>Julie, Pat and I are in sunny Long Beach, California for one of the two national markets put on each year by The National Needlearts Association. Yes, I know you’re all jealous that we’re in CA, but take heart – most of our time is being spent indoors in windowless rooms.

Yesterday afternoon, we each took a class from one of the fabulous national instructors here at the show. I took a Broomstick Lace (crochet) class with Mary Beth Temple because I was curious – do you work with a real broomstick? What can you do with broomstick lace? Is it only for certain types of yarn? Will I become a 70s era hippy if I learn this technique? Here’s a photo of my finished class sample (please excuse the quality – it’s taken with the camera on my phone):

The answers to my questions were no (you use a super large straight knitting needle – size 50 for worsted weight yarn and a crochet hook); anything open & airy; you can use any type of yarn although variegated yarns often just look muddy; and no – thank goodness.

Julie took a needlepoint class from Adrienne Spencer needlepointing a beautiful canvas with 2 koi fish. Adrienne was teaching how to work a canvas that is not stitch painted, but is a real work of art in and of itself. She uses a lot of open stitches where the canvas shows through. It’s a wonderful way to showcase the artistry of the painting, while still making a beautiful finished needlepoint piece.

Pat took a stitch guide design class from Suzy Murphy of SuZy’s Portable Stitches fame. I wondered why such a skilled stitch guide designer needed a class on that, but Pat said it was great because all the participants brought in a canvas they wanted help with, and the whole class got involved with coming up with ideas. Suzy is a great and enthusiastic teacher, and Pat came out with seveal ideas of things to incorporate in her stitch guides in the future.

More tomorrow.