Lily Chin Inspiration!

We had such a great guild meeting yesterday! Of course I forgot my camera, as usual, so we might have to rely on Dee for pictures. She hasn't posted yet, but I imagine when she does, she will have pictures from yesterday's meeting.

The centerpiece of our meeting was a visit from Lily Chin, knit and crochet designer and the world's fastest crocheter! She brought samples from her new book, Couture Crochet, which we were able to examine up close, as well as samples from individual patterns that she uses to promote her yarn line. Seaport Yarn from NYC came with her and sold yarns from her line as well. (And I was good and didn't buy anything.) I think the piece that really caught my eye was her convertible coat. One size fits all, and the piece just had such drape when worn! It is definitely going on my "to do" list.

Lilly grew up in New York City and has worked in the Garment District since she was 13 years old. So she comes from a very different perspective than Doris Chan, which made what she had to say even more interesting. I had to chuckle a bit, though, when she was trying to get us to name the 15 designers in the world who are licensed to create couture in France. We really struggled to come up with names, and I found myself thinking that even watching Project Runway hadn't prepared me to answer this question! However, I really appreciated her definition of couture (high quality materials, hand sewing, and fitted to a particular body) and how that relates to the patterns in her new book.

I also managed to get a pair of mittens done to the point that they only need thumbs, which I will try to finish tonight. I think that might be my last pair of mittens for Soaring Eagles, though. I need to shift over to making chemo hats, because the guild would like to put together a donation in January. We need to thank the hospital for allowing us to meet there, and chemo hats are how we do that. And since the hospital now has 1,200 (yes, you read that right) cancer patients, we really need a large donation. However, I am already thinking about ways to incorporate some of Lily's tips and suggestions into my chemo hats, to make them softer yet denser, so I am really excited to start on this project.