of winning anything.
- I think that traditional colorways seem to do much better than non-traditional colorways. For example, you see a LOT of blue, or blue and white, or red and white winners. If you look at what Kris King entered into the fair this year, most of her projects were dark blue or included dark blue. Of course, her projects were also very well knit, but I think that color does have something to do with it. It has been noticed by a lot of people that yellow items rarely win, however, I think there was a yellow and gray stranded hat that won a ribbon this year.
- Traditional patterns - fair isle and cables seem to do well, but sometimes you see very modern items that win.
- A lot of it is so subjective. I won three ribbons this year this year and thought I might win 1 ribbon. I totally did not expect to win a ribbon with my Fire Festival hat and I got second place. I entered a much better hat a few years ago and didn't win a ribbon - but the colors included a bright spring green main color. The exact same hat was entered by someone else the next year and won first or second place - but it was knit with blue and white.
- I don't think anyone should feel bad if they don't win a ribbon. The competition in Minnesota is fierce and there are so many entries.
Kris K. (Kris' Shenandoah)
- You need to be very precise with your knitting. If you see mistakes you've made you should fix them, even if if that means ripping out a lot of knitting, or just decide that it won't go in the Fair.
- Go above and beyond. I end up modifying a lot of the patterns I knit because I feel like they could be better than they were written. For example: the slip stitch jacket that I got 2 special awards for this year. I didn't like how the sleeve caps were designed so I ripped them out and re-designed them. I had to rip out the very top part twice but eventually the design fully matched all the way to the top. I think it is this kind of attention to detail that is noticed by the judges.
- If criticism, even constructive, is going to bother you, don't enter. Entering in the State Fair should be for the fun of it. Personally, I like to enter the Fair because I work better with a deadline. I love knitting but I'm not quite so excited about the finishing work so by entering, I have a deadline to force me to finish!
Bonnie E. (Bonnie's #21 Twisted-Stitches Lace Gloves)
- Choose your pattern carefully. Pick one with a higher level of difficulty that fits within the parameters of the class.
- Make sure that the yarn you choose shows off your knitting and your hard work. For example, I have seen texture entries where the pattern is lost because of poor yarn/color choice - and I've done it myself. An option is to look on Ravelry and see what yarn & color others have used for the pattern. Sometimes that is really helpful and eye opening. Do not underestimate touch. Use a yarn that feels good as well as looks good.
- I always hope for one ribbon so I usually have more than one entry - better odds. Winning more than one ribbon is a thrill and just icing on the cake.
- The first thing I do when I pick up my projects is to check my judges sheets before I even leave the fairgrounds. When the judges leave constructive criticism, I look my projects over and I usually agree with them - then I take their suggestions and try to make those improvements in my knitting.
Kim B. (Kim's Damask Kauni Blanket)
- I pick projects that utilize my knitting strengths and then add things that take my project to the next level. That might be perfecting a finishing technique or manipulating your yarn to create a more pleasing result.
- Selecting patterns: I usually think about what I want to make in the next year and flag 2 or 3 things to enter in the fair. For the most part, things that I enter in the fair are things in my queue that are challenging or that I’m going to make with really special yarn.
- Read the info about categories carefully and think about what will stand out. One of the sweaters that I won a blue ribbon for had 14 colors. It only used one color at a time, however, so it qualified for the “plain pullover” category. I’ve also won for things that have an unusual design or construction.
- The judges don’t always reward things that are unusual or difficult, however. The most difficult thing that I’ve ever entered (and one of the most difficult things that I’ve ever made) didn’t win anything. I once entered a pretty but simple scarf that I made for a friend and it took first place.
- I like to knit with finer weights of yarn and I think that the judges do reward the extra effort that can be involved in making an adult garment on little needles.
- I don’t usually enter things that are “hot” on Ravelry and have been made hundreds of times. The one time I entered a shawl that was really popular, mine came in 3rd and someone who made the same pattern came in 1st . The judges liked hers more than mine.
- On the other hand, I’ve won ribbons for things that have mistakes in them. My favorite example is a sweater where the 2 nd sleeve was 2” wider than the other. I was racing to finish it in time for the fair and almost didn’t bring it when I realized what I had done. I didn’t have time to fix it, however, so I decided to just bring it and see what happened. It won a blue ribbon and the judges didn’t say anything about the mismatched sleeves.
- Remember that you can enter something again if it didn’t win anything the first time. I once entered a shawl that was very poorly blocked because I ran out of time (notice a theme?). I entered it again the following year and it got 3rd place.
Susan R. (Susan's Plaid Squared)
- Enter something unique – a Find Your Fade or Baa-ble Hat may get lost because it’s “been done.” This isn’t always true, but maybe try the road less travelled.
- “But I followed the pattern” – the judges aren’t judging who followed the pattern the closest. They don’t have the pattern in front of them. They are looking at your choice of techniques and how well they were executed.
- Learn from the judges’ comments – if they give you specific feedback, use it to improve for next time. I received feedback on my first sweater that I didn’t understand or have any hope of fixing! But I researched and practiced until I figured it out. Those detailed comments really helped me improve.
- Sometimes we wonder why a certain entry won instead of something (we felt) was more deserving. The winning formula is not just about skill or project difficulty. Sometimes it comes down to luck!! Judges are people. Judges have opinions. Judges are fallible. But they are the ones handing out the ribbons! So, go into it with an attitude of fun and try to put disappointment behind you – there’s always next year!
The deadline to register for Creative Activities Tuesday, August 7th at 4:30pm. You must register online by this date to enter. Good luck!
New MKG Swag!
We are happy to announce the new Minnesota Knitters' Guild Shop on Society6. You can now purchase MKG branded t-shirts, bags, stickers, cups, and sweatshirts. There are two different designs in various colors.
We have decided to go with Society6 because they make the items to order, which lets you order the design you want, in the color you want, on the item you want. You get a lot of options. Using a company like Society6 also means the Guild does not need to deal with taking money and orders, storing items, or delivery.
A few notes:
- Sign up for Society6 and you will get emails about sales. They have sales and free shipping ALL the time. It is worth waiting for a sale to order.
- Some of the printing may look slightly lighter than in these pictures, especially if you order an image with thin lines on a darker shirt (i.e. the version with MN in just to orange outline).
- Pay attention to the size guide on the clothing. The women's fitted tee is more of a junior size. I am a size 12/14 and the XL is skin tight, but a men's M is just right.
- Society6 has a no questions return/refund policy. We have tested it and it really is no questions. If you are not happy with an item contact them and they will make it right.
If you are at the May MKG meeting tonight, we will have some samples to show off.